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- 194 REMINISCENCES OF OLD VICTORIA
Piloted by Mr. Burnes, we next viewed St. Mary's Cathedral. It had been fifty odd years since I had last been inside, and as a boy I had often been attracted by the music. The cathedral was completely gutted by the fire, which entered at the front doors and passed up the tower and to the roof, in fact making a complete ruin of the building. So that the original landmark should be preserved intact, they built a complete church inside of concrete and bolted the two walls together so that the building is as good as ever. New stained glass windows, altars and a new $25,000 organ have been donated by wealthy members of the congregation, so that we looked upon a new church inside and the original outside.
We spent the afternoon at Golden Gate Park, which was the great sight of San Francisco, four miles long, laid out as an immense garden or succession of gardens, with conservatories and aviaries, tropical trees, winding roads and paths in all directions. The first thing to attract my attention before entering the museum was a statue of Padre Junipero Serra, the intrepid founder of so many missions along the coast of California. There were also monuments to Abraham Lincoln, General Grant, and that stirring preacher of the south, Starr King. Time was valuable, so I had to give up a further inspection of the park to give all remaining time to the museum, which closed at four o'clock. All the time we were in the museum I noticed two police-men patrolling about and I thought it unusual, and on inquiry found that lately a most valuable picture had been taken by being cut out of the frame. After some trouble the thief had been captured and the picture re-covered. The thief gave as a reason for stealing it that he thought it might inspire him to paint just such a picture, he being ambitious to be a painter. I hardly
A VISIT TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 195
think this excuse will weigh with the authorities. In the room of pioneer relics I found many interesting things. First a large bell which recorded on the out-side the founding of the volunteer fire department, organized 1850, George Hosseproso, chief engineer. Firemen of those days were men of account, in fact, many men of prominence were officers or members of the fire department. Second, four mission bells from an old mission church at Carmelo, Monterey County, built by Padre Junipero Serra, 1770; San Francisco's first printing press, used in publishing the first newspaper in California, in 1846, at Monterey; a picture of Jno. Truebody, a pioneer business man of San Francisco, whom I remember well; two glass cases of relics presented by John Bardwell, of the vigilante days, containing firearms, batons, certificates of membership in the vigilante committee, pieces of rope, being cut off the original ropes with which they hanged Cora, Casey, Hetherington and Brace, for the assassination of James King of William, and General Richardson. James King of William was the editor of the Chronicle, and in an election campaign James King, who was opposed to Casey in politics, mentioned the fact that Casey had been a jail-bird in his youth. This was taken up by Casey's friends and three of them agreed that the first one of the three who should meet James King should shoot him. Casey being the first to meet him per-formed the deed. For this he was hanged by the vigilance committee, who demanded him from the authorities. This committee was formed immediately after the assassination.
Cora was hanged for the murder of General Richard-son because of a slight cast on Cora's wife by the for-
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