Coronado’s Ralph Mitchell celebrated his 90th birthday recently at the Coronado Yacht Club, surrounded by a room full of family and friends. Also present was his lone surviving schoolmate from Coronado High School, Class of 1938 – Colonel Richard Kenney.
Ralph’s track and field records at CHS were miraculous. He set a record in the long jump of 23 feet 3/4 inches while competing against Escondido High School his graduating year. The record still stands today, 72 years later!
Living this long, one might imagine Ralph has more than a few stories of “olde” Coronado. One of his favorite memories took place New Year’s Day, 1937, at dawn, when Ralph and a friend saw the 300-foot gambling casino Monte Carlo drifting towards shore in the Coronado Roads.
The two boys had been out fishing all night, and, according to Mitchell, “I was familiar enough with Admiralty Law to know that an abandoned or deserted ship is fair game, and everything on it.
“So my friend and I boarded her. I yelled out, ‘I, Ralph Mitchell, claim this vessel under Admiralty Law!’ Then I heard a gruff voice from down below. The fellow yelled, ‘Hey you kids, get the Hell off my boat.'”
Today the wreck of the Monte Carlo can still be seen at winter low tides south of the Hotel del Coronado. Rumors continue to circulate of thousands of silver dollars buried under the sand.
Mitchell’s old classmate and track team buddy, Dick Kenney, had retrieved several of the old Morgans from the beach that day. What he didn’t spend that summer he donated to a museum in recent years.
Ralph Mitchell, still entertaining friends and family with either a good
story or a tune at the piano at age 90. Photo by Joe Ditler.
Perhaps Coronado High School’s greatest athlete, Ralph Mitchell
is seen here practicing his long jump in that eventful year of 1938.
Photo courtesy of Lorton Mitchell.
Colonel Richard Kenney, also 90, is the only surviving classmate of Ralph Mitchell. He too lives in Coronado. The two alumni get together for lunch at the Brigantine every so often and share stories. “Trouble is,” said Colonel Kenney laughing, “neither one of us can finish a story or remember what we started to talk about.” Photo by Joe Ditler.
Gambler’s silver in the form of 1870’s Morgans, being examined by Colonel Richard Kenney. He retrieved these silver dollars from the wreck of the Monte Carlo the day it crashed on Coronado’s South Beach, New Year’s Day, 1937. Photo by Joe Ditler.
The infamous sin ship Monte Carlo. Every minister in the land was praying for its demise. When it finally broke its moorings in a storm and crashed on Coronado’s beach, every minister in the land took credit claiming, “It was an act of God
.”
Photo courtesy Coronado Public Library.
