Renaissance Man of Cannery Row: The Life and Letters of Edward F. Ricketts

1936–1938

On November 25, 1936, a power surge in the Del Mar Cannery caused a ¤re on Cannery Row that destroyed Paci¤c Biological Laboratories , including all of Ricketts’s personal and professional records and correspondence. Ricketts escaped, saving only his car, the clothes he was wearing, and a portrait of him by James Fitzgerald (see letter dated March 31, 1937; in “About Ed Ricketts,” Steinbeck asserts Ricketts also saved his typewriter, but in The Outer Shores, Hedgpeth notes that Ricketts’s own inventory of lost property did not include his typewriter or car). While rebuilding the lab, Ricketts stayed with Fred and Frances Strong at their home in Paci¤c Grove. Friends and family members surprised Ricketts at Christmas by giving him some of his favorite books in order to help rebuild his lost library. His gratitude is apparent in his letters. The following is the earliest letter found after the ¤re. To V. E. Bogard and Austin Flanders December 16, 1936 Dear Bogard and Austin: You will be interested to hear what’s been happening. We have the lot almost entirely cleaned up, still one large pile of wood and debris stacked together. Most of the concrete seems to be alright. Rough plans have been drawn for a shack-like board and bat structure to house of¤ce and labs, 28 x 33’. Estimated cost, top $981, plus $100 for rough in plumbing and $75 for conduit, or vice versa. Labor and material plus 5%. Estimate by builder who does much of the cannery work and who was sent up into Oregon by 3 of the local canneries to build 5 plants there. We have saved lots of conduit, cast iron pipe (all of which is good), and some valves and galva1936 –1938 nized pipe that seems alright; this will reduce the cost. Galv. iron too expensive. As soon as insurance company pays up (they are investigating criminal carelessness) I will have this part erected. Then Roy and I will get busy with 2 x 4s and erect galvanized iron roof over shark tanks, run the conduit and water pipe out there for immediate start on shark preparing. The balance of the $3000 will have to go for equipment, stationary, such few items of stock as we have to buy (maybe none, can trade for most), a bit to Rodriguez, and small truck to replace present car. It looks not impossible now, altho still terribly dif¤cult. Very hard to pack orders, without any decent facilities, out in the rain. Insurance company investigation has been delegated to [a] local electrical engineer, and I have given him [a] statement. He has worked out a very interesting picture, amply supported by evidence. There were about 4 pieces of neglect, any one of which might now have resulted thus, but the combination of which was sure to cause terrible ¤re sooner or later. He says the evidence, from the type of wiring, fact that fuses didn’t blow as they should etc (on the power pole), is that the full power load of between 500 and 1000 horsepower at 2300 volts was ®owing both thru our place and the entire Del Mar plant, that all the wires took a¤re and burned until they burned out, starting dozens of tremendously hot ¤res. The ¤re is known now to have started at the main switchboard that fed all 5 of the Del Mar Canning Co. plants. He says that ordinary house fuses are no valve in the face of such a load; they blow but still transmit. I’m glad I didn’t go near our wiring. Next time I’m going to try to devise some protection against this thing that the electric companies say can’t happen. I think a 5 or 10′ length of smaller diameter, before the service comes to the switchboard, would surely do it. That would burn before the inside or switchboard wires took a¤re. I am still staying at Frances’, Carmel 1146 in case you need to phone. Soon as roof is up again at the lab I’ll move back down there. The cannery is not going to rebuild this year, despite previous 2 / LifeandLettersofEdwardF.Ricketts reports, and there’s no certainty that they’ll ever rebuild here. The city seems to be awfully mad at them, and they surely should be. V. E. Bogard (1889–1952) worked at University Apparatus Company...