Comment on Seeking gold, the 49ers found a sad, sodden S.F.

San Franciscans may be running out of dry socks during this December of welcome if relentless rain. The afternoon westerlies, unchecked by buildings or trees, whipped through the sand that covered much of the city, invading buildings, tents and clothing with fine particles of grit. On the August day he arrived, New York Tribune correspondent Bayard Taylor reported, “A furious wind was blowing down through a gap in the hills, filling the streets with clouds of dust.” A 49er named Charles H.