A dispatch from South County, 100 years ago.

David Schmalz here. Oftentimes, as I’m winding down to go to bed, a question will pop into my head and then I’ll search the internet for the answer. And then often that answer leads me to another question, and on it goes, ever deeper into the proverbial rabbit hole. 

This is more or less how I started reading issues of the King City Rustler from 1911 and 1912. What I found will help inform a future story, but then I got to thinking: What was the news in South County 100 years ago?

The Rustler was a weekly newspaper at that time, published every Thursday, and much of the paper was dedicated to both national stories as they relate to the agricultural industry, and the comings and goings of the burg’s citizens: So-and-so visited their sister in Salinas, and so-and-so hosted relatives from Hollister, etc. 

But there was some actual local “news” in the Nov. 16, 1923 issue of the Rustler, and this is what jumped out to me: The topline story locally—but not the most interesting to me—was about a turkey shoot being hosted by the local American Legion chapter at the Pine Canyon ranch of one Dr. Fisher, no first name given, starting at 10am and “lasting all day.” Apparently the hope was the shoot would help finance the Legion’s local real estate: “The Legion boys are to have full charge of the shoot and concessions and hope their patronage may be sufficient to considerably augment their funds toward paying off the remaining obligation on the home in King City.”

So maybe a potential solution to our housing crisis is…turkey shoots? Coffee, sandwiches and ice cream were all promised to be on offer, and if you didn’t have a gun and ammo, the Legion would provide. It was to be “a day of pleasure as is not too often provided for this section.”

There was a real estate story that included Romie C. Jacks, son of David Jacks, a local real estate tycoon who once owned nearly the entire Monterey Peninsula, and had vast holdings throughout the county. In this case, Romie was being foreclosed on by the Bank of Italy for a $15,000 mortgage for the 324 acres for the Rancho Los Coches near Soledad, which includes what is now a historic adobe that has fallen into disrepair. (Yesterday, I spoke with Monterey County Historical Society Executive Director James Perry, who assured me that land remained in the Jacks’ family for decades after; he also informed me Bank of Italy later became Bank of America.)

There was a headline: “Guests Arrive in Autos and Airplane,” referring to a weekend party in San Lucas at the Albert Trescony ranch. The plane trip, reportedly under two hours, was made by one L. H. Hymans, a San Francisco importer/exporter, who was accompanied by a Ms. Brandstan. The trip was made in a Fokker airplane, the article noted. 

There was an article with the headline “Adventuresome Deer Comes into Town,” which was literally about a deer who was just wandering near a house and then scampered off, chased by local children and dogs. 

But the most interesting story was about illegal possession of alcohol. I had forgotten, when diving into the rabbit hole, that 1923 was during Prohibition, which stretched from 1920-1933. 

Headline: “Fined $200 for Illegally Possessing Booze.” And the story reads: “Under Sheriff Carl Abbott, with a search warrant, entered the Hamilton cottage on Third, where [Ramon] Laguna and Tony Serna ‘batch it,’ and found ‘booze’ in two separate receptacles.” (The name Hamilton refers to the maternal side of John Steinbeck’s family, but I don’t think—though I’m not certain—that any of his relatives lived in the home after 1912.)

Laguna was arrested, pleaded guilty, and this how the Rustler reported it: “The judge, wondering if the source of supply, sans bank account and sans income was still holding out, tested the matter by saying: ‘Fined $200, with alternative of 200 days in jail!’ Ramon was excused for 15 minutes and returned promptly with the 200 iron men.”

“Iron men,” if the Professional Coin Grading Service is to be trusted, was slang for a silver dollar. And how much was $200 worth back then? Just over $3,500 in today’s value. I wasn’t able to deduce exactly what “batch it” means, but one can draw their own conclusions. 

That’s all I’ve got for now, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Newsletter

Local headlines during Prohibition. Big win for Joby. No-go on Carmel Unified superintendent.