Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/369



hours were  occupied  in  the  drawing,  which  took  place under the  superintendence  of  a  committee  of  eight persons. The first  prize,  a  diamond  watch  valued  at two  thousand  dollars,  was  drawn  by  one  Moses.

Duncan's Chinese  salesrooms,  thrown  open  the  5th of April,  1853,  made  a  finer  display  of  Oriental  mer- chandise and curiosities  than  any  similar  establishment in Europe  or  America  before  or  since. Spacious rooms, tastefully  fitted  up,  were  crowded  with  costly Asiatic goods,  presenting  the  appearance  more  of  a magnificent  museum  than  a  shop. The wealth  and splendor of  the  Indies  were  spread  out  in  tempting array for  the  benefit  or  ruin  of  purchasers — shawls from Thibet  and  Cashmere,  silks  embroidered  by  pa- tient Hindoos, Chinese  robes,  ornaments  in  wood  and ivory, work-boxes  of  Bombay,  scented  sandal-wood, grotesque carriages  from  Japan,  porcelain  ware,  and paintings.

Beside the  elaborately  wrought  silk  and  crape shawls, which  were  very  popular  at  first,  but  which soon went  out  of  fashion,  the  Chinese  shops  in  San Francisco offered  many  curious  articles. Carved ivory, representing  animals,  cities,  pagodas,  junks; puzzles, fans,  chess  and  checker-men  in  wood  and ivory ; sandal-wood,  roots  twisted  into  peculiar  shapes ; gorgeous but  flimsy  silks,  satins,  and  velvets;  inlaid lacquered ware  and  china,  silver  filigree  work,  pictures, and a  thousand  other  things,  displaying  the  aesthetic shades in  the  minds  of  those  half-civilized  heathen.

Business at  the  beginning  of  1854  was  pronounced dull ; everybody  was  complaining. The miners  lacked water, the  country  traders  money,  and  so  the  ware- houses of the  city  must  groan  with  goods  and  their owners with  ennui.

It would,  indeed,  have  been  very  strange  had  not some become  discouraged. One man  landed  in  San Francisco in  January,  1851,  with  $150,000  worth  of goods. The first  fire  after  his  arrival  destroyed  half of them,   the  next  swept  away  the  rem