Unofficial Website for Historical Artifacts from the Palace Hotel.
Unofficial Website for Historical Artifacts from the Palace Hotel.
January 19th, 1883: Eating Soap Grease. There used to be a good story told by the temperance lecturers of a man’s going home very drunk and eating up his wife’s soap grease, not knowing that it was but filthy scraps. That was beaten by the high-toned party that lately met at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at the invitation of the Oleomargarine, or “Bull Butter” manufacturers. Gov. Stoneman, Ex-candidate for Gov. Estee and all the law makers who could be induced to attend were there. The wily scrap gatherers filled their guests with good drink until they were in the condition of the soap grease eater and then fed them bull butter which the high toned declared good. Great enterprise has the Oleomargarine makers. There are more ways than one to get a certificate.
January 26th, 1883: Fatal Explosion. Giant Powder Works Blown To Atoms. ....The reports were heard all over this city, the fact of the explosion being made known in the Western Addition by the shaking of the houses and the sharp rattling of window sashes. Even the solidly built Palace Hotel was shaken. Accounts vary as to the actual number of reports heard, but those in the immediate vicinity of the powder works at the time of the explosion are positive in the assertion that there swore seven distinct explosions....
January 27th, 1883: G. H. Smith, the popular and gentlemanly manager of the Palace Hotel, S. F., and his family, were guests at the Pacific Ocean House last Sunday.
February 27th, 1883: An Attempt at Suicide. San Francisco, February 26th. A report has been circulated throughout the city and is apparently well authenticated that a sister of ex-Senator William Sharon attempted suicide in a bathroom of the Palace hotel yesterday by cutting herself in the breast with a penknife. The smallness of the weapon prevented deep wounds, but the cuts are so numerous and the loss of blood so great that the lady is in a precarious condition. The act is attributed to insanity. A great effort is being made to hush up the affair.
April 3rd, 1883: Gas Explosion! At the Palace Hotel this Afternoon - Captain White and Engineer Ross Among the Injured - Seven Firemen Reported Hurt. San Francisco, April 3rd, this afternoon at two o'clock a gas explosion occurred in the basement of Palace Hotel, and causing a fire, which, although speedily extinguished by the Fire Department and Patrol, which were promptly on the ground, sent terror throughout the house. The accident occurred in the cellar of the Palace Hotel, and was caused by two gas explosions. Seven firemen are reported injured, but the extent is not yet known. Capt. White, of the Fire Patrol, and Engineer Ross are among the wounded. The greatest excitement prevailed in the hotel, but none of the guests were injured, the damage is reported slight. Chief Engineer Ross eventually died from his injuries.
The Palace Hotel suffered an explosion and fire that few know about. The cause of the explosion was the breaking in two of an eight-inch gas main, while some plumbers were engaged in connecting a pipe with the fifteen-hundred light gas meter which had just been put in place by the Central Gas Company, without turning off the gas at the main. Whether it was caused by a light taken down by some person, or a plumber's furnace which was filled with live coals in the passage-way a short distance from the vault then ignited, is a matter of great doubt. A volume of flame poured into the street from the place in the sidewalk where light was admitted into the vault through plates of thick glass, which had been shattered to atoms by the explosion. The full article can be read HERE at Guardians of the City, San Franciso Fire Department.
April 28th, 1883: A resident of the Pajaro Valley, a late convert to oleomargarine, was occupying a bed on the seventh floor of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, late one cold morning the other week. A porter came along and said, knocking at the chamber door, "Want fire, want fire?" He of the oleomargarine, knowing of the gas explosion that had just occurred in the same building, and thinking that the lower floors of the Palace were in flames, sprang out of bed, threw his garments over his shoulders and rushed downstairs, shrieking at each platform and into every hall, 'Fire, fire!" Finally he was caught, and stopped long enough to have his error pointed out. The simple bull-butter man swears that he will never again be found napping on a seventh floor, and that if a darkey says anything to him about firs he will run a runnet down his throat.
May 4th, 1883: Alexander D. Sharon, of the Palace Hotel, is seriously ill of paralysis. For some time past he has been suffering from acute rheumatism, and on the day of the explosion at the hotel, he dressed himself and went downstairs. The effort caused a relapse, and although he rallied for a time, his malady has assumed the form of slow paralysis of the left side. His mind is affected at times. His illness was brought about by too close attention to business.
May 10th, 1883: Ex-Sheriff of San Francisco John Sedgwick has assumed the management of the Palace Hotel, succeeding A. D. Sharon, who leaves on the account of serious illness.
May 12th, 1883: The Marysville Commandery of Knights Templar have secured, for reception purposes during the Conclave, four rooms at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, at an expense of $60 per day.
May 23rd, 1883: The jury in the Ross inquest case returned a verdict exonerating the gas company and Palace Hotel from blame for the Palace Hotel gas explosion.
June 14th, 1883: The passengers by the steamship Zealandia invited Captain Webber and his officers to a dinner at the Palace Hotel Tuesday evening. About fifty sat down to a capital dinner provided by the host of the Palace.
August 10th, 1883: A Guest's Midnight Experience. James Hughes, a colored porter of the Palace Hotel, was arrested at 12 o'clock last night by Special Officer Davis, on complaint of S.M. Burroughs, a guest of the house, who alleges that last Wednesday night he saw Hughes looking into his room from the hall door, which the latter had opened. The next morning he found that he was minus $60, which was in his pantaloons' pockets. Hughes was charged with burglary.
August 16th, 1883: Sir Knight Ferree Lightner is staying at the Palace Hotel, Room #583.
August 21st, 1883: Two thousand seven hundred guests are quartered in the Palace Hotel, S. F., which gives a faint idea of the crowded condition of that city at present. The cause being the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar convening for their Grand Conclave and their Grand Banquet at the Palace Hotel.
San Jose Herald
October 10th, 1883
November 2nd, 1883: John Sedgwick has ceased to act as manager of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco.
December 13th, 1883: General Hancock arrives at the Palace Hotel. He was escorted through the ladies' parlor directly to his apartments - Suite 66 on the fourth floor.
January 17th, 1884: Joseph Tilden, for many years Caller of the Pacific Stock Exchange, has resigned his position to become assistant manager of the Palace Hotel.
January 19th, 1884: Cushman’s Deposition. My name is C.D. Cushman, 67 years of age….. on February 9th, 1874, I entered the employ of W. Sharon & Co. as cashier and accountant for the Palace Hotel construction, and after the building was completed, continued in Sharon’s employ as cashier until July 1, 1879.
January 20th, 1884: From Cushman’s Career - A Mrs. Weale was housekeeper at the Palace Hotel from October 1875 to May 1st, 1877.
January 21st, 1884: In room 380 of the Palace Hotel on Thursday evening, members of the Harvard Club held their annual reunion banquet, about 40 being present.
January 23rd, 1884: The sale continues to-day at the Grand Opera-House and Palace - Hotel billiard rooms.
January 25th, 1884: THE WORLD'S FAIR.
The committee appointed to make the necessary arrangements for holding a World’s Fair in San Francisco in 1887, met at the Palace Hotel of that city Jan 17th and organized by electing Governor Stoneman, President; Wm T. Coleman, George C. Perkins, Vice Presidents; M. D. Boruck, Secretary, and Louis Sloss, Treasurer.
February 1st, 1884: Hon. A. W. Sheldon, Associate: Justice of the Territory of Arizona, died suddenly at the Palace Hotel yesterday morning at 8:30. He had been ill for some time from the effects of wounds received late in the Civil War, when he was Colonel of an Ohio regiment. Born in Granrille, Ohio, and was about 45 years of age.
February 9th, 1884: The Republican County Committee met in parlor No. 190, Palace Hotel, last evening.
March 22nd, 1884: Judge Henry C. Thatcher of the Supreme Court of Colorado, died at the Palace Hotel on Thursday of Bright's disease of the kidney. The remains will be sent East for interment.
April 8th, 1884: One of the chambermaids of the Palace Hotel went into the room occupied by L. D. Fisk, at half-past four o'clock yesterday afternoon, where she discovered his dead, and half nude body stretched on the floor. The case was reported and the body removed to the Morgue. It is supposed that Fisk was a victim of heart disease. He was 27 years old, a native of Michigan, and leaves a wife in Sausalito.
April 25th, 1884: In the trial of the Sharon divorce case in San Francisco, the roof has been taken (figuratively) off the Palace Hotel, and the rottenness, the utterly disgusting vileness of the proprietor and the licentious character of many of the guests exposed to the public gaze. Reports say that the nasty disclosures have seriously damaged the reputation of the hotel and changed in a degree the class of patrons.
May 27th, 1884: Samuel W. Comly, one of an excursion party from Philadelphia, dropped dead in the Palace Hotel Sunday night at 11 o'clock, presumably from heart disease, as he had been a long sufferer from that complaint, and in the care of physicians for its alleviation. He was 60 years of age, and leaves a family at Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, where his body will soon be dispatched.
May 30th, 1884: Miss Agnes C. Lester, a niece of United States Senator John P. Jones, died at the Palace Hotel yesterday morning, aged twenty years.
July 8th, 1884: The remains of Mrs. Maud Emma Van' Zandt, who died at the Palace Hotel Saturday, and for whose death Dr. Charles W. Moore was arrested, was buried this afternoon from Plymouth Church on Post Street, Key. Dr. Noble officiating. The autopsy showed that a surgical instrument had penetrated the trail or lining of the womb and into the intestines, and more than a gallon of coagulated blood was found in the abdomen. That death was the result of criminal malpractice there was no question.
July 11th, 1884: The following large assessments appear on the Assessor's books for this year: Ross House, $514,000, a reduction of $287,000 from previous assessment; Lick Honee, $788,900; Palace Hotel, $1,010,000, which assessment has been as high as $1,500,000; Baldwin Hotel, $480,000; Occidental Hotel, $585,000….
December 5th, 1884: At half-past two yesterday afternoon ex-Mayor Henry P. Coon died suddenly at the Palace Hotel. Early in the day he complained of being ill, his ailment proving to be neuralgia of the heart, steadily growing worse, until a sudden; increased shock killed him. Dr. Coon Was President of the King, Morse Canning Company. He was a native of Utica, N. Y., aged 63 years.
January 11th, 1885: The annual meeting of the members of the California Association for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children will be held on Tuesday afternoon, January 13th, at 1 o'clock, at Room 190, Palace Hotel, at which all interested are invited to be present.
January 13th, 1885: A meeting of the Transcontinental Association of Railroads opened in room 190 of the Palace Hotel this afternoon. A meeting of the association occurred here a little more than one year ago.
February 9th, 1885: James N. Rickca, a well-known colored man, a resident of San Francisco for thirty years, died at his home at 1016 Washington Street Friday. For several years he was private messenger for the late W. C. Ralston. He was head porter at the Palace Hotel from its opening to the time of his death.
April 21st, 1885: Funeral for Caleb T. Fay, aged 64, at the Palace Hotel on Wednesday. Room No. 44 at 1:30pm.
April 22nd, 1885: Maxwell, a St. Louis murderer, hired Room No. 692 at the Palace Hotel.
May 17th, 1885: About half-past one o'clock yesterday afternoon a well-dressed Swede, apparently about fifty-five years of age, entered the barber shop under the Palace Hotel and asked to be accommodated with a bath. His wish was at once complied with, and a few moments after he had locked the door of the bath-room the employees of the establishment were suddenly startled by the sound of a pistol shot in the direction of the room occupied by the stranger. The proprietor of the place immediately called Mr. Jackson, the hotel officer, and informed him of the occurrence. Jackson obtained a step-ladder, and placing it against the door of the room, looked over the low partition. The sight which met his vision was startling, indeed. The stranger was seated on the floor, with his back against the door, and a revolver lying near his right hand on the floor. From a large hole in his right temple trickled a stream of dark red blood, intermingled with brains. Death had been instantaneous. The Coroner was notified at once, and the body was soon afterwards removed to the Morgue where papers, receipts and letters identified him as a Scandinavian named Emanuel Enbam, and a member of Cosmopolitan Lodge No. 194.
May 18th, 1885: Mrs. Helen M. Brunner, a lady well-known in this city, died at the Palace Hotel yesterday. She was the widow of the late B. P. Brunnar, a prominent engineer who built the Citizens' Gas Works, the Pacific Oil Works and the Rolling Mills. The funeral services of Mrs. Brunner will be held at the Palace Hotel parlors this morning at 11 o'clock, after which the remains will be sent to Baltimore for burial.
May 22nd, 1885: “I gave a grand ball, several dinner parties, and on our honeymoon we occupied a suite of apartments in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at $25 a day.
July 11th, 1885: The application of William Sharon for reduction of assessment upon the Palace Hotel, exclusive of the realty, from $800,000 to $600,000, was laid over for one week.
July 24th, 1885: Messrs. Newlands, McCarthy and Martin appeared to ask for a reduction of the assessment of $1,260,000 on the Palace Hotel. They claimed that this amount was larger by $363,000 than that of last year's reduction. They asked for a total reduction of $250,000 be made on the property. It was claimed that Mr. Sharon, the owner, was losing money in the hotel; that its revenue was only $80,000 per annum, and that the building could not be leased to anyone. If the lot had no building it would be worth more than the assessed value, $460,000. Mr. McCarthy said there was no doubt that the erection of so large a building in that locality was a mistake. It was on the wrong side of the street, and that part of the city was certain to be abandoned for residence purposes. After a brief explanation from Deputy Miesages, who claimed that the assessment was just, the Board denied the application.
July 25th, 1885: Grief over the death of General Grant. The Palace Hotel, Lick House, and Occidental Hotel all displayed the insignia of grief over the main entrances. The Market Street entrance to the Palace Hotel is very tastefully draped with mourning, the pillars being twined with alternate stripes of black and white. The carriage entrance is elaborately decorated; from the centre of the ceiling of the vestibule depend streamers of black and white, the ends of which are carried to the various columns, so that the folds of sable cloth hang in graceful festoons. The entrance to the Baldwin Hotel is also heavily draped, as is also that of the Lick House. The Occidental Hotel has the balcony over its main entrance tastefully and appropriately ornamented with a profuse display of the prevailing black and white garlanding.
September 9th, 1885: Yesterday afternoon Morgue Watchman Burgoyne discovered a clue which will probably disclose the cause for the rash act of the unknown man who committed suicide in front of the Palace Hotel Monday night. While laying out the body Burgoyne found in the inside pocket of the vest worn by the dead man, a tress of dark-brown hair gathered at one end with a piece of scarlet ribbon, tied in a lover's knot. Two gentlemen called at the Morgue last evening and expressed themselves as being quite positive that the deceased was recently employed as a waiter on the steamer Orizaba. He was a Mexican, but they could not remember his name. Later identified as a young Englishman named Alexander Walford. Walford was formerly employed in Los Angeles as a clerk but just previous to going to San Francisco he had been living for some months.
November 8th, 1885: U. S. Senator Wm. Sharon is lying at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, in a very dangerous condition, from a contraction of the muscles of the heart, and his physicians say that there is no possible hope of his recovery, as he has but one chance in a thousand.
November 14th, 1885: At Rest. The Death of ex-Senator William Sharon. The long struggle ended yesterday afternoon. He died at 3:32pm in the Palace Hotel.
November 16th, 1885: Gloomy Concomitants. The gloomy condition of yesterday made more impressive the gloom surrounding the mourners in the Palace Hotel. The corridor, on the fourth floor that led to the chamber where lay all that was mortal of ex-Senator Sharon was deserted by everybody save the few members of the family who occasionally passed to and from the apartment with light and reverent tread. The body still rested in the rough ice-box from which it will not be removed until this morning. Letters and messages of condolence were received by Mr. Fred. Sharon and other relatives of the deceased during the day. The funeral will be void of any ostentatious display, and there are evidences that it will be largely attended.
January 1st, 1886: Daily Alta Newspaper, California. *The article doesn't contain any new information that hasn't been listed here before.
January 8th, 1886: The Palace Hotel Lamps. F. G. Newlands and F. W. Sharon, Trustees of the estate of William Sharon, have sent a communication to the Board of Supervisors requesting the city to assume the expense of lighting seven street lamps on New Montgomery Street in front of the Palace Hotel, which have been maintained for several years by the late Senator. The reason of this request is, that the above street has been dedicated to the city by the late Senator and they are assessed for $38,385 for street purposes.
January 29th, 1886: Senator Stanford has resolved to devote his enormous wealth, acquired as a speculator in mines, corner lots and lands, and also as the proprietor of the Palace Hotel at San Francisco, one of the largest and most magnificent establishments of its kind in the United States, to the creation of a university in memory of his deceased son.
February 4th, 1886: George Schonewald, who has had charge of the Hotel del Monte since its opening, several years ago, will take charge of the Palace Hotel, of this city, on the 1st of March. Who will take the Hotel del Monte is not known.
February 9th, 1886: One "Prof. Cromwell,'' in a lecture In New York Sunday night, informed a large audience that the Palace Hotel in San Francisco was built entirely of red cedar, with a plaster covering to give it the appearance of stone.
February 28th, 1886: Arrested for Embezzlement. Lieutenant J. W. Graydon, of the Ordnance Department of the army, this afternoon caused the arrest of George B. Warren, assistant clerk of the Palace Hotel, on a charge of felony and embezzlement. Graydon says that while absent in Japan recently he caused funds amounting to $1000 to be telegraphed in advance to his credit at the Palace. On his arrival he found that the money had been obtained by Warren, who refused to deliver it when requested to do so. Alex Sharon and the Palace watchman. Jackson, qualified as Warren's sureties in the sum of $2000.
March 23rd, 1886: William Marshall, head waiter at the Palace Hotel Restaurant, "pen paralysis'' of the hand. Cured with a single treatment.
April 28th, 1886: An Alta reporter last night found Hon. Lyman Trumbull, of Chicago, 111., in the ex-Senator's comfortable quarters in room No. 848, Palace Hotel.
April 30th, 1886: The multitude of sojourners at the Palace Hotel has produced the most palpable evidence of prosperity witnessed since its erection. A fresh coat of paint of a soft pinkish gray tint is being applied to the exterior, freshening the appearance of this huge hotel amazingly.
February 5th, 1886
Daily Alta
May 12th, 1886
Russian River Flag
June 3rd, 1886: The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, under the combined management of Geo. Schonewald (late of the famous Del Monte, at Monterey,) and Alexander Sharon, has just been painted outside and in, and newly carpeted and refurnished and renovated throughout, and is again in excellent condition to accommodate all who wish to avail themselves of the comforts and luxuries of the finest and completest hotel in the world at the same rates charged by other first-class hotels in San Francisco. And that reminds us that the new management have set apart a limited number of excellent rooms for transient patrons at a dollar a day.
June 6th, 1886: A man passing along New Montgomery Street, near the corner of Market the other evening, accidentally dropped a revolver on the pavement, causing it to go off. The ball did no damage, except to shatter a window in the Palace Hotel.
June 26th, 1886: The Secretary was directed to secure rooms for headquarters on the first floor of the Palace Hotel. Three rooms, with parlor fronting on Market Street, can be obtained for ten days for $150.
July 23rd, 1886: During encampment week headquarters of the Reception Committee and the Committee on Hotels and Accommodations will be in the Gentlemen's Reading Room of the Palace Hotel.
August 3rd, 1886: One of the most attractive displays was J. Goodman's Poultry Stand, No. 77 California Market, Pine-Street entrance, with B. M. Fleischman as Manager. It attracts general attention in displaying Sample Poultry for the different hotels, restaurants, as for instance: For the Palace Hotel one large Deer, fifty pounds, sixty Geese, one pair Alaska Muscovi Ducks, presented by Captain Erskine of the Alaska Fur Company's steamer St. Paul, 600 Pigeons, Chickens, etc., 100 Geese for the Grand Army banquet, E. Ludwig, Caterer.
August 4th, 1886: The Palace Hotel roof had a cresting of curious humanity for the G.A.R. parade in San Francisco.
August 31st, 1886: Delegates from local counties to meet at the Palace Hotel, Rooms #685 and #659 at 10 o'clock.
October 18th, 1886: The employees of the Southern Pacific Company were entertained last evening by C. P. Huntington, at a grand dinner in the Palace Hotel. The banquet was spread in what is known as the "Children's Dining Room," and which was magnificently decorated for the occasion. The chandeliers were wreathed with smilax and roses, and on the tables were displayed many beautiful floral pieces. The dinner was served precisely at 7:30 p.m., and the place of each guest was marked with a hand-painted souvenir bearing his name. The menu cards were exceedingly handsome, and bore in the center a tablet with the following inscription: " Dinner tendered to the employes of the Southern Pacific Company by C. P. Huntington, at the Palace Hotel, October 16, 1886."
November 27th, 1886: U. S. Gilbert of Watertown, New York; died at the Palace Hotel last Wednesday. He was the General Manager for the United States of the Sun Insurance Company of London. He had been in the city only five days. He was stricken with apoplexy Monday and never afterward regained consciousness. Deceased was an old resident of Watertown, a man of family, fifty-five years of age.
December 2nd, 1886: The Controller of the Currency has issued his certificate authorizing the California National Bank of San Francisco to commence the business of banking in this city. The directors have secured quarters at 621-23 Market Street, under the Palace Hotel, and will be ready to begin business during the present month. The officers will be as follows: President, R. P. Thomas; Vice-President, R. A. Wilson; Cashier, C. H. Ramsden.
January 2nd, 1887: J. L. Jones, of the well-known firm of Bullock & Jones, died suddenly yesterday afternoon at the Palace Hotel, where he has been residing for many years. The deceased was a prominent Democratic politician, having been for many years a member of the State Democratic Club and being at the time of his death a member of the State Central Committee. In his private life he had many friends and his charities had endeared him to the hearts of many who in his death will mourn the loss of a benefactor. He leaves a widow, but no children.
January 15th, 1887: Prof. O.S. Fowler will give consultations at the Palace Hotel, Parlors 172 & 173, daily from 9am to 9pm.
January 28th, 1887: Mme. Patti is now in the city to the delight of those fortunate enough to possess the means of obtaining admission. Since writing in your last issue every seat in the Grand Opera House has been sold and some of the boxes have been sold as high as five hundred dollars. Last night (Sunday) a serenade was given her at the Palace Hotel. She appeared on one of the balconies overlooking the court, and after making a few bows in acknowledgment of the honor shown her, retired. She is not very large in stature, but enjoys considerable room for recreation, as demonstrated by engaging twenty-six rooms at the Palace Hotel.
February 18th, 1887: Geo. Schonewald, at present manager of the Palace Hotel at San Francisco, will resume charge of the Del Monte at Monterey and also have control of the new hotel at Pacific Grove when finished. He will go to Monterey April 1st.
February 24th, 1887: All the preliminary arrangements in connection with the change in the management of the Palace Hotel will be completed tonight. On the first of April, C. H. Livingston will assume the full control and management of the hotel, and George Schonewald will on the same day take charge of the Hotel Del Monte at Monterey. A. D. Sharon will retire from the Palace Hotel owing to ill health and a desire to be released from business cares. It is probable he will take a trip to Europe. Mr. Livingston says he will still retain his position as editor-in-chief of the Alta.
March 1st, 1887: Mrs. Etta McDermott, wife of William McDermott of Cleveland, Ohio, died at the Palace Hotel on Sunday morning after a lingering illness.
March 11th, 1887: Mr. J.A. Harder was chief caterer at the Palace Hotel for eleven years. He is now opening the Occidental Restaurant.
March 27th, 1887: G.H. Smith, the well-known Chief Clerk of the Palace Hotel, is confined to his room with a serious attack of blood-poisoning.
April 2nd, 1887: One day after the Hotel del Monte passed into the management of George Schonewald, a fire was discovered in the basement battery room. Three hours later, the entire hotel was burnt to the ground. The San Jose Herald gave a lengthy article on the fire, there was no loss of life.
ARRIVED AT SAN FRANCISCO. Amusing Scenes at the Palace Hotel - A Domino Party.
The train bringing the escaped guests from Del Monte arrived somewhat late this morning. About 11 o’clock carriage after carriage began rolling up into the court of the Palace Hotel, and from them stepped ladies in all conditions of dress and undress. Soon the corridors, hallways and parlors presented a singular scene of bustle and excitement. Friends congratulated friends on their escape, and all joined in mourning their lost baggage and wardrobes. Many of the ladies were wrapped in blankets with veils or scarfs upon their heads. One had a blanket draped about her and wore an untrimmed hat with the price tag still upon it, evidently just from a Monterey milliner. Another lady had a long gray wrapper encasing her from head to foot and a veil over her head. About 150 arrived in all.
April 19th, 1887: Queen Kapiolani, accompanied by Princess Leleokolani. Governor J. G. Dominus, Chamberlain Curtis lankea and a large retinue of servants is expected to arrive from Honolulu today. The royal party have secured a suite of six rooms at the Palace Hotel on the second floor fronting Market Street. After remaining a here a few days, the party will leave for the East and Europe. *Another newspaper said it was the first floor.
April 23rd, 1887: Popularizing California Wines. We are happy now to hail the first significant results of our urgency. The Palace Hotel in this city, has led the way by promoting California wines, hocks, clarets, sauternes, port, sherry and champagne to the place of honor on its wine list, and by supplying the best and soundest vintages at most reasonable prices. The vineyard producing each of these wines is named on the list, and many a traveler will be surprised to find himself drinking there a good California wine under its own name for which he has paid in the East three prices under cover of a foreign label. It is the inauguration of a system so useful to our vintners and so honest with the traveling public that it deserves the pointed and complimentary attention of our people. Every good citizen should do what he can in his own sphere to benefit and advance the productions of his own State. The encouragement in this way given to the producer to strive for greater excellence is a prime quantity in the general progress. And so we are convinced that local loyalty to our productions is the source of their increasing excellence, and that this prominent promotion of our many established and standard wines will result in elevating the character of cur entire vintage, and it needs no effort to prove the resulting broadening of profits to our winegrowers. We commend the Palace Hotel method to their attention, and we felicitate the traveled digestion discouraged by struggles with roadside fare, or bankrupted by its seagoing tribute to Neptune, upon the renewal of its zest by a favorable acquaintance with California wines.
May 5th, 1887: T. B. Van Buren, formerly Consol-General at Kanagawa, Japan, is the possessor of a rare carving executed by Kani Yashi, a distinguished Japanese artist. The carving represents a diver fleeing from a marine monster and is a perfect anatomical study. The carving, which is not for sale, is on exhibition in the show-window of a store under the Palace Hotel.
May 13th, 1887: CALIFORNIA WINES. The benefit of getting out of old ruts is shown by the republication in the New York papers of the Alta's notice of the prominence given to California wines by the Palace Hotel, which was followed immediately by inquiries sent here from leading New York hotels for the Palace wine list and information as to the source of supply of its wines from first hands. It is also gratifying to know that the consumption of these noticed wines at the Palace has increased 200 percent since they were listed in the place of honor. There is no end to the demand that can be created for our pure wines if we give them the consideration which is their due. Abstract disquisitions are worthless. What people need is one such concrete illustration as the Alta has given in this case.
Daily Alta California
July 1st, 1887
Real Estate Assessments
August 11th, 1877: Herman Meyer, formerly employed in the restaurant department of the Palace Hotel as second cook, has mysteriously disappeared. He left his home, 1221 Mission Street, at half-past 5 Sunday morning to go to work, but has not been seen since. He is about five feet ten inches in height and weighs about 150 pounds. Had on a brown coat, stiff black hat, gold watch and chain. Any information pertaining to his whereabouts will be gladly received by Fred Mergenthaler, chief cook. Palace Hotel.
August 12th, 1887: A Terrific Explosion. The Nitro-Glycerine House at Berkeley Blown to Pieces. San Francisco. A few minutes before 1:30 o’clock this afternoon the report of a terrific explosion was heard in this city. Houses shook to their foundations, and immediately following the people rushed bareheaded into the streets with the usual thought that an earthquake had taken place.... The explosion was distinctly felt at the Palace hotel, the building vibrating as though it had itself been subjected to a separate shock under the foundations.
September 6th, 1887: The Board of Trade voted to make the Palace Hotel its headquarters. The Board will probably select for permanent headquarters a room under the Palace Hotel at $100 a month.
October 12th, 1887: Edwin Ward...while on his way to the insane asylum was very violent and broke furniture, crockery, glassware, etc., at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
October 20th, 1887: Captain E. F. Northam. a pioneer citizen of San Francisco, died suddenly in his room at the Palace Hotel at half-past 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. At about the hour named, the bell-boy on the first floor was summoned by the bell to Captain Northam's room, and arriving there, he found the Captain lying prone on his back on the bed, gasping for breath, but conscious. The boy quickly loosened and removed the unfortunate man's clothing, and asked him if he did not wish a doctor to be sent for. The Captain told him to do so, and the boy hastened up to Dr. Whitney's room. That gentleman was not to be found and the boy then called Dr. Sawyer, who also lives in the hotel. Dr. Sawyer quickly responded, but on reaching the Captain's room it was found that life was extinct, death evidently being caused by heart disease.
October 20th, 1887: BANQUET TO SENATOR STANFORD. The Trustees of the Memorial University Honor the Founder.
A banquet was tendered last evening to Senator Stanford by the Trustees of the Leland Stanford University at the Palace Hotel. The banquet was given in the parlor at the end of the main corridor on the first floor, which was newly laid with velvet pile carpet and most artistically decorated for the occasion. The room is lighted by five chandeliers. The center one was festooned with begonias and the rod surrounded by ferns. The other four were decorated with chrysanthemums and ferns. The windows were draped with lace curtains interwoven with ferns, and the mantel was covered with dark apricot and light salmon-colored silk, looped up with chrysanthemums and ribbon. The table occupied the center of the room, and on it the decorators had expended all their ingenuity and skill. At the head of the table was a yacht made of almonds and crystalized sugar, the masts, sails and rigging being made of sugar and the hull of almonds; on her stern she bore the name Volunteer. On each end of the table were two epergnes, along with three claret jugs and a Cleopatra barge, which the hotel has quite recently imported from Paris. These are splendid works of art and quite unique of their kind, the epergnes are made of cut glass and oxidized gold and silver, the bowl resting on a gradually rising column, which is surrounded by fays and goblins. Seated on the base are two figures of Justice, with the sword in one hand and the laurel crown in the other. The claret jugs are of beautiful hand-painted cut glass, the tops being of solid silver picked out with gold, and narrow sprays of silver running down each side and connecting at the bottom with a silver stand. Like the epergnes, the Cleopatra barge is made of oxidized gold and silver and cut glass. In the stern is the queen. In one hand she holds aloft a bunch of grapes, at which she is gazing in admiration, and the plate from which she has just lifted the grapes in the other hand. At the prow is a figure of cupid, with his bow drawn, and just behind him a small lamp. The sail is of beaten gold. In the centre of the table was a most luxuriant display of fruit and flowers — grapes, apples, peaches, eggplant, pears, oranges, chrysanthemums and begonias, interwoven with absinthe, light butter, old red, rose pink and red plush silk, formed a fitting centrepiece for the royally-furnished table. On each gentleman's card was a boutonniere of a chrysanthemum and a fern spray, and next every lady's plate was a corsage bouquet of the same flowers bound with satin ribbon and corresponding in color with her escort's boutonniere. At the lower end of the table was a very fine representation of Cupid riding in a sleigh and driving six reindeer, the reins being blue silk ribbon, standing at the head of the table, no one could help but be struck with the chaste elegance of the decorations, the fern-clad windows, the handsomely draped mantel, the flower festooned chandeliers, the table with its fruit and flowers, its silverware and glassware, the two magnificent flower-crowned epergnes, the imitation Volunteer and Cleopatra barge, all combined to form a scene at once fairy-like and enchanting.
November 23rd, 1887: An unnamed English gentleman sits in the Palace Hotel after coming back to the city after 23 years. He tells a reporter the story of how he was one of the survivors of the steamship Washoe disaster on the Sacramento River - November 6th, 1864.
December 7th, 1887: Captain Charles Aull, recently appointed warden of the Folsom State Prison, will be married at the Palace Hotel today to Miss Margaret Angelo of San Jose. The newly-wedded couple will leave for Santa Barbara, to be absent about two weeks.
December 5th, 1887
Hotel managers pledge not to raise rates during the National Democratic Convention
December 9th, 1887: Samuel More, the well-known liquor merchant, died suddenly at the Palace Hotel last night. About 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon Samuel More of the wholesale liquor firm of Samuel More &. Co., 215 California Street, died suddenly in his room at the Palace hotel. He was 50 years of age, and a native of New York. Until an early hour yesterday morning Mr. More was in apparently perfect health. But about 5 o'clock be summoned a waiter, and complaining of severe pains in his breast dispatched him for a physician. The remedies applied appeared to give him relief, and he was thought to have entirely recovered, when at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, while sitting on his sofa, he suddenly fell forward and expired. Physicians were immediately sent for, but he had been dead several minutes when they arrived. Heart disease was the cause of his demise. *His name was spelled Samuel Moore in another article later published.
December 15th, 1887: Detectives Cox and Glennon and Officer Flannery raided a " fence" shop kept by Tin Poo and Loo Leon, on Sullivan Alley, between Jackson and Pacific Streets, last night, and gathered up quite a quantity of presumably stolen goods. The officers have had the place under surveillance for some time past, it has been known to them as a rendezvous for white and Chinese thieves to dispose of their booty in. Among the articles found was a large silver tray marked "Palace Hotel," a number of silver goblets, twelve dozen fine penknives, fifteen dozen horseshoe nails, some trowels, two dozen scissors, one pair horse-clippers and other similar effects. The officers placed a charge of receiving stolen goods and four charges of misdemeanor against each of the prisoners.
January 16th, 1888: A case of smallpox was developed last Friday evening at the Palace Hotel, the patient being Francis B. Mansfield, First Lieutenant Eleventh United States Infantry, at present absent on leave. He arrived at the Palace on Wednesday, and two days later was taken ill. When the character of the ailment appeared, he elected to be cared for by the post surgeon at the Presidio and was removed to an unused building at Black Point, where a strict quarantine will be maintained. The room, which he occupied at the Palace was fumigated and thoroughly disinfected, all the bedding was burned, and the servants, to the number of 300, vaccinated. It is expected that all danger has by these measures been stamped out, and the guests of the hotel feel no concern.
January 19th, 1888
January 22nd, 1888: The Diamond-Headed Cue. The billiard tournament that has been in progress at the billiard-rooms of the Palace Hotel, was brought to a close last evening. The final game was won by Charles Hall, to whom the trophy, an elegant diamond-headed cue, will be presented. The match game, 500 points for $100 a side will be played this week.
February 21st, 1888: Death of the Well-Known Clerk of the Palace Hotel. Early yesterday morning George H. Smith, Chief Clerk of the Palace Hotel, died at his residence on Geary Street after a long and painful illness. It is said he died of blood poisoning from the removal of a corn on his foot. Though suffering for over thirteen months from a complication of diseases, his death was very sudden and unexpected. His long career as a hotel clerk has made him probably one of the best-known men on this Coast to all foreign tourists and travelers, and his genial manner, combined with his many taking qualities, made him a friend to all. He arrived in San Francisco over twenty-four years ago, and was first employed in the kitchen of the Occidental Hotel; from that he was speedily promoted to the charge of the news-stand. His knowledge of foreign languages made him useful to the management and it was not long before he was appointed Assistant Clerk of the Hotel. The Chief Clerkship soon followed, and in that capacity he served till the opening of the Palace Hotel in 1874. Since that year he has held the position of Chief Clerk of the Palace Hotel. He was sixty years of age at the time of his death. Deceased was familiarly known as the "Count," a title conferred upon him by the newspaper guild- as a mark of respect and an acknowledgment of his uniform urbanity toward the craft.
March 7th, 1888: Colonel J. D. Stevenson, the old commander of the famous California Hundred, while crossing the street to the Palace Hotel was struck down and run over by a horse and buggy driven by ladies. As the Colonel is 87 old and in feeble health, the shock prostrated him. He seemed to be severely affected.
April 14th, 1888: A baby named Richard Parks Thomas Jr. was adopted within the last week. The little waif sickened, and yesterday it died at the Palace Hotel, where Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been staying recently. And so this little episode ends, and the mystery of the foundling's birth and parentage may never be known.
April 16th, 1888: R. M. Briare, formerly second cook of the Palace Hotel, and for a year and a half past chef of the Union Club, has resigned, and will on the 1st of next month take charge of the culinary department of the Pleasanton.
April 22nd, 1888: Officers Greggans and Reardon were attracted about 1 o'clock this morning by loud screams issuing from the alley, back of the Palace Hotel. On arriving at the spot, they found Walter Turner, a waiter, lying senseless on the pavement. They brought the wounded and apparently dead man to the City Receiving Hospital, where it was found that his skull was badly injured. The nose also showed an open wound. It was evident that the wounded man had been sandbagged and robbed. Turner was still in an unconscious - condition at the time of going to press. His recovery is extremely doubtful.
May 1st, 1888: Count Smith’s Successor. Geo H. Arnold, of the Baldwin Hotel, and formerly manager of the Occidental Hotel, will tomorrow formally take the position of chief clerk of the Palace Hotel, made vacant by the death of the late Count Smith.
May 4th, 1888: Detective Davis, of the Palace Hotel found George Vinze, a colored man, prowling around the basement of the hotel with his shoes off, early yesterday morning. When asked what his business was and why he had removed his shoes, all the explanation he gave was that "he did not want to die in his boots." Vinze acted so queerly that he is believed to be insane and will be sent before the Commissioners in Lunacy. A charge of burglary was placed against him at the City Prison, pending an examination. He is, the man who was shot by John Shimmick, on Rose Alley, a few days ago, for preventing Shimmick from beating his mistress to death.
May 8th, 1888: CHARLES DICKENS. A Reception to the Son of the Great Novelist. A reception was given to Charles Dickens at the parlors of the Palace Hotel yesterday afternoon by many of the most prominent society ladies of the city. The parlors were handsomely decorated with flowers, and strains of music floated through the rooms from Ballenburg's band. Mr. Dickens is accompanied by his wife and daughter. Shortly after 3 o'clock the guests began to arrive, and from that time until 5 o'clock there was a constant stream of ladies. Mr. A. S. Hallidie presented the guests to Mr. Dickens and the scene was one of great animation. At least a hundred ladies were in the rooms during the two hours devoted to the reception, and the hum of conversation was incessant.
In the evening Mr. Dickens read from his father's works, selections from "David Copperfield," and also the trial of Bardell vs. Pickwick, at the First Congregational Church, for the benefit of the Hospital for Children. The Church was decorated with flowers, and above the platform the British, and American flags were draped in a tasteful manner. Samuel D. Mayer, the organist of the church, played the Pilgrim's Chorus by Wagner, during the intermission between the first and second parts of the programme. Mr. Dickens is a delightful reader, with a beautifully modulated voice, and gestures that are graceful and appropriate without any affectation or staginess.
July 2nd, 1888: NERVED FOR THE END How Whisky Often Strengthens the Suicide’s Nerves. William W. Hammen, a young man who has been staying at the Palace Hotel about a month, committed suicide in his room yesterday or last night by shooting himself in the head. The body was discovered this morning. It is supposed that he lived in New York. He had been drinking heavily and it is thought he was delirious when he killed himself.
Another article states H.C. Saunders, a bellboy at the Palace Hotel reported at the hotel office about 9:00am that he discovered a guest, William. W. Hahner shot himself in a bathroom adjoining and opening off Room #215 on the sixth floor. He was 28 years old.
July 4th, 1888: James H. Goodman of Napa, Vice-President of the Safe Deposit Bank, died at 7 o'clock Monday evening at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco after a brief illness. Mr. Goodman was taken suddenly ill last week with a hemorrhage of the stomach as he sat at his desk in the bank. Later in the. evening he was removed to his apartments at the hotel, where he soon became paralyzed, and remained unconscious all the time down to the moment of his death. He was 68.
July 16th, 1888: The Eastern visitors must think that the people of this city do not care about time, as there seems to be no care about the clocks where they assemble. The clock in the Flood building is generally an hour slow, and the one in the Palace Hotel reception-room has been standing at 12:25 ever since the rooms were opened.
July 17th, 1888: Headquarters of the Normal Schools San Jose and Los Angeles, have been opened at Room 172 Palace Hotel, first floor. Dartmouth College Alumni headquarters are at No. 208 Post Street, bookstore of Samuel Carson &, Co. The Santa Clara delegation have opened at Room 170 Palace Hotel.
H. P. Stanwood, General Western Agent of the Chicago and Northwestern, died yesterday afternoon at the Palace Hotel, after an illness of nearly eighteen months.
August 3rd, 1888
The Festal Board
Complimentary Banquet Tendered to
Arpad Haraszthy
Features the wine selections for the evening.
October 9th, 1888: A telegram received by Mr. Bingham yesterday announced the death of Peter Decker, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, at 9:40 a.m. The fatal termination of Mr. Decker's illness had been anticipated. His ailment was of the stomach, but the precise nature of it the Appeal has not been able to learn. The remains will be buried in San Francisco, where the funeral services will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, at Grace church. He was 89.
October 16th, 1888: The Women's Public School Reform Association, organized for the election of lady School Directors, have moved their headquarters to rooms 74 and 75, Palace Hotel. Friends of the movement are invited to call. Ladies will lie in charge of the rooms from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
October 27th, 1888: About 12 o'clock on Thursday night an unknown man smashed in the plate-glass window of R. Mayer's jewelry store under the Palace Hotel, with an ironbar, and snatching a number of plated articles of jewelry ont of the window show-cases, ran away and eluded capture. The broken glass was valued at $400, and the stolen property at $50.
November 29th, 1888: Arthur L. Court, youngest son of Nicholas L. Court of New York city, died at the Palace Hotel yesterday afternoon. The remains will probably be shipped to New York for burial.
