Friday Morning, January 4, 1850
If there is one event of the year gone by deserving of commemoration
as productive of the greatest possible good to the greatest portion
of the community; then we are constrained to believe the introduction
of steam facilities of communication between the cities and towns of
California, the agent of that better and more abundant good, and an
"at all events" of the first magnitude.
The history of steam is a volume of wonders, and this is a tolerably
well established fact. There is no recourse to disputation to be had
in the premises, and we might go on until the train of life reached
its journey’s end, in expatiation of the might of its main impellent,
which is universally conceded in this age of enlightenment, to be "steam
— steam — nothing but steam." But we have no motive and, certes,
we are not in the mood.
Well do we remember the early days of inland navigation — the tedious
days and sleepless hours (there were mosquitoes in those times)
passed in sailing up the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, or at a later
period, the Feather and Yuba rivers. The torments of those trips, (pleasant little passage of two and three weeks— duration), we shall ever plead
— as we bled then, freely, distinctly, agonizingly, -- stamped on memory
with unfading freshness, with indelible firmness. Shall we ever
forget them?
Three years since, and the Sacramento boated but one "fast boat."
The reader will understand us to speak in the language of departed days.
This was the purchase effected by Capt. Sutter, of a Russian schooner,
drawing about four feet water, of twenty tons burthen, and which was
certainly the safest, combining the advantages of possessing the best
accommodations, and a fame for speed "unsurpassed by any boat on
the river." Indeed, launches plied between the two great cities of
San Francisco and Sacramento only when freights of wheat, hides and
tallow were ready for the market. The first steamboat sent up the Sacramento
was the property of a very enterprising gentleman of the city, now deceased,
and was of pigmy dimensions with a pocket engine, and not adapted
to the purposes for which she was procured. Not of superior speed, either,
if our recollection serves us; it lives a matter of history that in
the month of January, two years ago, the steamboat started from Sacramento
and was distanced four days into Benecia, by an ox team, which
had rolled out of the former place by the great road leading
south, on the same day that witnessed the steamboat—s departure. From
this time, "no ponderous wheels dashed the brine," until the fall
of 1849.
The new year dawns upon the navigation by steam of all the navigable
waters in the State. The transition from the sluggish method of travel,
antecedent to the discovery of gold, to the swift-gliding and agreeable
conveyance by steam now afforded, has been sudden, but perfectly in
character with the main features of Californian improvement. Last spring
it was considered an extraordinary achievement to sail a vessel of 300
tons, drawing 8 feet of water, up to "Sutter—s Embarcadero;" and
when the bark Whiton arrived at that point on the River Sacramento,
with her royal yards crossed, the newspapers said it was an astonishing
feat. The white sail of the laggard launch is fast disappearing from
our rivers; the wooded shores give back the din of splashing paddles,
and the scream of the seam-alarm, startles the solitary haunts of wild
bird and beast, while its piercing cadence floats along the night air,
awakening the lone Indian from his sad reverie, to contemplate that
which before him glides phantom-like, as shadows in a fearful dream
— to that which he feels to be the notes of exulting triumph of a mysterious
being, foretelling even the doom of his rapidly declining people in
our proud prowess.
The power of steam holds this place in daily communication with the
important and flourishing cities of the North, and even beyond these,
lines of smaller steamers extend, conveying passengers and freight almost
into the heart of the gold region. On the bays, from point to point,
steam urges the crowded passenger craft along; and as we trace the course
which it has shaped by lengthened clouds of smoke, or listen to the
burr of paddles, the music of the warning bell, the rush of escaping
steam, more than ever do we find it in our hearts to exclaim, truly
this is more than American!
And this is indeed the "age of steam!"
Daily Alta California, January 10,
1852
Notice--To take effect on the 8th inst. We the undersigned,
Agents, and Owners of Steamers trading between San Francisco, Benicia,
and Sacramento cities, have this day, in answer to a petition from the
Merchants of Sacramento, agreed to establish the following rates of
Freight and Passage on board all the Steamers which we represent,viz:
Rates of Freight on all goods and merchandise, paying either by weight
or measurement, to be, without distinction, Ten Dollars per ton. Shippers
in all cases to pay lighterage.
A Tariff of Rates for price freight bills, etc., to be found on each
of the Steamers represented in this advertisement, -- uniform in price,
and conforming as nearly as practicable to the tonnage rates.
| RATES OF PASSAGE | ||
| CABIN PASSAGE | DECK PASSAGE | |
| From San Francisco to Sacramento | $10.00 | $5.00 |
| From San Francisco to Benicia | $5.00 | $3.00 |
| From Benicia to Sacramento | $8.00 | $4.00 |
| From Sacramento to San Francisco | $10.00 | $3.00 |
| From Sacramento to Benicia | $8.00 | $4.00 |
| From Benicia to San Francisco | $5.00 | $3.00 |
From and after this date, the system of employing Runners
will be abolished by all the Steamers here represented.
From and after this date the custom of free passages to shippers will
be discontinued.
SIGNED:
CHARLES MINTURN, Agt. for steamers Senator and New World
T. CANURE & GANNATT, Agt. for steamers Confidence and W.G. Hunt
P.A. CHAZEL, Agt., steamer American Eagle
F.P. GREEN, Agt., steamer Hartford
R.R. FAISBIE, Agt., steamer Urilda
HORACE MORRISON, Agt, steamer Major Tompkins
J.J. SOUTH & Co., Agt., steamer Camanche
JNO. H. BOSWORTH, Agt., steamer J. Bragdon
San Francisco, Jan. 6th, 1852