Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/370

 ainder, and

after a  six  months  business  career  in  California,  he returned  home  ruined  and  well-nigh  heart-broken. No wonder  that  some,  their  fortunes  smitten  to  dust, predicted for  the  city  the  fate  of  Babylon,  and  fled from its  portals  as  from  the  gates  of  Sodom. But notwithstanding the  rapid  succession  of  disasters, which in  any  other  country  under  heaven  would  have seemed fatal,  again  and  again  the  city  rose  from  its ashes, and  its  people  buckled  on  anew  their  battered armor.

Yet the  spring  trade  of  1854  was  good. It fell off as  usual  toward  summer,  when  there  were  great complaints against  insane  and  avaricious  eastern shippers for  glutting  the  market  with  goods. In August there  was  a  revival  in  business  and  general prosperity throughout  the  state. Notwithstandmg the many  destructive  fires,  building  was  active,  and  in the  interior  towns  a  better  class  of  houses  were erected than  ever  before. Marysville was  specially lively at  this  time,  and  the  coast  towns  from  San Dleoo to  PuiJ^et  Sound — San  Pedro,  Santa  Barbara, Santa Cruz,  Monterey,  Eureka,  Trinidad,  Crescent City, Port  Orford,  and  others  began  to  show  signs  of progress.

At one  of  the  sales  of  the  state's  interest  in  the cit}^ of  San  Francisco  water  lots,  in  October  1854, 132 lots  were  bid  off  to  a  certain  person  who  subse- quently made two  payments  on  account  of  the  same in accordance  with  the  terms  of  sale. At the  proper time the  purchaser  presented  himself  before  the  auc- tioneers, the agents  of  the  board  of  commissioners, prepared to  make  the  third  and  final  payment,  to- gether with the  usual  commissions  and  a  fair  price  for drawing up  the  deed. The agents  for  the  sale  of the  state's  interest  refused  to  receive  this  last  install- ment, unless the  purchaser  would  pay  them  in  addi- tion to their  legal  commissions  $1,980  for  making  out the deed,  being  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  dollars  a  lot  for the 132  lots. Althoutjh but  one  deed  for