They loved grandeur. Bootblacks carried on business in prettily fitted up recesses furnished with cushioned chairs, and containing a liberal supply of newspapers. It was over such a San Francisco that the frightful plague of cholera swept in 1850, carrying with it a lesser plague of suicide. Doctors' fees were from sixteen to thirty-two dollars per visit, while for a surgical operation one thousand dollars was the usual price. In spite of plague and death, that part of San Francisco which escaped continued to be jubilant. Bull fights were in high favor, and the stage, though crude, was very popular, but the great, enchanting delight of the city was gambling. Money, gold, jewelry, houses, land and wharves were all put up to be gambled for. The city abounded with men of elegant manners and striking dress, who were professional gamblers. It was indeed an advance in civilization and morality when in September, 1850, a law was passed forbidding this pastime on the Sabbath day. [Illustration: THE PACIFIC OCEAN--END OF JOURNEY.] The news that California had been admitted as a State in the Union reached San Francisco on the morning of October 18, 1850, when the "Oregon" entered the harbor, flying all her bunting, and signalling the good news. Business was suspended; courts were adjourned; and the whole population, frenzied with delight, congregated on Portsmouth Square to congratulate each other. Newspapers containing the intelligence from Washington sold for five dollars each! The shipping in the harbor was gaily dressed with flags; guns boomed from the heights; bonfires blazed at night; processions were formed; bands played; and the people in every way expressed their joy. Mounting his box behind six fiery mustangs lashed to highest speed, the driver of Crandall's Stage cried the good news all the way to San José--"California is admitted!!" while a ringing cheer was returned by the people as the mail flew by. The awaking of San Francisco during the five or six years following the discovery of gold was wonderful. "Hills were tumbled into the bay, and mud flats were made solid ground." Streets were graded, handsome buildings were erected, and San Francisco began to rank among the first cities of the land. So valuable was her water-front that, in 1853, four small blocks on Commercial street sold for over 1,000,000 dollars. The assessed valuation of property that year was about 10,000,000 dollars over that of the previous year. The population was then estimated at about 50,000; that being about one-seventh of the then population of the State. The city had, at this time, 1856, seventeen fire companies, twelve military companies, and a number of social clubs, four hospitals, seventeen public schools, thirty-two church organizations, thirteen daily newspapers, and as many weeklies published in half a dozen different languages. From that time she has continued ever increasing, ever justifying her title of the metropolis of the Pacific.