The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 2, 1896, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST ‘2, 1896. 19 A Holida\_;: Scene by the (lad Sea Waves on the Ocean Beach Below the Cliff House For Dgliday, no place in this great City, with rerhaps the exception of Golden Gate Park, is so regularly and so generally re- pare, unaduiterated enjoyment of a | the tall buildings, through the beautiful residence avenues and over the sandhills to the seaside. ground is there, and of a Sunday or holi- A veritable family picnic- sorted to during the summer months by | day the sands are thronged by thousands people of all classes and conditions as the | eager to get the benefit of the invigorating bcean beach. that stretches away down | breezes and to experience the delights of a the coast from the Cliff. From any part of the C: at the expense of a nickel, one | few hours of relief from the monotony of the whirl of every-day metropolitan life. may ride out from among the frowns of | Families bring along baskets of sand- wiches and bottles of milk or cold tea and camp all day in sight of the charging wave battalions of the deep in their ceaseless war against the land. The old folks select a sheltered nook and pass the time in merry jest and laugh, and discuss, it may be, the foam-crested cup as well as the frothy brine. The lover and the maid hie away by them- selves to talk silly and giggle and imitate the Coghlan kiss; while the youngsters, pulling off shoes and stockings, and roll- ing their pantaloons up as high as pos- sible, wade in and kick about joyously in the cooling surf. The brisk, bracing, healthful, pure salt sea air 1s well worth the long ride to the beach and back. It is better than medi- cine. All day the people march hither and thither along the shore, and all day their ears ring with the shouts of the boys and girls dancing in the water or playing in the sand. Of course there are numerous artificial attractions at the beach, and these are availed of by the holiday hosts. There are Sutro Heights, and the Cliff House, and the biggest bath- ing pavilion in the world, and the seal rocks; but the important fact which is here desired to be emphasized is that the people of San Francisco may derive all the pleasures of the seaside without going outside of the City limits. The ocean beach is a favorite airing-place for the people of the City. Families often go scores of miles away on a Sunday in quest of seaside diversion, and spend many dol- lars for a day of hurry and worry and hastily eaten meals and engine smoke and wearied feet, when they counld have more genuine pleasure, more comfort and Jess fatigue, for & very small fraction of the expense of their excursion to a distant part of the coast, by femaining right here in San Francisco, where sea breezes galore may be courted for an outlay of only a few nickels. The truth is that not every- body in the City knows the delights of a loungé on the ocean beach, but they are learning fast. Some of the Gurious Ways by Which Men and Women THEY WATCH | " THE CASHIER| Men and Women Who Gurious Way Some| as Spies | Pet Thelr Business IS to Know How r : Tru.st.ed Employes. Spend Their Time Playing gentleman and earning from $6' to $9 a day is another way of earninga | living in the great city of San Francisco. | This means ‘of obtaining the means to | exist is not. confined to the male sex, but | there are not a few women who play lady | awxd draw a like-amount, and, it may be | added;.expenses. Those who' make ‘a living that way are | provided by the private detective bureaus, but their appearance, their manner of con- ducting themselves, their language and | ability to- dmuse, is such that no one would look” upon them as modern imita- tors of the great Vidocqg. The men are recruited from the ranks of | society men whom the reverses of fortune have placed in & position thatan odd job bringing.them in a few dollars every now then is as welcome as rain is to the | dreught-stméken farmer. The women, likewise, are obtained from | amonga class that has astanding in so- ‘ciety, but the greatest care is exercised in the seiection of those who have sharp eyes, good ears for listening, are entertain- ing conversationists, can play the piano | qr the'mandolin, and are not behind the | otliers in taking a band at whist or pro- gressive guchre. But above all they must be discreet, “You have nd idea of the number of men 2nd women.who are employea in this class of wotk,” said one of them a few days stnce. “‘If there is a firm that wishes. to advise itself of the life of its con- fidential employes it communicates with my employer, and I or some one else is set to watch thie movements of the particular | individual in question. Kuowing the hour that be leaves his home, I am there at that time. If he walks to the office 1| am at a réspectful distance behind him; 'if he rides on the cars I am his unknown traveling ¢ompanion; if he has neglected | “to breakfast at home and sauntersinto a | restaurant Iam taken with a desire for | breakfast, and if he goes into a saloon for | a bracer I bdve to have one also. What | he does in the office is none of my con- ; cern, but I am.on the watch all the time, | apd when he leaves during the lunch | “hour I’m after him to note where he goes, | what he does and what people he talks | with, and this is repeated after he leaves the office. I then becomes my duty to follow him wherever Le goes, ‘see the kina of owl company he keeps, | make a,.fair estimate of his expendi- tures during the night and day. Oiten | . it bappens that my man visits places that "I cannot enter, for where two constitute | company three would prove embarassing, | “pat liKe Captain Cuttle I make a note on’t | _and subsequently find out Ler name. If he leads a proper life or'if he leads a fast life and blows in money at the races, his | employers find it all out. At times Iam -+ thrown into the company of the man I am watching and in such a case I bave to | keep on an even keel with him. Some of | the reports turned in at the office would make fine reading for tae relatives of the parties watched.” | ° What the men watchers do is often done by women, for they not only watch women but they are set to watch men and report if they are led into temptation. Itisat fancy and masquerade balls that they are often sent to discover if, a particular indi- vidual is out for a good time, and the watchers are required to give details. JARE SERVANTS FOR AN HOUR Women Work How My Lady in Straitened Gir- cumstances Makes a Show- ing Before Guests There are some people in this City that at some time in the past have been in better circumstances who still havea pride in keeping up appearances despite the fact that they are not able to keep house as they did in the days that have gone never to return; all by reason of a reduced in- come. And the way thisis done is through a class of willing, accommodating women who in that way make a living and at the same time help carry out the deception that is practiced on visiting friends. It is an innocent deception that does not hurt any one. One of the first curtail- ments in a home where the income is | ¢iminished is the cutting off of the servant or servants and the hiringof a woman for | one day in the week to do the rough work. This woman is set to wash the front steps and clean the front windows, and that goes to create the impression among the neigh- bors and with friends if they should be passing the house that there is at least one servant in the house, and the balance of the week the lady of the house is forced to do her own work. ‘Whenever the lady of the house wishes | to entertain it is then that the accommo- dating woman comes so handy. Her rates vary from 25 to 50 cents an hour, and she takes the place of the dismissed servant, attends to the cooking with the assistance of the lady of the house, who occasionally has to excuse herself to her company, 8s; ing: “I have got a new girl and must step out for a moment to see that she does not spoil the dinner.”” During her absence the company utter words of sympathy for the “poor, dear soul’”’ who has so much trouble with her help. The clever housekeeper who is forced to resort to this trick to keep up appesrances manages, by a shrewdness that is born of necessity, to lead her friends into the. be- lief that she is keeping house in the old- fashioned way, and if they are ignerant of the true state of affairs why make them wise in a matter that does not concern them? Dinner is served by the “new girl,” the kitchen tidied, and then the accommodat- ing woman receives her pay for so many hours’ work and she is discharged until wanted again. “Yes,” said one of the accommodating Wwomen, ‘‘there is enough of thai kind of work to keep me occupied almost every day in the week, and as things are going now I have no reason to complain. If I'm engaged for only one hour I charge 50 cents for that hour, and if it's two hours I charge 40 cents an hour, and if it is more than three hours it’s 50 cents for the first hour ana 25 cents for every hour or part of bour after that. I can make better wages that way than I could working at regular rates, and it's much more independent.” The little brown men from the land of the Mikado have learned of this system of working by the hour and, as they do in everythine else, they are cutting in on white labor and offer to do the same class of work that the accommodating woman will do, for 25 cents an hour, be it only one hour or more. —_— Doctor—How long will it take to tell me your symptoms? Lady—Oh, nearly twenty minutes. Doctor—Proceed, madam. I am just going into the next room to see some one who isill. I will be back by the time youn have done. HE I8 KIND . TO STRANGERS A Man of Linguistic At- tainments Earns His Bread by Guiding the Tourist to the Sights of San Francisco Any one who enters the reading-room and office of one of the large hotels on Montgomery street can almost at any time see a dapper little man hoiding down chair No. 1 on the first row. His favorite attitude is sitting with his legs crossed, his right elpow resting on the arm of the chair and his head resting on the palm of his hand. His complexion is dark, he looks like a Spaniard, and he might be mistaken for some Spanish general on furlough, meditating on the possible out- come of the war in Cuba. “No; he’s no general,” was the reply of the hotel clerk to an individual with an | inquisitive turn of mind. “He’s only a man who takes parties over the City and shows them all the sights except China- town; that he leaves to others better posted in the quarter than he is. ““Yes, he does look 2 little sleepy, and, as the French say, ‘fatty gay,’ but that's his normal condition. Guess he was born weary, but for all that he’s as smartasa steel trap. He makes his living as no other man does in this City. He speaks Enghsh, French, German and Spanish fluently; is posted on . European and American affairs. He can discuss the sil- ver question and talk about the war in Cuaba and the late revolution among the Uitlanders with just as much ease as though ke had been a diplomat all his life, and he knows the City like a book, There is not a prominent house in the City that be does not kncw, and he knows the occu- pants by name, if not personally. And it is that knowledge that wmakes his services valuable. ‘““Whenever strangers come to the hotel, particularly those who are from France, Germany or Spanish-speaking countries, he rouses himself and prepares for busi- ness. He makes himself known, and then offers his services to show them the sights of the metropolis of the Pacific. Many who are mere globe-trotters take advantage of his offer, and for a consideration he shows them around and takes them to the stores to make purchases. Now as he has an eye to the dollar he does not fail to take them to those places where the old system of ‘addition, division and silence’ is in vogue. And that brings him in a pretty penny every time he goes out. “As I said before it is a novel way to earn a living, but it is one of the ‘ways, and there is no reason why he should not engage in it if it pleases and pays him, He has, so far as I know, a monopoly of the business, for I do not know of any other hotel that has such an indiyidual among the loungers in the reading-room or office.”” The gentleman of linguistic gift when approached, in the most Chesterfieldan manner declined to be interviewed as to his business and what there is in it for him, but he was exceedingly loquacious as to what he could do for any one who wished to engaze his services at so much a day or portion of a day. “Life,” said the sententious young man, *is like a game of cards.” “It is more like a game of chess to me,” said the man who livesin apartments. “I move once a year.” The following is on a tombstone near Indio: ~‘Here lies the body of David Thompson, who came here and died for the benefit of his heslth.” ARE MOTHERS TO BACHELORS They Do Mending and Keep Secrets Discreet and Kindly Women Who Care for the Wardrobes of Single Men ‘“Mending of gentlemen’s clothes and garments taken care of,”’ is what appears on a small sign that modestly projects a few inches from a house on an alley | leading from Post street. In answer to a knock at the door near which this sign is nailed, a middle-aged woman appears and explains that she is the one who does the mending. “You see,” she said, ‘‘there are many young men in this City who have apart- ments but no one to look after what they have in them. There are many of them who miss a loving mother or a willing sister ready to mend a tear here, sew a button on there or darn a sock with a small hole. There are many young men who are not so proud but they will wear mended garments, and it is with that class I deal. Some bring the articles they want mended to my house and call for them, and these I charge by the piece. Others have me go to their rooms during their absence and look over tneir ward- robes and do what is necessary for them. In such places I am paid by the month. 1 do the repairing and keep their clothing in order for $1 50 a month. “If there is a tear or aripin a coat I put in the necessary stitch in time the proverb says saves nine. Ilook after their cloth- ing and do for them what a mother would do for a son, “Well, yes, I sometimes come across some secrets that it would not do for the world to know; but if I do find out some- thing I have sense enough to keep my dis- covery to myself. To be sure every young man hasaright to have a girl, and if he has, whose businessisit? If ne receives a love letter from her and leaves it in his coat pocket, is there any harm if I should glanceat it so long as I do not tell what I read ? “I was a girl myself once and I used to write letters, and my only curiosity is to see if the girls of to-day write about as much nonsense as we girls did. I can tell you this just quietiy—they do. It seems to me that love never grows old and that though fashions come and fashions go there is no change of fashion in the mat- ter of love. I really do believe that if we could see one of Mother Eve’s love letters it would be found to contain as much non- sense as can be found to-day in the scrib- blings of the young new woman.” The speaker said that there are quite a number of women who, not able to foliow any other occupation, have adopted this repairing business as a means of earning a living for themselves, and in many in- stances their families of little children, who are unable to render any assistance. They do not get rich, but it is sufficient to enable them to live quite comfortably. The Whitsuntide holiday in a Pari hotel: Visitor—These are all dirty towels that you have brought me. Chambermaid—Well, monsieur,eighteen other gentlemen have used them, and you are the first who has complained. Irate father (on shore)—Didn’t | tell you not to go skating? . Quick-witted son—Stay where you be, pop. The ice is awful thin, See the little bumble bee, A precious worker he, But if you've any common-sense, You'll let that little bumble be. PEDDLES FOOD FOR CANARIES | The Widow Who Sells Ghickweed She Was Once Well-to-Do, but Is Now Gompelled to Gain Her Own Living There are many peculiar ways of hon- estly making a living, but possibly the | most peculiar is obtaining a living, may- be just a living, by collecting food for birds. The writer, calling at the house of a lady, was interrupted in a conversation by a ring of the doorbell, and a moment after the servant opened the parlor door to an- nounce that it was “‘the old woman with the chickweed.” “You'll excuse mae till I see this old lady and get some weed for my canaries,” said the lady as she passed out into the hall. The door being open one could not help seeing an elderly woman with silver-gray bair, with a basket in her hand, pass over tothelady of the house a big bunch of fresh, green weed that the yellow song- sters love so well. “Some kind neighbor who thinks of your canaries?” was suggested when the lady returned to the parlor. “No,” was the reply, “that is the old lady's business. “What—selling chickweed ?” “Why, yes; did you never hear of her? No? Why, that’s strange. I thought everybody knew her. The old lady has been at it for years. She is now 68 years of age and that is the way she earns a living for herself. She has a great num- ber of customers and to each she furnishes twice a week a handful of chickweed for the birds for 5 cents a week or 20 cents a month. There are a great many who not only give what she asks, but press an extraquarter in her hand when they pay her, “I believe that she manages to make a very fair living in that way. Every morn- ing she goes out—1 do not know where, and gathers a basketful of seed, and then distributes it, taking in a certain district one day and another the next, and so on until she has supplied all of her customers. “The old lady has always been a bird- fancier, and she knows as much about them as a bird-dealer. If there is any- thing the matter with your bird tell her about it when she comes around and she will give a remedy. And her remedy always works well. I really believe that it is as much for the knowledge she im- parts as it is for the weed she sells that she has such a large run of customers.” She was at one time the wife of a local merchant, who left her a widow with but a few thousand dollars, but that was not to last for all time, and, economical a3 she was, the constant drain upon the princi- val reduced it so low that she had to do something: but, being too old to take any- thing that would tax her strength, she de- termined upon procuring food for the birds, and in that way food for nerself. This seems to show that no matter how small the undertaking is it will succeed if pushed. A party of tourists were examining one of the large trees of California. One of the party remarked: “What a magnificent specimen! Surely it must be the oldest tree in the world!” An Irishman who was with the party cried out: 2 “Now. faith, how could that be?” and burst out into laughter. ‘‘Sure any one knows this is a new country, and how the mischief could the tree be ould?” —————— Everything comes to him who waits, but the man who comes first gets it. Earn Their THOSE WHO DANCE FOR PAY They Gounterbalance Wall Flowers Young Men of Good Address Who Hire Themselves Out to Jrip the Fantastic A few evenings since a fraternal. society man had occasion to attend an open in- stallation of the officers of a lodge, and as it had been given out that there would be a dance after the ceremony there' were present a great many of the fair sex. It was, in fact, soon noticed that the attend- ance of men and women was like the, demo-populo campaign sign, 16 to 1, and that the women represented the sil- ver. “Don’t see much show for dancing,” re- marked the fraternal society man, ‘‘with so many women and so few men,” ad- dressing himself to the floor manager. *‘That will be all right; wait till you get into thiedance hall and the dancers will be on & parity, because, you know, there are a good many ladies whose dancing days are over, and they serve to ornament the side chairs.” 7 In the dancing-hall some time after the fraternal society man saw that the floor manager had predicted correctly. There was about an equal number of the sexes.| for dancing and it was noticeable that many of the young men who moved their partners around the waxed floor to the soft, sweet melody of the “New Bully,” waltz time, were in full-dress and seemed to be most agreeable partners, well versed in ballroom etiquette. Recognizing one of the male dancers in clawhammer and fashionable tie, the fra- ternal society man accosted him with: “Why, what are youdoing here? I did not know that you wereé a Knight of the High Flying Falcon.” i “Well, I am not, but just came up to ave & pleasant time with the girls, you know; soenjoyable to have a good dance.” The following night the fraternal society man visited another fraternal organiza- tion that had announced & social and was somewhat astonished to see on the floor the very same set of young men, in swal- low-tail coats, that he had observed at the dance of the Knights of the High Flying Falcons. Again addressing the one he had spoken to the evening previous he said, ‘“Charlie, 1sn’t this rushing things? Who are ail these young men?” “I don’t mind telling you,” was the an- swer. ‘“We are a lot of young men of good family, but not overburdened with wealth, and therefore not averse to making a few dollars on the quiet. As you must know, there are so many of these parties given every nitht in the week that those who were 1n the habit of attending have got tired aud they prefer to go to ‘smokers,’ free and easy, you know, so we saw a chance to supply the deficiency in the male line by hiring our- selves out at so much a night to supply partners for the lady visitors. The ladies, Lord love them, at parties like this one don’t ask any questions; they want to dance and they want dancers, so we supoly the demand, and in that way we keep ourselves in spending money. Nota bad scheme, eh ?"’ and with that he sought his partner for the next dance. Sock—Wonderful new invention those X Tays. Buskin—New invention, quotha? Sir, they are as old as the bard of Avon. Doth not Ham- let say to his Queen mother: "Ca:ne. come and sit you down! You shall not You go not till Isetyou up a glass Where you may see the inmost part of you " Daily Bread IN SOCIETY FOR. THE COIN The Ex-Social Belle and Music She~Poses as a Guest but Plays the Vielin for the Hostess for Money It was a native of the Old Sod who, when asked why he boiled his potatoes in, his hat instead of in a pot, replied, “I have no "pot, and necessity is the mother of invention.” And it is necessity that forces many people to invent ways to earn « money. There is in this City a young lady who has become, like many more, | the victim of circumstances., A few years ago, when speculation in mining shares had a hold on our people, her father was one of the wildest ahd most reckless and at the same time most fortunate specula- tors on the street. ‘For a time he was like Midas, his magic touch turned everything to gold, everything came his way, and it was the rule for speculators to buy when Bill Mountain bought and sell when he let ga . is home.was the finest in the aristo- cratic quarter and his entertainments were as lavish as'they were freely given to” those who were welcome guests within his dcors. There was not 4 thing that the meinbers of his- family wanted that was not procured, and there was no lack of friends ready to welcome’ the members of Bill Mountain’s family. It was with him as with many others, easy come, easy gone, and there was not a precaution taken for a possibfe reversal of fortune,, The turn did come, and when it did his “fortune slipped from him with a rapidity that ;was beyond the power of staying. So great was the change, that the cry on the street was altered to ‘“When Bill Mountain buys, sell; when he sells, buy.” He became a financial wreck. Do what" he could he could not regain his former position. . He lost heartand became a phy- sical wreck. The little that was saved from the crumbling fortune soon dwindled away and there wasnone but his daughter to take heart to make a living for the fam- ily. She is a remarkably fine musician, plays the violin with a touch equaled only by that of Camilla Urso, and cften in the days of her prosperity did she charm at home or at the homes of friends those who assembled there, with selections from the great masters. & - To-day she still charms circles whege she is yet received as friend, but every. note she sounds is paid for, and it 18 by that means she makes a living for herself and those who are dependent upon her. So great is her talent that she is sought after constantly, and everywhere she is introduced not as a professional but as a guest, and plays her part as such with as much grace as she does the instrument which keeps her’ and hers alive. But whilethere is a smile on her lips there is often a pang in her heart at the thought of the way in which she has to masquerade in order to make both ends meet. ‘While that isone of the strange waysto make a living, it is a creditable one, and the once society girl, who feels that she no longer has the rightto that distinction, * is to be commended for having had the courage to turn to useful account the tal- ent that was developed in her when she was in position to have the training re- quired. “Qur whole neighborhood has been stirred up,’’ said the regular reader. The editor of the country weekly seized his pen. “Tell me all about 1t,” he said. “What wewant is the news. What stirred it up?”’ *“Plowing,” said the farmer.