1921

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THE FALL AND RISE OF SANTA ROSA HIGH, PT. 1

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Essie Vaughan woke up because someone was ringing her doorbell and would not stop. She was probably used to occasional late visitors to their home on Humboldt street because her husband Marvin was Justice of the Peace; sometimes couples cannot bear to wait another moment before being married. But this November night was different. Waiting outside were four kids with an urgent message – the towering building across the street was on fire. Santa Rosa High School.

The November 15, 1921 destruction of the high school at Humboldt and Benton street (current location of the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts) was the worst disaster faced by the town since the 1906 earthquake. And the crisis wasn’t limited to the fire itself, although that night it posed a very real danger of burning down the town. The longer crisis was Santa Rosa’s recovery – how to educate hundreds of children without a school building and the unexpected opposition to a new school.

This is part one, which covers just the night of the fire and the following day as Santa Rosa struggled to cope, not unlike the uncertain times the town faces right now in 2017. Part two covers the three difficult years which passed before our current high school could finally open its doors, the construction delayed because of a man determined to see the school was never built at all.

Above all, this is the portrait of a resilient community.

Press Democrat, November 16, 1921

 

Back to our story: Essie told the children to rush and activate the alarm on the corner. As explained here earlier, Santa Rosa had pull boxes mounted around town which set off a loud bell at the firehouse, which would immediately begin to ring in a kind of morse code that directed the firemen to the vicinity of the fire. But the kids returned and Essie heard no ringing bell; apparently they didn’t understand it was necessary to break the glass AND pull down the lever inside.

“Hastily throwing something over her shoulders, Mrs. Vaughan ran to the corner with them and turned in the alarm,” the Press Democrat reported. Although about five minutes were lost, the PD speculated the fire was so well established it didn’t make a bit of difference.

The alarm SNAFU was just the beginning. The fireplug in front of the school did not work, so the firemen needed more hose to attach to a distant one; the SRFD’s new pumper truck was out of commission because of an accident the previous day, so they didn’t have adequate water pressure to reach the roof of the school until the old engine was brought from the firehouse.

While all this was going on, boys were breaking into the burning building to rescue school treasures: silver trophy cups, “all but two of the football team’s suits” and hundreds of the cadet corps’ army surplus rifles. There were tales later told of kids feeding the fire by throwing rocks through windows and even a cheerleader dressed in uniform leading hurrahs as particular parts of the building went up in flames, but these stories were almost certainly just stupid teenage braggadocio.

While the firefighters had no luck that night, the town was very, very fortunate. The first hour of the fire was spectacular; flames could be seen in Sebastopol and according to the PD, “at least one man who saw it from Petaluma drove here in his machine, expecting to see half of Santa Rosa on fire.”

Firebrands and bits of half-burnt paper flew as far as the public library. From the Santa Rosa Republican:

Several residences in the vicinity of the school were threatened with fire, sparks and bits of burning paper having started blazes on the roofs. It was only constant and persistent efforts which prevented the loss of at least a dozen houses. Embers, carried on a light breeze, were strewn broadcast over a radius of several blocks. Many residents living blocks away, who were not aroused by the fire, awoke yesterday morning to find ashes and charred paper on the roofs and porches of their homes.

And if all of that wasn’t enough potential disaster for one day, it turned out that the school on Fourth street (the current location of Fremont Park to Brookwood Avenue) was also at risk of burning down that Tuesday. It seems the old school – Santa Rosa’s first – still was heated by small wood stoves in each classroom. One of those old stoves fell apart that morning scattering coals over the floor; fortunately the fire was dead (or nearly so) and no damage was done.

It was well known that those old stoves were dangerous and the school “[was] really a much worse fire trap that the old high school building,” according to the Press Democrat. But all of Santa Rosa’s schools had been in pitiable condition for years.

This problem came up in a 1913 lecture series titled, “What’s the Matter With Santa Rosa?,” which was an interesting mix of gripes, vapid boosterism (Santa Rosans need to get serious about gardening because Luther Burbank) and thoughtful criticism. Two of the speakers called out our schools as firetraps, mirroring a 1904 report in the Santa Rosa Republican that some schools in town did not have electricity or plumbing and no heating beyond those old stoves.

The Humboldt street high school had different problems. It was a fine modern building when it was built in 1895, but soon was packed beyond capacity. “When the attendance increased the large attic was remodeled and equipped for class rooms adding materially to the capacity of the structure,” the PD observed in 1921. “Yet this did not provide sufficient and the basement was rearranged and numerous classrooms were added. Several of these had no daylight whatever but had to have artificial light all the time.” Probation Officer John Plover was quoted in the Santa Rosa Republican: “You will find there two classes stuffed in one corner of the basement in a place never intended for class rooms, where there would be small chance of escape in case of fire or quake.”

While the high school was still burning furiously late on that school night, the Board of Education faced tough decisions about what to do with about 1,000 students. Did I forget to mention that the building was also being used to teach junior college classes?

Decision number one: Classes would be suspended – but for only a single day.

For the time being they decided to jam everyone into the high school annex, built next door in 1913 and then being used as the junior high. In the morning it would be used by high school and junior college pupils, then the junior high would take over for the afternoon. Classes would be held in hallways and two “portable buildings,” which probably were garages. In the months and years that followed, kids would be running all over town to catch classes in lodge halls, church sunday school rooms and public buildings. Chemistry students had to shuttle to Sebastopol.

The cause of the high school fire was never settled (see update). There were explosions heard during the blaze which led some to think something might have happened in the chemistry lab. Mike Daniels, historian for the SRHS Foundation, points out there was a basketball game that evening at the annex gym, and students sneaking a smoke during half-time would have likely gathered on the other side of the school (“far from watchful adult eyes”) and where dry autumn leaves near the building could prove easy tinder. But most at the time thought it was caused by bad wiring; it was known the electrical system was “in very bad shape.” Just the night before, the Board of Education had approved a rewiring of the whole place.

The night of the fire, Board of Education Chairman Hilliard Comstock stated that steps would be taken immediately to prepare for selling bonds to build a new high school.

“It is believed that the new high school will be one of the largest and finest buildings in Northern California,” the PD promised. And indeed it would be – but it would not be built quickly. Only those who were freshmen in 1921 would step into the new school on Mendocino avenue as students. And much of that delay was because of Sonoma county’s lawsuit-loving crank, Sampson B. Wright.

 

Art and Poem by Raymond Clar. 1922 Echo
 
 
FIRE LOSS NOT LESS THAN $100,000, WITH $65,000 INSURANCE

Santa Rosa’s high school building was destroyed by fire last night. The blaze was discovered about 11 o’clock, and was still burning at an early hour this morning.

The loss, figured at original costs, when prices were very low, was estimated at $100,000 by Ben F. Ballard, county superintendent of schools. The total insurance carried amounts to $65,000.

Three theories as to the cause of the blaze have been advanced:

1. Defective electric wiring.

2. Explosion in old chemistry laboratory on second floor.

3. Incendiarism.

In support of the first theory, H. W. Jacobs, local electrician who only Monday night was awarded a contract by the Board of Education to re-wire the building, declared that he knew the wiring to be defective and “in very bad shape.”

Jacobs had inspected the wiring recently, and the Board of Education had recognized that the condition of the wiring was a constant menace to the structure.

The building was of old-style construction, two stories and high basement.

EXPLOSIONS HEARD

People living near the high school agree that there were several explosions, but some believe the explosions occurred after the building was in flames. Several said that most of the acids and chemicals had been removed in the basement laboratories some time ago. Explosions were expected momentarily from these rooms but up to an early hour this morning none had taken place.

In support of the third theory, incendiarism, several high school pupils who broke into the building to salvage trophies and other valuables, declare that when they entered the structure electric […4 lines of typesetting errors…] main hall were burning. Joe Dearing and Malcom Weeks both say they saw lights burning.

Others who arrived early after the fire was discovered, including A. R. Waters, declare that no lights were burning. Waters went to the fire on the chemical truck and declares positively that no lights were burning in the building. This was corroborated by Judge Marvin T. Vaughan, who lives across the street from the building.

LITTLE SALVAGED

Five high school pupils, Joe Dearing, Malcom Weeks, Ransom Petray, Burgess Titus and Harold Doig broke into the building by thrusting their arms through windows, and succeeded in saving nearly all the school’s silver trophy cups, and all but two of the football team’s suits.

Later others entered the building from the east side and saved most of the 250 or 300 army rifles used by the cadet corps, and some ammunition.

Practically everything else was lost. The school library, consisting of 1000 to 1500 volumes and including many volumes from the city library, was burned. Chemistry and physics equipment valued at $6000 was almost totally destroyed.

All the records of the high school, junior high school and junior college were burned, together with other equipment in the office of Principal Eugene W. Parker.

FIRE EQUIPMENT INADEQUATE

The fire occurred when the local department was least able to cope with it. Due to the partial wrecking of the city’s new motorized pumping engine in an accident Monday, this very important unit in the fire-fighting apparatus was not available, so that proper water pressure could not be directed upon the building until members of the department could return to the engine house for the old pumping engine.

Even then, shortage of hose and failure of a McDonald system fireplug in front of the burning building put the fire fighters under a severe handicap.

Four streams of water were directed upon the blaze, and these succeeded in holding it down to a large extent, but it was realized from the start that the building could not be saved.

YOUTHS DISCOVER BLAZE

The fire was discovered by two boys and two girls who were walking along Humboldt street shortly before 11 o’clock. They ran to the residence of Judge Marvin T. Vaughan, rang the bell furiously, roused the Vaughans from bed and told them of the fire.

Mrs. Vaughan directed them to the nearest fire alarm box, at Humboldt and Benton, where through ignorance of the mechanism they failed to register the alarm. When they returned to the Vaughan residence, Mrs. Vaughan told them that the alarm could not have been turned in as the bell at the fire station had not rung.

Hastily throwing something over her shoulders, Mrs. Vaughan ran to the corner with them and turned in the alarm. The delay in getting the alarm through occasioned five minutes of last time to the department, and this may have made a difference in combatting the flames, but it is conceded that even under the most favorable circumstances the building could not have been saved.

NO ONE HURT

No one was injured in fighting the blaze, although several had narrow escapes when parts of the walls collapsed and crashed to the ground.

This was particularly true when the tower of the building toppled over and fell to the lawn in a spectacular shower of sparks. There was a scurrying to cover and all who had been within reach escaped.

The only untoward incident chose as its victim Councilman Fred Oliva, who inadvertently got in front of a high-pressure hose while he was helping drag along another, and was bowled over in a complete somersault. Oliva’s coat was torn virtually off his back, his hat was sent many yards off and his trousers were torn. He suffered no physical injury.

Petray and Dearing had a narrow escape while attempting to save statues of Lincoln and Washington from the study hall, when part of the ceiling collapsed directly in front of them.

The burning girders completely burned the two statues, only a few feet ahead of the boys.

SPARKS FLY BLOCKS

During the height of the conflagration the whole city was illuminated and sparks were carried for several blocks. Many people who were roused by the excitement and the light shining in their windows put their garden hoses in operation as a precautionary measure.

There were no reports, however, of the fire being communicated to other buildings.

INSURANCE RECENTLY DOUBLED

It was only six weeks ago that the insurance on the high school building was doubled.

This was at the behest of the new city superintendent, Jerome O. Cross, and members of the board of education who realized that the old insurance policies were not in proportion to the value of the building. The insurance formerly carried amounted to $25,000 on the building and $10,000 on the equipment. This was increased to $50,000 and $15,000 respectively.

A year ago the new board of education brought an electrical expert here from San Francisco to inspect the building, and he urgently recommended new wiring, but owing to the lack of funds the recommendation could not be carried out in full.

At that time, however, some of the wiring was rearranged, and plugs were erected on the exterior of the building so that all electrical connections could be cut off from the outside at the end of each school day.

It is understood that this was taken care of as usual yesterday by the janitor, and if this is true there could have been no lights turned on in the building unless it was done deliberately before the fire was started.

OLIVIA QUESTIONED NEED

In connection with the accident to Councilman Oliva there is the interesting fact that at last night’s council meeting he interposed an objection to the purchase of more fire hose, as recommended by Fire Chief Duncan.

Duncan had asked the council for 1300 ft. additional hose. Oliva declared that the need for hose was not demonstrated by the chief’s recommendation, but that he as chairman of the fire and water committee would have to see the hose supply personally to know what the needs were.

FIRE SEEN MANY MILES

The blaze was seen for many miles during the first hour it was burning.

At least one man who saw it from Petaluma drove here in his machine, expecting to see half of Santa Rosa on fire.

Santa Rosa members of the Eastern Star who were attending a meeting in Sebastopol saw the blaze and rushed home in the belief that the whole city was on fire.

The high school building was erected in 1895 and was dedicated by the Rev. William Martin, then First Presbyterian church, who died recently in Hawaii.

State Senator Herbert W. Slater, dean of Santa Rosa’s newspapermen, remembers the dedicatory services, which he “covered” for this paper.

 

 
No School Today But Sessions Will Resume Thursday

School will not hold forth today for pupils of the high school, junior high and junior college.

Beginning tomorrow, however, classes will be reorganized in several lodge rooms and perhaps one or two churches.

This was the decision reached last night by City Superintendent Cross, Chairman Hilliard Comstock of the Board of Education, and Mrs. F. B. Hatch, a member of the Board.

It is expected that the American Legion, the Odd Fellows, Masons, Native Sons, Presbyterian church and perhaps several other organizations will be asked to lend their facilities for the accommodation of the classes.

 
Preparing to Construct New S. R. Hi School

Steps will be taken immediately to prepare for the building of a new high school, it was stated late last night by members of the Board of Education.

It is expected that a bond election will be put up to the people within a very short time.

The new building will be paid for, not by Santa Rosa alone, but by the 26 school districts which under a recent law now constitute the Santa Rosa high school district.

Territory which will be taxed for the new high school building takes in everything within a radius of ten miles.

For this reason, and because of the need for vastly increased space, it is believed that the new high school will be one of the largest and finest buildings in Northern California.

– Press Democrat, November 16, 1921
 
Defective Wiring Thought Cause of High School Fire

The exact cause of the high school blaze remains a complete mystery, although the majority of people lay the blame on defective wiring. According to statements made by Wm. Bennyhoff, head of the night school held in the junior high school building, every light was turned out of the old building Tuesday night when he left the night school. The night classes close shortly after nine o’clock and at nine-thirty when Bennyhoff left for home, there was not a gleam of light from the building.

The presence of lights in the study hall of the doomed building, however, is explained by the fact that melting connections in the switch boxes might cause a “short” and light the bulbs. Some of the spectators declare the halls were lighted while others deny the statement

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Another theory advanced by some of the faculty, as well as some of the spectators of the blaze, is that of spontaneous combustion. The fire apparently started either in or very near the chemical laboratory, where a large assortment of chemicals of all sorts were stored. It is possible that some sort of chemical reaction could have caused an explosion resulting in the fire. This would explain the explosions heard by nearby residents. The explosions could have been explained in another way, however, as the fire would no doubt have caused some of the chemicals to explode. The question is, did the explosions occur before or after the fire was noticed? The statements of those who heard the explosions, conflict on this point and the matter is still uncertain.

But very few people think that the blaze could have been of incendiary origin, because of the comparatively early hour at which the flames burst forth.

[…how the building was funded by bonds in 1894…]

When the attendance increased the large attic was remodeled and equipped for class rooms adding materially to the capacity of the structure. Yet this did not provide sufficient and the basement was rearranged and numerous classrooms were added. Several of these had no daylight whatever but had to have artificial light all the time.

– Press Democrat, November 17, 1921
Three More Santa Rosa School Houses Nothing Better Than Firetraps

Only the merest chance saved several dwellings and at least one more school house from being destroyed by fire while the high school building was burning Tuesday night. Embers from the blazing building and in many cases large pieces of burning shingles and wood were carried by the breeze and the draft caused by the fire to houses within a radius of four or five blocks, and several burning embers were seen by spectators to light near the Fremont school building. Charred papers were carried as far as the public library by the breeze.

Only the fact that the wind was very light saved the Fremont school building, which is really a much worse fire trap that the old high school building from being destroyed.

Complaint has been made to the school authorities regarding the dangerous condition of the heating system of the Fourth street school. This building is heated in the same manner as it was forty years ago by small wood stoves in each room. Four of these stoves are reported as being dangerous, through being nearly worn out, and a request was made some time ago for new stoves.

A stove in one of the rooms of the school building collapsed Tuesday morning and ashes were scattered over the room. Fortunately the fire in the stove had died out, so but very few live coals were scattered, and no damage was done. What might have happened, however, if the stove had contained a fire, would have been an entirely different story. Had such been the case, no doubt two of Santa Rosa’s schools would have been in ashes today instead of one.

In the event of a fire breaking out in such a building, there would be even less chance of saving it than there was of saving the big school building. This is only one of the schools in this city that needs attention. Of the remaining three, only one, the Burbank, is in fairly good condition, and although far from being modern in every detail, might serve for several years as a school building.

The other two, the Lincoln and the South Park school, are in deplorable condition, and offer almost no protection against fire.

– Press Democrat, November 17, 1921
School Sessions Resumed In Annex And Portables: Halls Are To Be Utilized

After a day of uncertainty and excitement which followed the destruction of Santa Rosa’s high school building, and interrupted the routine of classes, students of the junior college, junior high and high school resumed their studies today, sharing the inadequate accommodations of the annex and two portable school rooms.

According to arrangements for the present, made at a meeting of the board of education last night, the high school and junior college pupils use the buildings from 8:15 to 12:15 o’clock. The junior high school holds classes from 12:45 to 4:30 o’clock.

This schedule has been adopted by the board of education until the necessary equipment can be installed in several of the halls downtown, which have been offered for use as schools.

Tables and chairs are being moved into the halls today, and it is expected that within a short time they will be ready.

The many water-soaked volumes saved from the school library, which can be used in the present emergency are being dried, and will aid materially in relieving the situation in which the schools have been cast.

Short of Everything

While a portion of the equipment and materials from the laboratories or the high school building was saved, the amount is insufficient. As a result, arrangements have been made with the Analy high school at Sebastopol whereby the junior college and high school classes  in chemistry and physics will go to Sebastopol to conduct their experiments.

In the meantime, plans are being perfected as rapidly as possible to provide some kind of laboratories here.

The halls, which are to be equipped for temporary use as schools, are the Masonic, Labor temple and the Armory.

Excitement over the fire Tuesday night is still rife among the students and the mass of black and gray ruins on the high school grounds form the basis for conversation, regrets and speculation.

Valuable Records Lost

New features of the blaze have come to light during the past 24 hours, among the most unfortunate of which was the destruction of Miss Frances O’Meara’s treasured collection of books, pictures and records.

The teacher the only one who has been a member of the high school faculty since the old building was erected in 1895, had carefully preserved copies of each issue of the various school publications. Added to these was a collection of invitations to every commencement held in the school during the past 26 years, pictures of historical and literary characters and a number of biological and zoological specimens.

The entire collection was kept in the building, and its total destruction occasioned regrets and sympathy from everyone in Santa Rosa.

Property Threatened

Several residences in the vicinity of the school were threatened with fire, sparks and bits of burning paper having started blazes on the roofs. It was only constant and persistent efforts which prevented the loss of at least a dozen houses.

Embers, carried on a light breeze, were strewn broadcast over a radius of several blocks. Many residents living blocks away, who were not aroused by the fire, awoke yesterday morning to find ashes and charred paper on the roofs and porches of their homes.

In the Fremont school, one of the old stoves which forms part of the inefficient and dangerous heating system, collapsed. Although there was practically no fire in it at the time, live coals and hot ashes were scattered over the floor. Fortunately, while much excitement was created, no damage resulted.

– Santa Rosa Republican, November 17, 1921

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LET’S GO TO THE CIRCUS ON COLLEGE AVE

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Hours before dawn, the boys were gathering at the depot waiting for the circus train. They would be playing hooky that day but wouldn’t get into much trouble for it; after all, their fathers did the same thing (and maybe grandfathers, too) and they had heard their elders speak wistfully about the pleasure of it, waiting in the dark with a swarm of kids and grown men for the trainload of marvels speeding their way on the rails.

From the 1916 Argus-Courier: “A monster train of red cars, loaded to the guards with circus paraphernalia and equipment of the John Robinson ten big combined shows, the oldest circus in the world, reached Petaluma Thursday morning, a little late but all safe and sound. There was a good sized reception committee on hand to welcome the showmen. Some were there who declared they had not missed seeing a circus ‘come in’ in twenty years. A few even remembered the last time the John Robinson circus visited California 35 years ago. Some small boys were at the depot as early as 3 a. m. although the circus did not arrive until 8:30.”

Setup in Santa Rosa was easier than many towns, where the fairgrounds were usually outside city limits and far from the depot. Here the show lot was nearly in the center of town – the former grounds of the old Pacific Methodist College (now the location of Santa Rosa Middle School, between E street and Brookwood Ave). Once the college buildings were removed around 1892, the nine acre vacant lot became the temporary home of every show rolling through.

This is the second item about the circuses that came to Santa Rosa and Petaluma as viewed through our local newspapers. Part one, “WHEN THE CIRCUS WAGONS CAME TO TOWN,” looked at the shows before the railroads arrived in the 1870s. With trains available the bigger and more famous circus companies began to come here and by the early 1900s, Santa Rosa could expect a visit from a world-class circus every year. The shows discussed below are only a small sample.

(CLICK or TAP any image to enlarge, or see the complete collection on Pinterest)

A big attraction for the 1883 John Robinson’s Circus was the electric light “as bright as the noon-day sun.” For advance PR they sent newspapers a humor column about “Uncle Jerry Peckum” complaining the “sarkis” tent being too close to his chicken farm: “It’s lit up so brite thet every last one o’ them tarnal fool chickins thinks it’s daylite again’, an’ got up an’ gone to layin.'” The column ended with Jerry deciding to go to the circus because “I’ve heern so much about this ‘lectricity light–an’ we may never hev a chance to see one agin.” The promo piece ran in the Petaluma Argus, naturally, because chicken.

1883 John Robinson’s Circus

The 1886 Sells Brothers Circus was the first mega-show to visit Sonoma County. While both Petaluma and Santa Rosa newspapers raved about its quality, the Petaluma Argus was outraged admission at the gate was $1.10 instead of the traditional buck.

Speaking of ripoffs: Earlier the Santa Rosa Daily Democrat ran an amusing reprint from a New York paper describing the predator/prey relationship between a circus “candy butcher” (food vendor) and the locals: “…The candy butchers in a circus never work the bottom row of seats. Country bumpkins who easily become their prey always get up on the top benches. They do this because they are afraid of the ‘butchers’ and want to hide from them. The latter move around on the top seats, and when they find a verdant fellow they fill his girl’s lap with oranges, candy, popcorn and fans. If the girl says she doesn’t want them they ask her why she took them, and make the young man pay thirteen or fourteen prices for the rubbish…” The piece continued by describing the pink in a circus’ trademark pink lemonade was a red dye added to conceal how little lemon actually was in the drink: “Strawberry lemonade men make two barrels of the delicious beverage which they sell of ten cents worth of tartaric acid and five cents worth of aniline and two lemons. They make fifty dollars a day each…”

1886 Sells Brothers Circus

I’m sure it lived up to its claim of being the “greatest show on earth,” but when the Ringling Brothers Circus made four visits during the 1900s we were flooded each time with the greatest hype on earth, as the Press Democrat seemingly printed every scrap of PR flackery the advance promoters churned out as “news” articles. “The aerial features of Ringling Brothers shows by far surpass anything of a similar nature ever exhibited in the United States. The civilized countries of the world have been thoroughly searched for the newest and most thrilling acts.” (1903) “Their Acts in Ringling Brothers’ Circus Almost Surpasses the Possible.” (1904) The low point was probably the 1907 article, “Interesting Facts Regarding the Expense of Advertising and Maintaining a Great Circus,” which was neither very interesting nor very factual: “An elephant without plenty of feed is as dangerous as a healthy stick of dynamite.” Yowp!

1900 Ringling Brothers Circus

Santa Rosa schools were dismissed at 11AM on the Thursday morning when Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came to town, which was a pragmatic surrender of any hope for keeping the kids at their desks once the parade started marching down Fourth street.

There was no Big Top for this show, just a horseshoe-shaped grandstand that could seat 16,000. The audience was apparently immense; the PD reported, “afternoon and evening the vast seating accommodations was occupied with a sea of humanity.”

These 1902 performances were not Buffalo Bill’s “last and only” shows in Santa Rosa. He was back again in 1910 for his “farewell tour,” and also in 1914, after he lost the legal use of the “Buffalo Bill” name and had to perform with the Sells-Floto Circus. For more, see “BUFFALO BILL STOPS BY TO SAY GOODBYE.”

1902 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

“Early in the day farmers from far and near came driving to town with their entire families while special trains brought crowds from points as far away as Ukiah,” reported the Press Democrat in 1904 about the third appearance here by the Ringling Brothers Circus. “By 11 o’clock the streets were thronged with a good natured perspiring crowd prepared to be amused at any thing.”

Unfortunately, Santa Rosa was suffering through a heat wave that September morning: “The Court House proved a very attractive place as it was so cool and refreshing within its walls while outside the thermometer ranged from 100 upward from 10 o’clock. Many of the windows were filled with the families and friends of the county officials, while the steps and shady portions of the grounds were packed with outside visitors. All along the line of march all available windows and other points of vantage were packed, while great throngs moved restlessly up and down the principal streets, and crowded the stores.”

The description of the circus parade was probably rewrite of PR copy, but it’s still fun to imagine a sight like this coming down Fourth street: “Never before in the history of Santa Rosa has there been such a parade as Ringling Bros, gave Thursday. Floats and chariots, half a dozen bands, numerous companies of horseback riders representing various nationalities, both men and women, a drove of thirteen camels, twenty-six elephants and many open cages of wild animals. Altogether there were over 375 horses in the parade. They were ridden, driven two and three tandem, in teams of two,. four, six, eight and twenty-four horses each. One of the most pleasing sights to the younger people were the twenty-four horse team on the band wagon and the twenty-four Shetland pony team on a float.”

1905 Press Democrat cartoon: “In Town for the Circus”

Norris & Rowe’s Circus was a Santa Rosa favorite in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, and not just because they reliably showed up every April. “On account of the fact that it is a California show,” explained the Press Democrat in 1905, “the people of this state are naturally interested in its success from year to year, and the enterprise of Norris & Rowe in having advanced in a few years from a small dog and pony show to the growing circus that they now possess, has been highly commended.”

Alas, the show had no end of problems, well symbolized by the photo below showing their 1905 “Grand Gold Glittering Street Parade” in Santa Rosa taking place during a downpour. Their last appearance here in 1909 shocked some by offering “several gambling schemes” and a racy sideshow “for men only.” The circus went bankrupt and closed in 1910. For more see: “BROKE DOWN CIRCUS.”

Photo courtesy Sonoma County Library

The Barnum and Bailey Circus made its second stop here in 1908, and the show was the biggest, best, blah, blah, blah. This trip was notable for an acrobatic act which sounds genuinely risky; the odd-but-colorful description that appeared in the Press Democrat is transcribed below (and was undoubtedly circus PR) but from other papers we can piece together what really went on.

The main performer was 20 year-old Yvone La Raque, who was seated in an “automobile” at the top of a narrow ramp near the top of the tent, about 65 feet in the air. (I can find no claim the little vehicle actually had an engine.) When her cart was released it dropped down the ramp and flew off with enough speed to somehow execute a somersault. She and the little car landed on a separate spring-cushioned ramp several feet away. The entire business took only 4-5 seconds.

Now, Gentle Reader might not think this such a great challenge; all she had to do was keep the wheels absolutely straight and do whatever weight-shifting physics needed to perform the loop-de-loop. But that was in 1907-1908, an age when steering wheels regularly fell off because gearboxes were still an experimental thing and even the best new tires sometimes burst under stress. And, of course, success depended upon workers quickly setting up the landing ramp with absolute precision while circus craziness was underway.

That was 1907 when Yvone was a solo act with a different circus; when she joined Barnum and Bailey her sister (name unknown) was added to the act, following her immediately down the ramp in an identical car and flying across to the landing ramp while Yvone looped above her. By all accounts the crowds went nuts.

I researched them with dread, certain I would discover one or both were killed or horribly mangled, but apparently they retired uninjured at the close of the 1908 season.

The start of this awful act is made from the dome of the tent. The cars ride on the same platform, one behind the other, being released simultaneously. One car is red and the other blue that their separate flights may be followed by the eye that dares to look. The leading auto arches gracefully across a wide gap, being encircled as it does so by the rear car. They land at the same instant. From the time the cars are released at the top of the incline to the landing below on the platform, Just four seconds elapse. Those who have seen the act say it amounts to four years when you figure the suspense, the worry and the awful jolting of the nerves. “You feel like a murderer waiting for the verdict,” says some one who saw the act while the circus was it New York City. “The suspense is awful. You look back over your past life. You regret as many of your sins as you can it four seconds. You want to close your eyes, but you can’t. My, what a relief when they land safely! That’s the jury bringing in a verdict of not guilty. Then you rise with a yell of joy as the young women alight without a scratch. Everybody else yells. Oh, it’s great!”

1908 Barnum and Bailey Circus

And finally we come to the Al G. Barnes Circus. The ad below is from 1921, but his show first appeared in Santa Rosa ten years earlier. I deeply regret having not found much about him beyond a few anecdotes – he clearly was gifted with a rare magnetic personality and both people and animals were drawn to him instinctively. His friend and attorney Wallace Ware tells the story of seeing Barnes throw meat to a fox in a forest, then approaching the wild animal and petting it as if it were tamed. He trained performing animals with food rewards but also by talking to them with genuine sincerity as if they could understand everything he said. Ware’s memoir, “The Unforgettables,” has a section on Al worth reading if you’d like to know more.

(RIGHT: Chevrolet and bear at the Al G. Barnes Zoo, Culver City, 1926. Courtesy of the USC Digital Library)

Barnes also had a private zoo near Los Angeles where he kept animals too old or too wild to be in the circus. It must have been enormously expensive to maintain – supposedly it numbered around 4,000 animals – but kudos to him for not destroying the unprofitable animals or selling them off to carnivals where they likely would suffer great abuses. That was the 1920s, remember; there were no animal sanctuaries for former circus animals, tame or no, and trade newspapers like Billboard and the New York Clipper regularly had want ads of circus animals for sale.

The Press Democrat treated him like a hometown boy although he was from Canada and lived in Southern California when he wasn’t touring. The PD reprinted news items about his circus, his illnesses and reported his marriage on the front page. When he died in 1931 the PD wrote its own obit: “When Al G. Barnes rode into the ring, swept off his hat, bowed and welcomed the crowd, you knew who was running the show…his death will be generally regretted, not only in a personal way but because it marks the passing of a picturesque character, one well known in the west–one of the last of the kind.”

1921 Al G. Barnes Circus

 

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SANTA ROSA’S QUEST FOR A HEART

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Courthouse Square is (finally) reunited, so we can (finally) say our downtown has sort-of a park, although there’s so much parking on the sides it is much smaller than need be. But the important thing is Santa Rosa (finally) has a central place where citizens can gather together – something the town has sought since its founding in 1854.

In the layout of the town 163 years ago it was called the Plaza, but I can’t recall seeing much evidence it was used for public gatherings except for a portion of the ceremonies for the 1876 Centennial. It was simply a small lot criss-crossed by footpaths and usually in pretty rough shape because no one took care of it. Its potential as a park was further limited when it was clearcut in 1884 to build a courthouse and after that one tumbled down in the Great Earthquake of 1906, the parcel was almost completely filled with the elephantine courthouse built to replace it.

But having a nice public park was a Very Big Deal for our ancestors, and not just for sports and recreation; parks were the heart of 19th century communities. Having a pretty park came with considerable bragging rights – it was the yin to promoting a town paired with the yang of boasting about the burg’s economic prowess and promising future. So if you want to grasp the history of Santa Rosa understand this: The city fathers yearned to be a great Bay Area metropolis, and at the tippy-top of their wishlist was having a terrific park.

At a minimum, Santa Rosa needed a place for political rallies, holiday celebrations, group picnics and the like. Except for the occasional circus or traveling theater group, these doings were about the only entertainment in a small town like this during the 19th century; if there was to be an Admission Day parade with marching band followed by a snoozefest speech about the Mexican War from Colonel I. Blather, Ret., you, sir or madam, would be in that audience along with hundreds of your neighbors – and glad for it.

For about a dozen years around the 1870s, the destination was Arcadia Park, also known as “Willows.”  (Its site was obliterated by Highway 101 but the current intersection of Morgan and Ninth street was near the southeast corner, with the northwest end being the corner of Davis and Tenth street on the west side of the freeway.) It was privately owned and available for rental, but apparently not open every day.

Public use faded in the 1880s after it was bought by the Metzger family, who built a home on the property followed by a winery. But it also had other drawbacks which made it less than optimal. It was about a half-hour walk from downtown with no public transport (meaning horse-drawn trolley) and was apparently little more than a vacant lot with no amenities – although some newspaper descriptions mention a saloon, dance floor and a ten-pin bowling alley, these structures must have been quite small or temporary. The whole place was only an acre, not much larger than the original plaza. That it was so well-used only shows how desperate Santa Rosa was.

On the east side of town was another private park over twice as big and with much more to offer. It was closer to downtown and on the trolley line, where Fourth st. meets McDonald and College avenues (today it’s the Creekside Park apartment complex at 1130 4th street). “City Gardens” backed on to Santa Rosa Creek and had a tiny lake/pond, a zoo of some sort and a velocipede track where bike enthusiasts could race around “at a 2-40 gait” (about 22 MPH), according to an 1869 item.

That place also had a special significance in Santa Rosa history, as it was around there where Julio Carrillo and his pals hosted a blowout Fourth of July picnic and ball in 1854 to convince county residents to vote for making Santa Rosa the county seat – although the town barely existed at the time. Spoiler alert: It worked. Never underestimate the power of free BBQ.

There’s quite a nice description of City Gardens from 1884, when the First Regiment of the National Guard held their annual encampment there and along McDonald ave. “[T]he camp was lighted up and the illumination furnished by from fifteen hundred to two thousand Japanese lanterns was magnificent in the extreme. It was superb beyond description, and presented an appearance much more easily imagined than described.” The article in the Sonoma Democrat continued poetically:

The usual dress parade and guardmounting [sic] was had on Tuesday, and we noticed a marked increase in the crowd of citizens in attendance. After its close the sunset gun was fired, and supper discussed, and the non-commissioned officers and privates began to prepare for their enjoyment. The tents were placed in order with alacrity, and when the shades of evening begin to lower, the campfires were lit, the lanterns to shed their dubious light, and the camp took on its usual gala appearance. The splendid band took its position in the pavilion at the City Gardens, and soon the floor was filled with dancers.

At the same time Arcadia Park was fast fading away as the Metzger winery expanded. About the only events advertised at the park now were picnics for the German Social Club (of which William Metzger was a leader) and the annual Italian picnic. And that was another reason park use dwindled: The area around it had grown into being the Italian community which was shunned by the racist, pro-Confederacy society which dominated Santa Rosa – and would continue to do so for decades.

City Gardens closed for a year and reopened under a new owner: Peter Henry Kroncke (that spelling is correct, but he was variously tagged in the newspapers as “Kronke,” “Kroncker,” and the grunty, “Kronk”).

Henry Kroncke was well-established in town as owner of the Santa Rosa Planing Mill and was often mentioned for his partnerships with others in the lumber and construction trades. There is no dispute that he built a beautiful park and it looked like Santa Rosa at last had found its heart – or at least, a nice place for anyone who could afford the 25¢ admission, the equivalent of about six bucks today.

“Kroncke’s Park” grand opening was on May Day, 1886, featuring a ball with a 17-piece orchestra and with the promise of a musical concert every Sunday. The following week a “mounted sword contest” was advertised, so after a relaxing picnic with your cherished family you could watch a couple of guys flail at each other in a medieval-ish way. (The Sonoma Democrat reported the other attraction was “Professor S. J. Reeves giving an exhibition of horsemanship on the back of a wild mustang, which seat he kept notwithstanding the saddle occupied the neck of the animal part of the time.”)

That second ad also stated this: “Grand excursion from San Francisco.” From Kroncke’s agent in the city anyone could buy a round-trip ticket to Santa Rosa at the subsidized price of $1.00 – not including the park admission price, of course. Enough daytripping San Franciscans to pack fourteen train cars came to watch the sword fight, and those attendance numbers continued all summer, with apparently 1,000-1,500 coming to Santa Rosa each Sunday.

Kroncke’s Park was clearly a smashing success for both itself and the town. There was one eensy little drawback: The big crowds attracted pickpockets. “That exception to the pleasures of the day is one that is attendant on all such occasions,” wrote the Sonoma Democrat. Uh, since these “occasions” were scheduled for every weekend, did that mean Santa Rosa should brace for a regular influx of wrong-doers? Why…yes.

Both Santa Rosa newspapers downplayed the problems at first. A month later the Petaluma Courier wrote their town would never welcome Sunday excursion visitors because of the “hoodlums and roughs” who were showing up in Santa Rosa. “While it is a fact that two or three pickpockets plied their trade successfully in the crowd that attended the sword contest here,” the Sonoma Democrat replied, “otherwise these excursions to this place have been very orderly and almost entirely free from the hoodlum element, considering the number of people present.”

As the summer wore on, the papers could no longer gloss over the mounting problems. In August, excursionists vandalized two commercial orchards, seriously damaging and even destroying trees. Then a few weeks later, a Democrat article began with this: “The excursion to this city and Kroncke’s Park Sunday, was made up chiefly of hoodlums…”

While still being an apologist and stating “it should not be inferred that all the excursions have been objectionable,” the paper reported police had to break up a free-for-all fight at the park and brawls continued throughout the afternoon. An officer clubbed a disorderly man unconscious on Fourth street. Worst of all, “when the train left for San Francisco in the evening about sixty ot the hoodlums got left, and put in the night parading the streets.” I’m sure that must have been a peaceful evening in old Santa Rosa.

The worst incident came the following year, as an excursion coincided with the last day of the county fair. The “sallow-faced individuals dressed in chinchilla coats” and “their vulgar female companions [were] an outrage on all sense of decency” as they bullied their way around downtown, pushing people off the sidewalks and stealing booze and cigars from saloons. One of the crowd entered a hotel and grabbed the heavy bell used to announce dinner service and hit the hotel owner in the head with it, knocking him cold. A Deputy Sheriff and two off-duty San Francisco policemen arrested the man on the returning train, but only after a confrontation with the guy’s pals who were trying to hide him from the cops.

Yet the newspapers – particularly the Republican – continued holding Kroncke’s Park and its excursion train promotion blameless. In a February 1888 puff-piece, the Republican paper gushed, “We have begun to look upon Kroncke’s Park as an almost necessity; in fact it would be difficult to tell what we would do without it”. Finally, in 1890 and after some 700-800 signed a petition demanding the City Council take action (the town population at the time was around 5,000), Kroncke’s liquor license was denied.

The end of booze apparently meant the end of the excursions, and likewise the end of the troublemakers. The park didn’t close, but it’s not clear whether it was still open every day. Like the old Arcadia Park, it’s mentioned in the papers as being used for political rallies and rented for group picnics.

Even sans alcohol it was a special place. As seen on the fire map below, there was an enclosed bowling alley (they played ten pin, same as today, except with a wooden ball), the large pavilion with a dance floor, and “swimming baths” back by the creek. An ancient oak was surrounded by a stairway and electric lights were strung overhead.

The park name reverted to City Gardens after it was sold, and it was sold again in 1897 to the Grace Brothers of local brewery fame. Now it became a beer garden with a concession stand that sold ice cream and a roller-skating rink was added. As “Grace Park” it came closest to being Santa Rosa’s own; Rose Carnival parades usually ended there, Burbank Day celebrations were held, and there were always big doings on Labor Day. There were concerts and children’s carnivals and in 1905 there was a contest where men tried to catch a greased pig.

Any illusions that it was a de facto public park ended in 1921 when Frank Grace sold the property. Nor had they maintained it as a town rightly should; the only original structures left were the pavilion and tree staircase. Even as far back as 1908 the fire map had noted the buildings were “old and dilapidated.”

Our story of the place ends with new owners Dr. Joseph Shaw and wife Frances, who started building their extravagant Xanadu-like mansion to house their art treasures. Construction of “Villa Francesca” was abandoned after his death in a 1925 auto accident, but the Shaws and their architectural dreams deserve their own item here, someday, As Luther Burbank’s personal physician and closest friend, the couple’s cremains are buried alongside Burbank.

Santa Rosa’s continuing – and painful – search for a park continued. It wouldn’t be until 1931 that Santa Rosa had a true public-owned space with the donation of the nine acre Juilliard homestead (although the first official park was created in 1922 when they set aside an unused spot out at the city’s reservoir). Before and after the Great Earthquake there had been various proposals to create a water park on the banks of Santa Rosa Creek, or buy the current location of the Santa Rosa Middle School, or buy the grounds of an old mansion on Mendocino avenue, or buy any of several undistinguished lots to the west or south of city limits. But it always ended the same ways: The town was too cheap, voters weren’t interested or there was too much heavy lifting involved. For more on that history see: “NARY A PARK TO PLAY IN.”

Serious questions remain unanswered about the legacy of Kroncke’s Park: Was it his Sunday excursions which set Santa Rosa skidding towards the ditch? We know by 1905 this was a “wide-open town,” with thriving underground economy from illegal gambling and having the largest red light district between San Francisco and Reno.

It seems the park introduced habitual gambling to Santa Rosa. Gambling was always sanctioned at the County Fair racetrack with the newspapers even printing the odds, while the rest of the year saloon keepers could be found to serve as hometown bookies for customers wanting to bet on out-of-town horse races and other events (see “THE MAYOR OF MAIN STREET“). But it’s noteworthy that after Kroncke’s grand opening with the ball and picnic, almost all of his excursion ads promoted some sort of sporting event. Besides sword fighting there was wrestling and sparring, baseball and football games and all kinds of athletic tournaments – just the sort of competitions which attract gamblers.

I’ll also argue Kroncke’s excursions could have spurred prostitution here. The subsidized train tickets brought first-time visitors to Santa Rosa who learned it wasn’t a bad daytrip – the ferry/train ride was only about three hours. Still, that was far enough away for scant risk of bumping into the minister or other acquaintances from the Bay Area.

But what is certain is the weekly surge of a thousand or so tourists brought in a lot of money – and downtown interests would have been loathe to jeopardize that.

Taken together, it exactly fits the pattern of the corruption the muckrakers exposed here in 1905 – with the courts and police willing to look the other way (for the most part), government ignoring public outcry (it took 700-800 signatures, really?) and the newspapers spinning PR instead of calling for reforms.

Such has often been the story of Santa Rosa, even today; we too easily find ourselves waylaid along the road of good intentions and forget where we were headed.

Kroncke’s Park gave us a place which was nice enough that we wanted to ignore it also brought criminals to town. The reunited courthouse square gives us a place nice enough we can try to ignore its design and size makes it most look like a glorified helicopter landing pad. If you squint hard enough you can pretend to see anything you want to see, and Santa Rosa’s pretty good at doing that.

Portion of 1893 Sanborn fire map showing layout of Kroncke’s Park
SUNDAY LAST.

What a pleasant day it was! Churches all full, and pleasure resorts ditto. City Gardens thronged with several hundred people—listening to the splendid music of the brass baud, (36 pieces,) wandering through the lovely walks and saying sweet nothings while resting on the rustic seats, boating on the miniature lake, looking at the birds and animals, or watching gay youngsters going around the velocipede track at a 2-40 gait. A great many persons also crossed the Bay on Sunday last, and enjoyed themselves finely.

– Sonoma Democrat, March 27 1869

 

THE SOLDIERS NIGHT.

The usual dress parade and guardmounting was had on Tuesday, and we noticed a marked increase in the crowd of citizens in attendance. After its close the sunset gun was fired, and supper discussed, and the non-commissioned officers and privates began to prepare for their enjoyment. The tents were placed in order with alacrity, and when the shades of evening begin to lower, the campfires were lit, the lanterns to shed their dubious light, and the camp took on its usual gala appearance. The splendid band took its position in the pavilion at the City Gardens, and soon the floor was filled with dancers. Drum Major Mayberry acted as master of ceremonies with ease, grace and dignity. All went off splendidly with the exception that the quarters were entirely inadequate to accomodate the crowd which thronged to participate.

– Sonoma Democrat, September 13 1884

 

A Public Park.

On Friday, P. H. Kronke purchased from Manville Doyle the eastern portion of the old Hewitt homestead on Fourth street, commencing at the old barn opposite the southern terminus of McDonald avenue, and will commence operations at once to lay it out for a public park. The tract fronts 130 feet on Fourth street, and is 700 feet in depth, so it covers an area of 91,000 square feet. He will erect an octagonal dancing platform sixty feet in diameter, remove the old barn and place a neat fence about it; and in every way beautify and adorn it. As it is near the intersection of Fourth street and College and McDonald avenues, its convenience will render it a very attractive place.

– Sonoma Democrat, May 26 1885

H. Kronke is fitting his park up at the intersection of Fourth street and McDonald avenue, in a very tasty manner. He has just employed an English gardener, who will commence at once to lay the grounds out. There will be a large lawn, interspersed with flower beds here and there, and it will also have a fountain of running water in the center. Mr. Kronke expects to have the park opened to the public next season at which time he will give picnics and open-air concerts at short intervals during the summer season.

– Sonoma Democrat, October 10 1885

 

The Sword Contest.

The sword contest between Duncan O. Ross and Sergeant Charles Walsh, at Kroncke’s Gardens Sunday afternoon, attracted a large crowd of people from the surrounding country as well as from San Francisco, which place contributed fourteen coaches full of pleasure seekers. Tbe excursion train from San Rafael arrived about 2 p. m., and found street cars, ’buses and vehicles of all descriptions awaiting to convey the people to the grounds. The contest was one of the most exciting witnessed on this coast. Ross won the match by a score of fifteen to thirteen. At the close of the eighteenth attack the contestants availed themselves of an intermission, which interval was filled by Professor S. J. Reeves giving an exhibition of horsemanship on the back of a wild mustang, which seat he kept notwithstanding the saddle occupied the neck of the animal part of the time. With but few exceptions a good time was enjoyed by all. The exceptions were the loss of money through the agency of pickpockets, but that exception to the pleasures of the day is one that is attendant on all such occasions. Credit is due the enterprising traveling agent of the Donahue road, Mr. T. C. Wills, for his successful efforts in behalf of our little city.

-Sonoma Democrat, May 15 1886

 

Sunday Excursions.

It is evident the editor of the Petaluma Courier does not entertain a very exalted opinion of Sunday excursions, as he comes out with the following rather flat-footed remarks:

We understand that Mr. Wills, agent for the S. F. and N. P. R. R., has been in our city trying to make arrangements for Sunday excursions to agricultural Park. Now, we are willing to do any thing in the world we can to help build up our town and attract visitors, but it we are to be cursed with such crowds of roughs as some Sundays visit Sonoma valley, and that recently visited Santa Rosa, we trust the directors will refuse to allow the Park to be used for any such purpose. Just let a crowd of such hoodlums and roughs as we have mentioned have the free run of the Park for a few Sundays, and we will find hell located only half a mile from the center of our city.

We think the Courier has a mistaken idea about the matter, so far as Santa Rosa is concerned, if by its allusion in the above, it has reference to any of the excursions from San Francisco that have visited Kroncke’s Park in this city. While it is a fact that two or three pickpockets plied their trade successfully in the crowd that attended the sword contest here, otherwise these excursions to this place have been very orderly and almost entirely free from the hoodlum element, considering the number of people present.

-Sonoma Democrat, June 12 1886

 

Hoodlum Vandalism

Heretofore the class of excursionists that have visited our city and Kroncke’s Park have proven, with but one or two exceptions, to be as quiet and orderly while in our midst as could be desired. The excursion party Sunday, however, must have been made up of a different element. The depredations committed by some of the crowd have incensed our people, and they cry out against such excursion parties coming here, or if they are to come, to be kept from repeating their actions of last Sunday. A party of them, it is not known how many, broke into the Hungarian prune orchard of thirteen acres at the head of Third street, owned by H. and W, Pierce, and destroyed one or two trees and broke off at least fifty limbs, some large and some small, besides strewing the ground with several bushels of the half ripe fruit. Judge Hoag, in whose charge the orchard is entrusted, was away, and did not hear of the injury perpetrated by these hoodlums until Monday morning. It is also understood that a plum orchard suffered similarly, and, if anything, worse, for they did not leave a single plum on the trees.

-Sonoma Democrat, August 14 1886

 

Another Crowd of Hoodlums.

The excursion to this city and Kroncke’s Park Sunday, was made up chiefly of hoodlums, although there were many respectable people; and it is due them to say they took no part with the other and rougher portion of the crowd. It is well that the excursion Sunday is to be the last of the season, for our citizens have got enough of such visitors as have come here on one or two occasions of similar character this summer, and are about ready to organize a remonstrance committee. It should not be inferred that all the excursions have been objectionable; many of them have been composed of laboring men and their families, who came here to spend a quiet Sunday away from the noise and bustle of the great city. But the majority of the excursionists last Sunday were of a class contaminating in their mere presence. Their conduct while here was such as to keep our officers busy all the time preserving the peace. The women were equally as bad as the men, and incited their escorts to ribald actions. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon a general fight ensued at tbe gardens, and it was with much difficulty that the officers finally restored peace. One of the roughs was taken in custody and brought before Justice Brown, who fined him $7, and let him go. The Marshal arrested another “tough” on Fourth street soon after the arrival of the train, and experienced much trouble in getting him to jail. At the corner, by the Hall of Records, he showed fight, and had to be knocked senseless with a club before the balance of the distance was completed. Several personal fights ensued at the park during the afternoon, but no further arrests were made. When the train left for San Francisco in the evening about sixty of the hoodlums got left, and put in the night parading the streets.

– Sonoma Democrat, September 4 1886

 

In the Police Court.

His Honor, Justice Brown, was seated on his bench bright and early Monday morning, in anticipation of a flourishing business after the excursion of Sunday. Jeremiah was also on hand, and after sweeping out the halls ot justice and tidying things up a bit, seated himself by the door to await the coming of the soreheads. The first one of the latter mentioned articles that Jeremiah had the pleasure of introducing to his Honor was one R. Taylor. His appearance was not in perfect keeping with his name; he looked as if he had not seen a tailor for some time. He informed his Honor that he had come up from San Francisco with the excursionists Sunday, and mistaking our City Marshal for an old friend trier to embrace him and was knocked down for so doing. The Judge thought that a man should pay for such a sentimental display, and charged him $10. He paid it, and Jeremiah bowed him out. The next was Thomas Jackson, who informed his Honor that he had merely engaged in a friendly tussle with an acquaintance at the Park Sunday, for $5 a side, and added that he thought he had been sufficiently punished in the whipping he accepted from his friendly antagonist. His Honor differed with him on that point, and, greatly to Jeremiah’s satisfaction, made the thing square for $6. The only occupant yet remaining in the prisoners’ dock was old Michael Fiahare, who was vigorously endeavoring to scrape a friendship with Jeremiah, greatly to that functionary’s disgust. At last his turn came, and after he once got started with his story of how he tried to bum a drink and was bounced by the barkeeper, there was no hope ot getting in a word edgeways. After a few ineffectual attempts at stopping the voluminous old bum, his honor gave it up and settled back in his easy chair. It was some time before the old man finished, and with tears in his eyes asked the Judge what he thought ought to be done to a barkeeper who treated his customers as he had been treated. His Honor was not much affected with the old man’s grief at the hard heartedness of the bar-tender, and in default of $30, Jeremiah was instructed to take Michael over to the County Jail for a period of thirty days.

– Sonoma Democrat, September 4 1886
A DASTARDLY DEED,

M. Byrne, proprietor of Byrne’s Hotel, opposite the depot, was assaulted by an unknown party Sunday evening in the reading and bar-room of his hotel. Samuel Stoner, an eye-witness to the assault, related the following particulars to a Republican reporter who arrived on the spot shortly after the deed was done: “The assailant stepped behind the bar-counter, picked up the dinner bell and commenced to ring it. Mr. Byrne asked him to quit ringing the bell. The man still presisted in his annoyance when Mr. Byrne started toward him uttering an unpleasant epithet. The assaulting party then struck Mr. Byrne on the head with the bell and ran out saying he did not allow any one to abuse him. As soon as stuck Mr. Byrne fell senseless to the floor and those present ran to his rescue. The fleeing man made good his escape.” It is thought he was an excursionist and left on the train which pulled out for San Francisco soon after the affair took place. The police officer searched the train in company with a witness to the scene but did not succeed in identifying the man. Deputy Sheriff L. Brietenbach and a witness boarded the 5 o’clock excursion train for the city with the hope of apprehending the assailant. Chief of Police Crowly, of San Francisco, was telephoned a description of the man. The offender is a young man with auburn hair and at the time deed was committed was in his shirt sleeves. A woman was instrumental in hiding him away. It is supposed he was intoxicated. Drs. Davis and Shearer were summoned immediately after the occurence and administered to the sufferer. Mr. Byrne, although unconscious for some time, is not necessarily injured fatally. He was struck in the back of the head.

[..]

– Santa Rosa Daily Republican, August 22, 1887

 

SUNDAY’S EXCURSION
Depredations Committed by the Tough Element While in this City.

Excursions like the one from San Francisco Sunday are unequivocally the reverse of desirable. There may be some cities in the State desirous of supplying their stock of Sunday amusements with importations of San Francisco hoodlum and tough, but Santa Rosa is willing to relinquish all claims to such pre-eminence.

While there was undoubtedly a large number of respectable people among the excursionists, the major part was composed of the usual gang of San Francisco toughs, accompanied by their customary companions–first-class candidates for the Magdalen Asylum. The arrival of the train in this city was the signal for an unrestrained outbreak of that spirit which the tough is prevented from indulging freely at home on account of the vigilance of the metropolitan police force. This element, during their passage from the depot to the Park, took occasion to render themselves obnoxious to the respectable people with whom they came in contact. Ladies were insulted and a number of our citizens were crowded off the sidewalks. The conversation with which the sallow-faced individuals. dressed in chinchilla coats, entertained their vulgar female companions was an outrage on all sense of decency. During their stay it required the utmost vigilance of the officers to keep them within bounds.

One of the toughs, who was arrested under the name of Tim Hallihan, entered Byrne’s Hotel, Sunday afternoon, shortly before the departure of the train, and perpetrated an outrage which is likely to be revenged with the full penalty of the law. The tough walked behind the bar, announcing his attention of taking the establishment and commenced ringing the dinner bell violently, as if to demonstrate his ability and willingness to verify his words. Mr. Byrne’s requested him to desist. His words had no other effect than to increase the volume of sound. He started towards the obstreperous individual as if to take the bell from his hands, whereupon he was felled to the floor unconscious, by a heavy blow under the left ear from the bell. The large crowd which had gathered immediately rushed to Mr. Byrne’s assistance, which gave his assailant an opportunity to escape. He was not backward in improving it, and disappeared among the crowd which was just then swarming around the cars. A gentleman who had witnessed the occurence pointed the man out to Deputy Sheriff Breitenbach, who followed him on to the train. In the bustle and confusion the escaping tough concealed his identity and was not captured until the train was nearing Miller’s Station. Trouble with the friends of the prisoner was anticipated, and the conductor of the train, Frank Grace, and two San Francisco policemen who were on the train came to the arresting officer’s assistance. True to their loyalty, the toughs arose from their seats as if by one impulse and made a dash for the prisoner’s liberation. No blows were exchanged. The toughs depended on their numerical strength, but were unsuccessful. The prisoner was brought to this city on the evening train and changes filed against him for assault with a deadly weapon. Justice Brown, before whom he was taken Monday morning, held him to bail at $500. It is understood that several of the saloons in this city were robbed in a bold manner. It is stated that while the train was at the depot in Petaluma a number of the excursionists weht into a saloon close at hand and robbed the proprietor of several bottles of liquor and boxes of cigars in a high-handed manner.

– Sonoma Democrat, August 27 1887

 

Kroncke’s Park.

From Mr. Henry Kroncke a Republican reporter learned that he was making extensive improvements in the park, preparatory for the coming season. This delightful place of resort became quiet famous last season, and as a result Mr. Kroncke states that every Sunday in April, May and June have already been engaged, and  Mr. Kroncke’s agent in San Francisco informs him that there will be no difficulty in securing picnics during the season up to August 1st. The park has been rented only to social clubs and societies, and  Mr. Kroncke has exercised the greatest care in making contracts, as he can assure us that only the most respectable societies will be permitted to hold picnics at the park. The bowling alley will be fixed up again with several improvements. An outside bar will also be arranged for picnics. The swimming baths, will be in operation and conducted upon the same thorough and strict system as last year. These baths are one of the most attractive features of the park and arranged probably better than any of a similar character in the State. They are something that Santa Rosa has been in need of for some time, and the liberal patronage justifies Mr. Kroncke in continuing them. The work of improving the grounds has already commenced and the green grass, shady trees and blooming flowers will be a great attraction for Santa Rosans during the warm days and evening of summer. We have begun to look upon Kroncke’s Park as an almost necessity; in fact it would be difficult to tell what we would do without it. The construction of the park and its success, has been one cause of Mr. Kroncke being placed in the lead of enterprising citizens of Santa Rosa.

– Santa Rosa Daily Republican, February 11 1888

 

 The Kroncke’s Park Liquor License Denied

…[I]t is the duty of this committee to ascertain the effect of establishing such a business in the locality described in the petition and ascertain whether or not it would be to the detriment of any other individual. We find no evidence that it would not, while we do find that within the last twelve months a protest of some seven or eight hundred names was filed with your clerk protesting against the licensing of a bar or drinking saloon in the premises described in the petition. Our own Superior Court has interpreted the spirit of article 2 of the ordinance to be the confinement of the liquor traffic to the central or business portion of the city, as a police regulation. If so, we should not ourselves break the law.

The committee recommended that the petition be denied…The report was adopted by a unanimous vote of the council.

– Sonoma Democrat, April 5 1890

 

City Garden Sold.

The property former known as Kroncke’s Park, now the City Gardens, was sold on Saturday to Grace Brothers, who will fit up the residence and the garden as a pleasure resort and park. The grounds are attractive and the location central. The property has been owned for some time by Joseph Kohnenberger, and the sale was consummated through the real estate agency of Davis & Farnham. It is expected that very extensive improvements will be made by the new owners.

– Sonoma Democrat, May 29 1897

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