Like a thunder-clap dropped on San Francisco the in-
telhgence that Henry Meiggs had absconded. Honest
Harry Meiggs 1 A defaulter, forger, swindler, impos-
sible 1 A week ago he was the most popular man in
California, his record was the cleanest, his reputation
the most spotless. On Friday his failure for the sum
of eight hundred thousand dollars was announced.
On the Tuesday previous he had bought the bark
American, furnished and provisioned her in princely
style, and the same night sailed with his family for
"ports in the Pacific." The journal of this, Sunday,
morning, October 8, 1854, leads off with a long list of
forged comptroller's warrants, together with others un-
told, aQfOTeaatinQi' half a million or a million of dollars.
John G. Meiggs, brother of honest Harry and newly elected comptroller, also sailed on the American for these veiled "ports in the Pacific." Why did he go away being likewise a popular and capable man and newly elected to office, unless it was that being cognizant of his brother's crimes he preferred flight to braving the disgrace ? Besides the spurious warrants, merchants soon found their forged notes in circulation, and these could easily be traced to their source. Honest Harry must be the rogue ! Then a thousand fingers pointed that way, bony, bloodless fingers, and plump, fat fingers, digits horny with hard labor, be- longing to washerwomen, and working men, and the diamond digits of merchants, bankers, and frail fair ones. Few escaped the fangs of Harry, for he was clever, he was popular, and above all he was honest. So they, his victims, loved to call him Honest Harry Meiggs. Now the community cursed him. Con- gregating upon the street corners, men told their losses and swore if they could catch him they would hang him Even now in the opinion of Sweeny and Baugh the bark American is becalmed outside, only twenty miles southwestw^ard off" the heads, and Cap- tain Alden with the steamer Active, is going to sweep the coast for sixty miles in both directions. Now
