The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 8, 1897, Page 17

SAN FRANCISCO, SfiNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 8, 1897. QosscOressD o Cens: s e den > ce e O C O acanas asbBO soeOes0oO s eral seen the walls of two mountains, where the sun is id brook babbles and tumbles over the rocky e yon summer girl lives and where more real fun than all the other outing maids in the toget But fun is what she goes there for, and ore she goes that she is sure to have it. Be it said that there is no conventionality in Niles Canyon. If there were there would be a different kind of a L girl living there, and after all she would not be the yon summer girl. Life, freedom and jollity go to make up the days of our summer girl, and these cannot exist where there is conventionality. Life in Niles Canyon is distinctly a camp life. There are no summer hotels there with bands of music and broad piazzas and dinner served a la carte. But there are numerous other things that are not at the summer hotel. There is a mountain stream that flows a life-giving fluid unequaled on the face of the globe. There are the everlasting hills over which cloud shadows play hide-and-seek all the livelong day. And the beautiful forest, where wild flowers grow even in mid- summer. And besides all these there is—fun. The Niles Canvon mer girl can do as she pleases; and as it happens she es to do just those things that are good for her and that put roses into her cheeks. Real roses that will not fade at the first breath of winter. How does the Niles Canyon summer girl spend her time? What does she do to have so much fun in a place where it would seem as if all the necessary adjuncts to that end were wanting ? Firstly and lastly she does as she pleases. It is generally early in the season when the Niles Canyon girl takes to her favorite haunt, and she does not return home until it gets too “cold to sleep in a tent. Before the spring foliage is fully developed she may be seen preparing for the summer. Usually she is one of a party of from two to five, and all have their minds made up to a long vacation, free from care and the restraints of society. The first thing the Niles Canyon summer girl usually does after her baggage is dumped off the train in a tangle of under- brush is to put on bloomers. Oh, yes, she is a bloomer girl, and is proud of it. In fact, it is one of her dearest privileges to wear bloomers, and she does not lose any of the time in which she can do so. After the garments are on she sticks to that attire until the time comes to return to the City in the autumn. After the bloomers are properly adjusted the fun com- mences. Firsta place must be selected to put up the tent. This necessitates considerable discussion, all of the most ami- able kind, though. ‘Let’s put it here,” says one. *‘No, that’s too far from the water,” says another. And so it goes. But all objections are eventually overcome and the tent rises in all its glory beneath the spreading branches of a tree and not too far from the brook. The girls are then ready for house- keeping, but find only one difficulty—washing dishes. How- ever, this is generally overcome in a few days by doing away with dishes and eating off tin pieplates. These, you know, can simply be placed in the stream where the water and sand will run over them between meals. When they are wanted all that has to be done is to remove them from the stream and stand them up to drain a few minutes. This is part of the fun. How gloriously the days pass to the Niles Canyon summer girl. She rises long before the sun has peeped over the moun- S0 0 \WUMMER GIR ; L <% Z D s S ) cesO s acQessn0sseDecesBaan ~~eSticcea o JOLLY PARTY FORNORNCRORS tain, when the canyon is still filled with the mists of night and the twitter of birds is just beginning to echo among the trees, The water in the brook is like ice, but she splashes it into her face until the warm blood tingles through the tiniest veins. At daybreak the trout bite and our summer girl knows it. Taking her rod she soon lures a few of them from their hiding places beneath the rocks into her basket. What big fellows there are, and so many of them. But she takes only what she needs for breakfast and leaves the others for another time. And what a breakfast the fish make, fried brown in a pan of sizzling butter. Surely such a repast cannot be ob- tained at the finest hotel in all the world. During the warm hours of the day our summer girl has a variety of diversions. Parties of four or five are seen roam- ing over the hills and up and down the canyon. Visits are made to different camps, and such musical instruments as are portable are made use of. The sound of happy voices fills the air and mingles with the warm sunshine. Then there are boating and bathing parties, and laughter and merriment all day long. Of course during the week days the girls have the can- yon pretty much to themselves, but on Saturdays and Sun- days things are different. The *‘boys” come down and then things are livelier than ever. What fun they do have, danc- ing and singing and indulging in- a dozen other harmless amusements. The day wears pleasantly on and ends all too soon. But then there are others just like it. Although there are not as many campers in Niles Canyon now as there were a couple of weeks ago, there are still sev- eral hundred scattered along the creek. Up towa:d Sunol there are very few as the weather has been warm the last few weeks. - But at Mehrman’s; Brightside, Powell’s, Mayboy’s and Kimball’s there is little room for any more. All the level places are taken and it might be said that. the season Is at its height. Those who still remain there are the enthusiasts. But then the real Niles Canyon summer girl 'is always an enthusiast. She goes out for a good time and gets it. There are two girls in the canyon at present who have camped all summer in a tiny tent far up in a side canyon away from all the other campers. Their names may not be told, but they came there last May and have remained ever since. At present they are beginning to regret that the summer is draw- ing to a close. These two girls have camped out in the most pronounced “ roughing it” style. They don’teven own a camp stove, but do all their cooking over a fire kindled between two stones. Their principal diet has: been cornbread, bacon and beans, but they have enjoyed it and bota say they have gained in flesh. Last Sunday they had a piece of fresh beef, but did not cook it in a frying pan. That would have spciled it. They put pieces of it on sticks and held them where the flames would brown them on the outside. Once or twice the pieces fell off into the ashes, but that was not considered objectionable. The meat was simply put back on the sticks and the cooking pro- cess continued. While this was going on the two girls kept up the merriest conversation and laughed heartilyat their mis- haps. Both of tilese girls were pretty as pictures, light hearted and innocent and bent on having a good time. In re- ality they were perfect types of the Niles Canyon summer girl. R R