SOCIETY. 401 



diers, another to mining, and the last fills its columns with 

 police reports. Of the monthly magazines, three devote them- 

 selves to general reading matter, one is medical, and the last 

 Presbyterian. There have been Italian and Chinese newspa- 

 pers in San Francisco, but there are none here now. 



The Germans, French, Italians, Swiss, Scandinavians, Chi- 

 nese, Illyrians, German Jews, Polish Jews, and Irish, have 

 each a benevolent society, organized mainly for the purpose 

 of renderings mutual assistance in case of illness. There is a 

 Protestant and a CathoUc Orphan Asylum, a House of Refuge, 

 and an Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. The Masons, 

 Odd Fellows, and Independent Order of Knights, are other 

 benevolent associations established in our city. 



§ 274. Sacramento. — Sacramento City, the political capital 

 and second town of California, is situated near the centre of the 

 Sacramento basin and of the state — is one hundred and twenty- 

 five miles by the course of navigation, and seventy-five miles in 

 a direct fine, distant from the ocean, on the southeastern corner 

 of land formed by the junction of the Sacramento and Ameri- 

 can Rivers, at an elevation of thirty feet above the sea, and in 

 latitude 38° 33' and longitude 121° 20'. The business part of 

 the city is about twenty feet above low-water mark in the 

 Sacramento River, which, in front of the town, during the dry 

 season, rises and falls about a foot with the tide. (The figures 

 in the preceding sentence were correct pre\'ious to the flood 

 of 1861-62 ; whether they will be after it has passed away is 

 questionable. I write this while it still prevails ; and it is said 

 that, during the flood, gravel to the depth of twelve feet has 

 been deposited in the river-bed in front of Sacramento.) The 

 site is level, and in the midst of a wide plain, most of which is 

 bare of trees, and much of which is not cultivated. The 

 streets are wide and straight, run with the cardinal points of 

 the compass, and are designated only by numbers and letters. 

 Those parallel with the Sacramento are first, second, third, 

 and so forth ; those parallel with the American are A, B, C, 

 and so on. The main business part of the city is near the 



