A Rough Life

By Frank Perry

Since its inception fourteen years ago, the Lime Kiln Chronicles has probably painted—for better or for worse— a romanticized picture of life at the lime works. The men certainly worked hard—quarrying limerock, hauling cordwood, loading and unloading the kilns, making barrels, and so forth. But there must have been fun times too. One can just imagine the men, after dinner at the Cook House, relaxing in their cabins, smoking, drinking, playing cards, and swapping stories of the old country. We know from their descendants, that many were fine young men who went on to start families and pursue other work. Some even established their own Santa Cruz businesses in later years.

It does not take a lot of imagination, however, to figure out that when you gather together a bunch of young men from different countries, speaking different languages, they are not always going to get along. Some of the stories from the early years read like the script from a 1950s television western. Take, for example, this story from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 4, 1879:*

This part of the county is noted for its deeds of bloodshed and cold-blooded murders. The latest attempt, which proved a fizzle, occurred last Monday evening at Cowell’s lime kiln, between a couple of the fighting fraternity—a Yankee and an Irishman. As it rained Monday the men employed at the kilns could not work, came to town, and getting slightly confused with stimulants, returned home during the afternoon of said day. The Irishman and the Yankee quarreled over some frivolous matter, and one angry word brought on another till one challenged the other to fight a duel, which offer was accepted. Seconds were selected, and shotguns chosen as the weapons. The Irishman bade the men around him good-bye, and after saying his prayers remarked that “one of us has to die, so give me a decent burial if I go under.” The Yankee looked perfectly cool, and did not seem to bother his head about the result. Both men stepped up to the scratch, thirty paces from each other. Both fired at the word three. When the smoke cleared away, the Yankee was seen stretched upon the ground, apparently lifeless. The Irishman took one glance at his victim, and terror-stricken scampered off into the woods, where he was found the next morning, and told to return, as he had been made the victim of a sell. The guns were simply loaded with powder  by the seconds, the Yankee being let into the secret, and he was to keel over and pretend he was shot, to scare the Irishman, who is now the laughing stock of the neighborhood.

* Note that old newspapers often made reference to the nationality of the people in news stories. The articles here are quoted exactly as written.

This next news item appeared in the Santa Cruz Daily Surf, September 18, 1888:

John Antone was arrested yesterday for battery committed on Frank Sylvia Sunday. He pleaded not guilty and his trial was set for the 24th inst. Both men are employed at Cowell’s lime kilns and Antone knocked Sylvia out because he, the latter, had saved up more money out of his wages than had Antone, and this made Antone mad. Antone’s savings will probably be further diminished.

Such violence occurred at other lime-making operations as well. This story in the Santa Cruz Surf, October 24, 1889, happened at the I.X.L. lime kilns near Felton and was titled “The Race War”:

An Irishman and a Portuguese got into an altercation at the supper table Sunday evening, October 13th, at the I. X. L. lime kilns, and this developed into a general row, the fellow laborers of each man taking sides according to nationality.

Now, whichever side was in the wrong, will be found out legally, as many arrests have followed and several more trials will be held. It is not the province of a newspaper to publish one-sided rumors of a case, when the law has been invoked.  The fight between the opposing parties became very lively and the four Irishmen were forced to take to their cabin, after a bloody contest. Here the Portuguese assailed them later and nearly demolished the front of the cabin with large stones and severely injured two of the four men. One of the Irishmen escaped to the woods, badly injured, and the three other escaped to Felton and reported the matter to Constable Drew, who went to the kilns and arrested two of the ringleaders of the Portuguese. These he brought to the jail in this city, along with one of the Irishmen, who was very badly wounded and needed the attention of Dr. Knight. He was the person who first started the fight with the Portuguese at the supper table.

It seems that after Constable Drew left Felton for Santa Cruz that the two Irishmen who escaped from the cabin must have aroused a number of their friends and countrymen in Felton to avenge the injury done them. These friends proceeded in a body to the Portuguese cabins and there badly treated several Portuguese, wounding them about as badly as the Irishmen had been. Warrants were sworn out and six men arrested. One was released.  Of the other five, four were convicted at the trial last week and one acquitted. The case of the two Portuguese, arrested for participation in the first conflict, have not been set yet.

The I.X.L. company was located on Fall Creek, where the old lime kilns still stand. Henry Cowell took over operations there around 1900. Today the site is the Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and the old kilns are a popular hiking destination.

Not surprisingly, making lime was dangerous work. The men had to exercise a fair amount of caution, especially when working in the quarries or around the kilns. The Sentinel of August 29, 1861, reported on a bad accident at the Samuel Adams kilns:

A man by the name of Grant was seriously burned at the lime-kilns of Adams & Co. on Thursday the 29th inst., by the falling in of one of the walls of a kiln. The hot rocks caught his legs as he was retreating and burned them in a shocking manner.

Adams sold out to Davis and Cowell in 1869 and his kilns (now on Wilder Ranch property) became known as Cowell’s upper kilns while those at the UCSC entrance became Cowell’s lower kilns.

At Cowells, a worker fell into one of the kilns:

A man named John Manasa, employed at Cowell’s lime kiln, last Saturday accidentally fell into one of the kilns, which had just been filled with lime rock, preparatory to burning.

This report was in a newspaper called The Local Item, December 15, 1876.  The middle 1870s seems to have been a period with more than the usual number of accidents.  The October 19, 1877 issue of the Santa Cruz Weekly Courier reluctantly reported on a fatal quarry accident:

The world manufactures its pleasures, disappointments, crimes, noble deeds and accidents as it revolves through illimitable space. Each day brings its welcome or unwelcome news—of great achievements, bright prospects, or of lowering [clouds] of war, railroad or bank robberies, or shocking accidents.  The events of time seem to be, as it were, spread on an endless piece of canvas, that is continually unfolding its record to the world. It naturally comes within the province of the newspaper man to record the distasteful news for general information, and a sad task it sometimes proves to be.  Last week it was suicide or murder, and this time it is a case of being crushed to death. The news came to town last Saturday, when Mr. Staffler went up after the mangled remains of the poor victim. The circumstances attending the catastrophe are related below in the testimony given before the Coroner’s Jury.

The Testimony and Verdict.
Pat [Dorsey] testified that he is foreman of the men at Davis & Cowell’s lime quarry and generally left it to the men to work as they saw proper; did not direct deceased to work at the place where he was killed. Have known deceased about sixteen months; he was aged about 27 years, named John Bruce, and a native of Kentucky; deceased was at work under a ledge of rock that was undermined and which broke suddenly off at a seam, and falling on him crushed him to death.

The testimony of Michael Nom and John Noe was corroborative of that of Mr. [Dorsey].

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

The funeral of Mr. Bruce took place on Sunday last, when a large number of his acquaintances performed the last sad rites in respect to his memory.

The Sentinel had this to say in its issue of the same date:

The number of accidents that have taken place at the Cowell & Co. lime kilns within the last year has caused considerable comment, some going so far as to suggest that Cowell thinks more of a $20 piece than he does of the lives of the poor men in his employ. We agree with the Courier that the Grand Jury should point an eye in that direction.

Fortunately, the number of serious accidents seems to have declined in later years, or the newspapers did not cover them. There do not seem to be any newspaper accounts of fatal accidents during the first half of the 20th century.