The Knave - Oakland Tribune - 19 Oct 1941, Sun - Page 17

More on Our Redwoods Sun, Oct 19, 1941 – Page 17 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

I'm leaving out the first few paragraphs, which deal with current politics, and moving right to the histories and stories. Click the image above if you want to read what you missed, here. - MF

Ruins of Donner Cabin? 

From Harry P. Bagley who does a thorough job of historical research and reporting for the Sacramento Bee, I learn of the part Edwin H. Johnson of Wilton, and of Oakland, played in discovering what he is certain are the sites of the shelters which housed George and Jacob Donner, their families and associates, during the tragic Winter of 1346. Mr. Johnson recently wrote an article on the subject and it was one to attract the particular attention of Mrs. Jennie Calloway Graham Westlow of Sacramento who, as a girl, lived in the Alder Creek section where the ruins were found, and remembers seeing, in a thicket of willows near the emigrant trail the rotting ruins of a crude habitation. Her mother, a California pioneer, who knew the Donners in Illinois before they started their fatal journey, shared the discovery and identified the moldering hut as one of the Donner cabins. Mrs. Westlow, now 81 years old, wrote to Johnson, telling him of her girlhood experience. As an outgrowth of her letter Mrs. Westlow, Johnson and Bagley spent several days, late in August, seeking the site of Jacob Donner's cabin on Alder Creek. And Mrs. Westlow believes that she and Johnson have solved a riddle which for almost a century has puzzled students of the tragic Donner story.

A New Discovery 

The party turned off the highway between Truckee and Prosser Station and over a rock-studded bumpy road to the old railroad grade to the Norden lumber mill. Three-quarters of a mile up the Alder Creek Valley, near the old railroad crossing they came upon the clump of tamaracks where Johnson, last year, discovered evidences of a cabin. Mrs. Westlow found the place much changed, but, as Bagley writes, a big yellow pine and some tamaracks seemed familiar markings of the spot. Johnson set to work with an abbreviated hoe and soon unearthed a fragment of rotting wood. Then other fragments came to light, including a two-foot, crumbling section of a sapling, about five inches; in diameter. Imbedded in the wood were three hand-wrought iron nails. The wagon box could not be found, however, nor did the area yield any evidence other than the buried wood and the old nails. And the nails could not be viewed as conclusive evidence, for the crumbling flume, some fifty yards uphill, had been built with similar hand wrought nails. "But I am certain the cabin I saw was near this spot," said Mrs. Westlow. Johnson was elated. A hundred yards to the north and east is the place where last year he found the crumbling corner logs of an old cabin, an assortment of old iron kitchen-utensils, a stone bordered spot which might be a burial ground and other evidences that convinced him he had found a Donner camp site. And between the location found last year by Johnson and the one indicated by Mrs. Westlow, near the place where James Smith, Joseph Rhinehart, Samuel Shoemaker and John Baptiste Trubode may have lived in an improvised wigwam - if Johnson's theory is correct - is a pile of rock about seven feet long and three feet wide. "Those rocks were heaped up by human hands, and they may mark the grave of George Donner," said Johnson.

He Discovered Chaplin

In the recent news from London was an item buried among the war dispatches that had peculiar significance for the theater-goers of America, especially those who date back to the days of "big-time vaudeville." It recorded the death at 75 of Fred Karno, the man who discovered Charlie Chaplin and who developed Stan Laurel into a top-flight comedian. Chaplin was a member of the "Lancashire Lads," a clog-dancing outfit, when he was taken in hand by Karno, who had graduated from comedy roles to a position where he was producing variety acts of his own for the Music Halls. Having been a knock about slapstick comedian, Karno's sole measuring stick was the neophyte's ability to take falls. He didn't inquire if the tyro had any comic talent, but if he could tumble without injuring himself he was Karno's man. So Karno put Chaplin into a burlesque sketch called "The Skating Rink," and the little man was an immediate hit. Subsequently Chaplin did a movie called 'The Rink" that had some basis in his first London hit. Karno brought Chaplin and others to America first in a long comedy sketch called "A Night at a London Music Hall." It played at the old Orpheum on Twelfth Street here during the management of the late George Ebey. As a comedian, Karno flourished in the late 90's. He had been born in extremely poor circumstances, and spent part of his boyhood at factory looms and as an apprentice to a prison plumber. His talks with convicts were reflected in a sketch he did much later called "Jail Birds," and he used to transport his actors from stand to stand in a "Black Maria" he had purchased second-hand. Karno dropped out of active production life in 1910, having accumulated enough money to see him through. He and Chaplin were estranged for a time, but in later years resumed their old friendship, and not so many years ago the aged Karno made a trip to Hollywood to see at first hand the fruits of his early schooling of the world's No. 1 comedian.

Hayward Church History 

A query to the Knave, from one seeking information concerning exact date and circumstance of the founding of the Hayward Methodist Church has brought a reply from an authority on church history in California. Says Rev. Max A. X. Clark of Oakland: "Inasmuch as the Hayward Methodist Church was in the San Leandro Circuit from its beginning in 1853 till 1876, I suggest that Reverend Winkley, now pastor, look up the records under that heading and perhaps he will find mention of the building and dedication of the first Methodist church building in Hayward. Having contributed the chapter, 'Religion' in 'The History of Rural Alameda County' (published by the County Library, 1937) and 'Churches' in Volume 1, 'A History of Oakland, 1853-1938' (published by Oakland Public Library, January, 1939), I have been able, to gather the following facts regarding the early days of Hayward Methodist Church: Organized in 1853 by Mr. William Marrow with seven members, Hayward Methodist Church met in the homes of members and friends until 1864 when services were transferred to the Hayward Armory Hall. It was in the San Leandro Circuit and continued in this circuit until 1876, In 1864 a Mrs. Talmadge organized a Sunday School, which was held in a room over a saloon, in Edenvale. This group was later merged with Hayward Church. In 1866, Mr. J. D. Atherton bought the present site of the church from Don Castro, who owned the original land grant. On this property Atherton built and donated a one-room church. This building was destroyed by fire in 1899. The present church edifice was erected in 1922. The first settled clergyman of Hayward Methodist Church was Rev. H. J. Winslow who served as pastor from 1875 to 1877. Prior to that circuit riders pastored the work.

California Folklore 

With a number of authorities sponsoring the plan, something is to be done at last to preserve and publish the folklore material of California. The California Folklore Society, newly formed, has as its president, Robert Gordon Sproul, and as vice-presidents: Miss Esperanza Carrillo, George Ezra Dane, S. B. Hustvedt, George R. Stewart and Leon O, Whitsell. The secretary-treasurer is Samuel T. Farquhar. I am passing along a part of the original announcement: "The purposes of the society will be the collecting, preservation and publication of folk materials of the State of California and adjacent regions, excluding such materials as pertain to indigenous Indian tribes and to their mythology and ethnology. Specifically included in the fields of interest of the organization are tales and songs, customs and superstitions, proverbs and proverbial expressions, place names, local types of architecture, household furnishings, and utensils of all racial groups (with the exception of the American Indian) which combine to make up the folk of the Pacific slope area. The publication of the society, 'California Folklore,' will be published by the University of California Press at Berkeley, California. In size it will be approximately six inches by nine inches and each volume will have approximately five hundred pages of text matter per year. Articles will be printed in the field of folklore in conformity with the principles laid down in the objectives of the society. Contributions will be accepted from all sources and not necessarily solely from professional folklorists."

Mission Has Anniversary 

To commemorate the 150th anniversary ef the founding of Holy Cross Mission at Santa Cruz, Native Sons and Daughters of the chapters in that city last week dedicated a marker on the site. The site of the Santa Cruz or Holy Cross Mission was first seen by white man October 17, 1769, when Friar Junipero Serra with Don Caspar de Portola passed along the northern shore of Monterey Bay without recognizing it as such. The mission was begun 22 years later and was dedicated by Friar Tomas de la Pena on its completion May 10, 1794. The building was 112 1/2 feet long, 29 feet wide and 25 1/2 feet high. Other buildings were erected as needed. In 1810 a large house with two wings was built for widows and for girls, In 1791 the mission had only 33 head of breeding cattle, while in 1814, an inventory showed 3300 head of cattle, 3500 of sheep, 600 horses, 25 mules and 49 hogs. The nine bells in the tower were valued at $8900. In the first 23 years there were 1684 baptisms, 565 marriages and 1242 deaths. In 1830 the mission had 42,800 cattle, 3200 horses, 73,500 sheep, 200 mules and a large herd of swine. The church was garnished with $25,000 worth of silver plate. In 1843 when it was secularized by order of General Figueroa, the value was estimated at $97,361.

Back to Medicine Days 

Medicine show tales on this page - thanks to "Doc" Benjamin - have revived memories of a number of communities and some all but forgotten customs. Leslie Freeman of San Leandro, but a few days ago, recalled as best he could - for he was a small boy at the time - an old medicine show going full blast at Red Bluff. "Doc" Benjamin tells me that he may even remember the boy who was goggled-eyed before the wonders performed in the interest of health, entertainment, and profit. Adds Benjamin: I showed San Leandro several times in the "Horse and Buggy Days" before the San Francisco fire and stopped at the old Estudillo House, on the corner of the Plaza Square, kept by a delightful family of that same name. I used to take my morning constitutional along the box-inclosed graveled paths, in the half-acre enclosed "Park and Garden" connected with the hotel. On my first visit a couple of yeggs blew into town and burglarized the safe in the Southern Pacific Depot. They had me framed for a stick-up after the show at a lonely wagon yard that I had to pass to get to the hotel, so the police informed me the next morning. I escaped that misfortune because of trailing my high-diving dog who had strayed from the show lot, and did not pass that that way that night.. The yeggs were never apprehended.

From Quacks to Cracks 

"The passing of the old-fashioned medicine show was not due to the advent or radio or to the movies as many suppose - but to the decline of vaudeville. When vaudeville went - so did the old-fashioned medicine show. It dried up our source of supply for entertainers, old-timers and aspiring youngsters who used our shows as proving ground for their vehicles of entertainment with which they hoped to play the "Vaudeville Circuits." Many of the bright stars in the show business owed their start to the proving ground of the old-fashioned medicine show. Quite a few graduated from my show to play the Keith, Proctor, and Orpheum time. Among them: (Phil Love) "La Tosca, the Tramp Juggler" - "Frank Kramer, black face monologuist," and "The Bells" Herb and Julia who was one of the Ashley Sisters. Their sketch "The Old Autograph Album" was a gem of dialect characterization. While in the minds of some of the elders the merits of the remedies sold might be a debatable question to the small boy of that period there was no question as to the fun-producing quality of the free entertainment provided nightly. I have been out of the medicine business for, lo, these many years, but on one of my recent trips through San Leandro and Hayward, I found that the druggists still had an occasional call for "Bro. Benjamin's Herbalo," but the price had advanced to a $1.10 per bottle. Heigh ho! "Them was the Happy Days."

A Crime of 1871 

If you go up Oroville way and run onto J. A. Campbell, 78, you may persuade him to tell you the story of one of California's, and Butte County's most brutal crime. Campbell, who looks back 70 years to the event, may be the only man who can remember the murder of 16-year-old Susan McDaniel of Cherokee by Austrian George in 1871. This is the way the tale is told: On the morning of June 1 at 3 a.m. when Susan, daughter of Thomas McDaniel, store and hotel proprietor in the then great hydraulic mining town of Cherokee Flat, was taken home by Dr. Sawyer and his fiancee, Marie Glass, the Austrian; mad with unrequited love, seized her and plunged a knife into her throat. On the day this crime took place, Campbell, then just 7 years old, said Susan had walked down the road to his parents' place. "That morning, Susan washed my face and combed my hair," said Campbell. "I remember it just as though it were yesterday." The killing of Susan, Campbell says - and historians have corroborated his theory - was a spite murder. Many Austrians were engaged in mining in Cherokee, and among them was one, George Sharkovitch, better known since his gruesome crime as Austrian George. The story is that Susan's father jokingly one day told Austrian George he could have Susan, and he took it seriously and brooded over it. He tried to make friends with her and win her confidence, but was promptly rebuffed. The story I remember is that Susan's father had borrowed money from Austrian George, and at the time he had jokingly told him he could have Susan for the debt, never dreaming the man would take him seriously," Campbell said. When Austrian George followed Susan and her chaperons from a public wedding and dance held in the town hall and plunged his knife into her throat, Dr. Sawyer recognized him and fired at him with a derringer. The shots missed and the murderer ran to his cabin, where he barricaded himself.

Starved Out of Hiding

"The camp was in an uproar. When infuriated men tried to take the killer out he slipped through a window and escaped to Bloomer Hill, where he hid for eight days. "The countryside was aroused and men thirsted for vengeance," Campbell recalled. "The whole district to Magalia was an armed camp. It had been agreed that the firing of three shots would be the signal that the murderer had been found. It was on the eighth night after the slaying that Austrian George, starved out of hiding, started to cross Bidwell Bar Bridge. He was recognized by John Bendle, a guard, but the Austrian insisted he was a sheepherder. In the argument over his identity, he drew a knife and started to run. Bendle fired three times, but at him, killing him on the spot. The men of Cherokee swarmed upon Austrian George's cabin, tore it apart plank by plank, and piled it into a funeral bier, Then they placed the body of Austrian George on top of it."

More on Our Redwoods

Stories of the redwoods, early lumbermen, forgotten graves, and hallowed meeting places, have appeared here within recent weeks. Names of persons who lived in the hills have been mentioned, sometimes doubtfully and with spellings conflicting. Today I offer the following from Mrs. Fred Barker of this city and, as you will see, the story is out of her memories and family records: "Information given in your previous article is correct as far as can recall. My father, John Classen (referred to as Mr. Clossen by another writer) was the owner of considerable acreage, a portion of which included Redwood Peak. He was a lover of nature and wanted those who appreciated the same to enjoy his place, provided they destroyed nothing in the line of shrubbery or trees and left no picnic rubbish around. Our place, as has been mentioned was a meeting spot for some of the most prominent businessmen of Oakland and San Francisco. Many have passed on. I have a register with hundreds of names of visitors that came there on weekly hikes. Recently Mr. Merritt wrote about a grave he discovered with a Scandinavian name on the headstone. There was a grave not far from our home and a man by the name of Jackson was buried there. I recall very clearly the day he was buried. It was a dreary one and his body was brought up from Oakland with great difficulty as the road was very bad and steep. My father met the hearse and helped them on their way. It was this man's wish that he be buried in the area where he formerly lived and loved so dearly. The grave that Mr. Merritt spoke of, with a headstone and the name 'Rover' carved on it, was for a dog that belonged to my brother, John Classen Jr. The dog was shot by some mischievous hunter.” So we have another story carried on and authenticated by one "who was there."

Ball in Old Dutch Flat

Though some may think it, in these days of grand opera and columns of space devoted to the costumes of the elite, it is nothing new for newspapers to devote extended attention to the gadgets and fineries of the feminine wardrobe. W. T. Simmons of this city recently resurrected a clipping describing the annual Firemen's Ball in Dutch Flat in 1885 and it gave account of what each of the 47 ladies present were wearing. Simmons sent the clipping - from the Placer Times of 1885 - to the Colfax Record, the editor of which has relayed it to me. I will give you but a few of the costumes and the account of the ball, itself: "The Firemen's Ball was the grandest event of the season. The hall was decorated in a manner which would reflect credit upon the largest city on the coast. We take pleasure in saying that our Jenkins found some forty-seven ladies present on the floor dancing, and we give a description of their toilettes, and wish to state that if any lady, either a spectator or one who took part in the dance, has been neglected or overlooked, that the same was accidental. Our ‘Jenkins' to whom we are indebted for a description of the party, is a stranger amongst us, and if mistakes are made, we trust the same will be pardoned. Mrs. James L. Gould wore a costume of light pink nun's veiling and satin, trimmed with lace and hand painted. Ornaments, diamonds. Mrs. Allen Towle, a slate color satin and brocade. Ornaments, diamonds. Miss Addie Smart, costume of hunter's green and pink satin, trimmed with pink pompoms. Corsage bouquet of pink ostrich tips. Miss Mary Hudepohl, cream colored nun's veiling trimmed with Oriental lace over silver gray skirt. Corsage bouquet pink crushed roses. Ornaments, Etruscan gold. Miss Millie Sharon, black brocaded velvet. Miss Nettie Baker: black tarlatan made dancing length, caught with bouquets of cardinal and pink roses.

-THE KNAVE