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every day in the week except Sunday which they take to do their trading
in many of them come a long ways to trade – if there were any place
of Public worship or meetings which they would attend or if they would
spend the day in any better way it would seem still a greater evil
but the majority of them would be doing worse than travelling back
and forth to purchase goods as a general thing they would be playing
cards or gambling – although there are many men who come in here
to trade on the Sabbath who would not touch a card on the Sabbath as
do anything of the Kind but that is so common to make purchases
on that day that the most moral scruple not to do it, it has become a
custom – which it will take time to do away with – I confess I look
upon it rather differently than before I came here and saw just the
state of things – I will tell you as it is quite an occurrence that I have just
paused in my letter for an hour or more to entertain two gentlemen callers
some friends of Mr Rileys who came to see him from Montezuma Montezuma, California about 16 miles
from here a Mr Judd & Capt Washburn – George was acquainted with them also
and asked them in to see me I found them very social & pleasant. Mr
Judd reminds me so of some one I am troubled to think who it is –

Our household matters remain about as usual. We have now 4 men who
are regular boarders being employed in working on the new road they
are about to open for a few miles back of us – We still have our French cook
Florentino he left about two weeks ago in a kind of a sulky fit pretending
to be sick without giving us any warning as it happened he did not go
far staid [stayed] round – for a week I had the whole of the work to do I was not
very well that week and felt so much exercise the more I found it more
than I cared to do as it Kept me on my feet all the time; in the first
place you have to do more than at home as in a private family have a
greater variety – certainly two different dishes of meat or hearty food if not
3, beside whatever else you may have – Tea & Coffee every meal – and then
you must always calculate for extra company if you do not they are sure
to come, and just as you get a meal ready for 6 or 7 as many more will
come in to eat or what is quite as bad just as you get dinner or supper
cleared away two or three men will come and call for a meal and often
time they are through as may [many] now will come and so Keep you about
all the P.M. or evening you can never know any meal how many you
may have breakfast you can come nearer to it but then two or more may
stop over night [overnight] & you think of course they will be here to breakfast but just
as likely to get off before – George declared I grew poor in the time fretting
myself so much about it, several times when I had prepared for just what
was here and rang the bell in would walk 3 or 4 more and I would think there
would not be enough of something and work myself into a perfect fever
about it – G. tried to help me what he could and actually went so far as to wash
the dishes once but I find being in Cal has not made him acquainted much
with house work [housework] I guess whoever has been with him has had the cooking
to do – Florentino after some persuasion concluded to come back if we had