652 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



By B. V. Sargent, Je. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: In rising to address you this 

 evening I feel very much like a certain Italian, who having worked at 

 various times on sheep ranches, cattle ranches, and hog ranches, finally 

 found more profitable employment in a San Jose foundry. One day, when 

 busy at work, the foreman of his room told him to bring a monkey-wrench. 

 Our friend from the sunny clime thought a moment, scratched his head 

 and thus ejaculated, " I worka the sheepa ranch, I worka the hoga ranch, 

 and I worka the cattle ranch, but I never before worka the monka- 

 wranch." 



I have debated in college and argued in mock courts, but this is my 

 first appearance before the public, and whilst I acquiesce to the wishes and 

 obediently comply with the request of your honored President, I cannot 

 but question the judgment which has led him to select a mere novice in 

 the art of oratory to deliver the annual address on this occasion. 



This year has marked an important era in the history both of our State 

 and of our county. Heretofore Californians have lived, comparatively 

 speaking, in themselves and for themselves. Thousands of miles away 

 from the heart throbs of civilization they have felt only its slighter pulsa- 

 tions. " Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, they kept the even 

 tenor of their way," basking contentedly in their glorious climate, and 

 caring not for the coming of others. 



But the breath of energy has wafted abroad the fame of our State. Vis- 

 itors have come and gone, and they have spread o'er the lands of the north, 

 the south, and the east, the wonders of the Golden West. People of the 

 overcrowded cities beyond the Rockies, hearing the tales of our wonder- 

 land, have left the homes of their childhood ; have left the hoar-king's chill- 

 ing blasts, and the summer's sweltering heat, to come and enjoy with us 

 our sunshine and our happiness. Capital, too, ever keeping open the 

 weather-eye for increase, this year has wended its way westward, and thou- 

 sands upon thousands of dollars which left us in the days of '49 as gold 

 dust, have floated back again into our coffers. Feeling the forward impulse 

 caused by more people and more wealth, the latent energies of our business 

 men have been roused; old railroads have been extended, new ones built, 

 real estate changed hands, and substantial improvements been made in all 

 of our towns and cities. The State herself, as though moved by some hid- 

 den impulse, has this year put on her best bib and tucker, and added the 

 crown of wonder to the visitor's already great amazement, by yielding up 

 her stores in hitherto unsurpassed richness and profusion. 



Look at the success attained by our State and various district fairs for 

 proof of this assertion. The former has been pronounced to be by far the 

 most successful ever held in the capital city; its exhibitions are claimed 

 to be the finest, and its results, as snowing the rapid advancement of our 

 State in every branch of art, industry, and science, far exceeds the expec- 

 tations even of the most sanguine. 



