The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 18, 1898, Page 18

THE SAN FRANCI Henry T. Gase, Governor elect—1 wish the “Monarch (?) of the Dailies” would swear off being rude to me. Lue lle (Gage—Swearing isn't nice; papa says so. 1 never heard it, but I've heard other things—singing and dancing and theaters. If my pa knows how I'll ask him to swear for me, and then I'll tell er I like it. you if swearing off means making up your thing, 1 know what T wish. G mind to stop a I want my cousin, Miss Jennie Eastman, making me do my lessons. C H Consu for Turkey—To be candid with you, 1st confess that T care little if any one “swears off” any “old g” or not long as I am permitted to refrain from doing so my- r James D, Phelan—1It is customary for well-meaning gs which they con- r or others’ well being the beginning of the year, and so it is that San Francisco, like a certain ancient and popu- lous resort of wh we read, is “paved with good intentions.” Now, as to the merits of that kind of a pavement. It is affairs that later in the year a contract is in- keeping it in repair. It seems that this pavement does 1e pressure of various kinds of traffic to which it is sub- Resolu of intention” are so often foliowed by bad that, in my official capacity, I should condemn “in- refuse, in the light of experience, to give earing off process” which is invoked so often ders at the beginning of the calendar year, or imme- eceding an election. It is the fiscal year that counts. It is ¢ believed that the City Fathers, to whom we look for every- t is good and wise, never “‘swear off” aiter they are sworn in. Direetor Sam Wa ler—1i the newspapers will swear off roasting me J will promise not to swear off anything myself. 1 ow the people would rather have me as I am. Coun'y Cierle--loct W' Il D-ane—There is only one, whom I should like to swear off, My Fra pave al support to the by political offe diately general, thing th Sehoo one man, and He is the man who makes Arvnfm-l the navy blue atmosphere in the office frighfens the That man is the “job-chaser.” Life will be one long h&ven of bliss if this multitudinous individual, the “job-chaser,” will swear off « . 1 don’t care whether he swears off on the other office- holders or not Charles Weleh, Seeretary Brard of Eduer ion—1 wish the school-teachers would swear off demanding their salaries three {!:\ beiore they are due. I don’t see why they don't swear off demand- ing them at all. There wouldn’t be such a large deficit if they did. There are those who would like to ask Waller to swear off think- ing 1va is the entire Board of Education. Don't confuse’ me with those people Wi'liam M Pierson, attorney-1i-la-+—1 wish the press would swear off giving a black eye to San Francisco on all occasions. If a Chinaman dies of pneumonia we get the biggest kind of headlines announcing that the bubonic plague has broken out, If we have a slight shock of earthquake “scare heads” are used to show how every- body in town was frightened to death. Give San Francisch a chance from 1899 on. John P. Irish—1 wish the world would swear off intemper- ance. Both those who tain intemperately and those who are in- temperately abusive should swear off. The public would appreciate it if Lucky Baldwin swore off trusting to luck—especially in the con- struction of hotels. 1 think the leaders of the Democratic party batter swear off from future overindulgence in fusion. Rabbi Voorsanger—Among a good many other things, I A e | me sv deacons soear off onTew wonld like politicians to swear off promising to vote for one man and casting their ballot for another. I wish all gentlemen to swear off spitting on the sidewalks. I would like all good women to swear off shopping after 5 p. m. and robbing tired men of their seats on the street cars. & General W. H. L. Barnes—1i 1 were Senator Perkins I would swear off assailing the purposes of the President in relation to the Philippines until I knew more about it. Ed Stevens, actor—I1 wish the critics would take a breathing spell. They need a rest. So do we. I might even restrain my tears if Peter Robertson swore off entirely. Willianm Greer Harrison—1 wish Ambrose Bierce would swear off the habit of sclf-laudation. Stage Mornader Grorse Lazt—If the chorus girls would swear off talking at the stage entrance I would be enough to—ahem!—to take down th sign. good-humored “free list entirely suspended” Felloo he aht n o Year appreciate it if Mr. de Young would swear off denying that he is a can- didate for the Senate. R. Porter Ashe, Stale Senator elect—1 should Chief of Police to swear off being Chief of Police. Attornen Eugrne Dewprey—All the good prophets on elec- tion results should swear off once and for all. I have sat at their feet, listened to their auguries, and thereby hangs a sorry tale. Raphael Weii—1 am afraid it would be asking Barbour Lathrop too much to request him to stop talking. For he must live up to his reputation as the man of “iron jaw.” Rabbi Nietc— The politicians ought to swear off interchanging doubtful compliments—especially since they don’t mean a word of it. Health In p-etor Dockery—1 think the man who is looking for my job had better swear off. It's not such a snap as he thinks. I may not have to burn midnight oil, but I must often pour the morning milk. I'm not exactly looking for trouble, but I find it. This hunting not unadulterated bliss. like the Garret McEnerney—There would like to see changed. complish it, much less are a But a double line of great ting breath swearing off. for adulterations is many things I police couldn’t ac- However, I would M, M. Estee—Let me say, as far as my experience goes, this is a pretty good world, and the people in it are pretty good people. I am not at all in touch with those who see something wrong in every- [-3-F-3-3-3-3-F-F-3-F-3-F-F-F-3-F-R-3-3-F-F-F-3-F-3-F-F-F-F-3-3-3-F-B-3-3-F-F-5-3-3-5-3-F-F=3-3-F-3-3-3-F-F-3-3-3 -3 -3 .4 CALIFORNIA AND THE CALIFORNIANS. PR R R R 3o 0- 03 E - R - E -2 -0 2 -0 E -2 - E R R e R e R R R e - - SR R e R R R R R R R R o R R R R R R R e R R e R R R R R R o R R R R R R RS -R - - iR R -R - RoR R - R R R R R R R R R R - -E =R =3 o R =R o R R R - R =R =S R ] HE Californian loves his State be- cause his State loves him, and he returns her love with a fierce affection that men of other re- gions are slow to understand. lience he is impatient of outside criti- cism. Those who do not love California cannot understand her, and, to his mind, their shafts, however aimed, fly wide of the mark. Thus, to say that California is commercially asleep, that her industries are gambling ventures, that her local politics i in the hands of professional pickpockets, that her small towns are the shabbiest in Chris- tendom, that her saloons control more constituents than her churches, that she is the slave of corporations, that she knows no such thing as public opinion, that she has not yet learned te distinguish enterprise from highway robbery nor reform from blackmail— all these things and many more the Californian may admit in discussion or may say himself, but he does not find them acceptable from others. They may be more or less™true, in certain times and places, but the conditions which have permitted them will like- wise mend them. It is said in the Alps that “not all the vulgar people who come to Chamouni can ever make Chamouni vulgar.” For similar rea- sons, not all the sordid people who drift overland can ever vulgarize California. Her fascination endures, whatever the accidents of population. The charm of California has, in the main, three sources—scenery, climate and freedom of life. To know the glory of California scenery one must live close to it through the changing years. From Sis- kiyou to San Diego, from Mendocinc to Mariposa, from Tahoe to the Far- allones, lake, crag, or chasm, forest, mountain, valley, or island, river, bay, or jutting headland, every one bears the stamp of its own peculiar beauty, a singular blending of richness, wildness and warmth, Coastwise everywhere sea and mountains meet, and the surf of the cold Japanese current breaks in turbulent beauty against tall ‘rin- cones” and jagged reefs of rock. Slum- bering amid the hills of the Coast Range, “A misty chmp of mountains pitched tumultuously,” Lie golden valleys dotted with wide- limbed oaks, or smothered under over- weighted fruit trees. Here, too, crum- ble to ruins the Franciscan mis- sions, passing monuments of Califor- nia's first page of written history. O G SR e 1 To a very unusual degree the Cali- fornjan forms his own opinion on mat- ters of politics, religion and human life, and these views he expresses without reserve. His own head he “carries un- der his own hat,” and whether this be silk or a sombrero is a matter of his own choosing. The dictates of church and party have no binding force on him. The Californian does not confine his views to abstractions. rie has his own opinions of indivi.ual men and wom 1f need be, he will analyze the charac- ter, motives, and actions 6f his neigh- bor in a way which will horrify the traveler who has grown up in the shade of a libel law, The typical Californian has largely outgrown provincialism. He has seen much of the world, and he knows the varied worth of vayied jands. He tra- vels more widely than the man of aay other State, and he has the‘education which travel gives. As a rule, the well- to-do Californian knows Europe better than the average Eastern man of equal financial resources, and the chances are that his range of experience includes a part of Asia as well. A knowledge of his own country is a matter of course. He has no sympathy with “the essen- tial provinciality of the mind which knows the Eastern seaboard, and has some measure of acquaintance with countries and cities, and with men from Ireland to Italy, but which is densely ignorant of our own vast domain, and thinks that all that lies beyond Phila- delphia belongs to the West.” Not that provincialism ix unknown in California, or that its occasional exhibition is any less absurd or offensive here than elge- where. For example, one may note a tendency to set up local standards for literary work done in California. An- other, more harmful idea would insist that methods outworn in the schools elsewhere are good because they are Californian. This is the usual provin- cialism of ignorance, and it is found the world over. Especially is it character- istic of centers of population. When men come into contact with men in- stead of with the forces of nature, they mistake their own conventionalities ror the fa~ts of existence. It is not what life is, but what “the singular mess we agree to call life” is, that interests them. 1In this fashion they lose their real understanding of affairs, become the toys of th__- Jocal environment and are marked as provincials or tenderfeet when they stray away from home, California is emphatically one of earth’s male lands,” to accept Brown- By David Starr Jordan. ing's classification. The first Saxon ‘s ers were men, and in their rude civilization women had no part. For years women in California were objects of curiosity or of chivalry, disturbing | rather than cementing influences in so- | ciety. Even yet California is essen- | tially a man’s State. It is common to | say that public opinion does not exist there; but such a statement {8 not whol- |1y correct. It does exist, but it is an | out-of-door public opinion—a man's | view of men. There is, for example, a | strong public opinion against hypocrisy, in California, as more than one clerical renegade has found, to his discomfiture. The pretense to virtue is the one vice that is not forgiven. If a man be not a liar, few questions are asked, least of all the delicate one as to the “name he went by in the States.” What we com- moniy call public opinion—the cut-and- dried decision on social and civic ques- tions—is made up in the house. It is essentially feminine in its origin, the opinion of householders as to how men should behave. In Califernia ther: is little which corresponds to the social atmosphere pervading the snug, white- painted, green-blinded New England villages, and this little exists chiefly in communities of people transported thi- ther in block—traditions, convention- alities, prejudices and all. There is, in general, no merit attached to conform- ity, and one may take a wide range of rope without necessarily arousing dis- trust. Speaking broadly, in Califorma the virtues of life spring from within, and are not prescribed from without. The young man who is decent oniy because he thinks that some one is looking would do well to stay away. The stern law of individual respons bility turns the fool over to the foo killer without a preliminary trial. No finer type of man can be found in tle world ‘than the sober Californian; and vet no coast is strewn with wrecks more pitiful. There are some advantages in the ab sence of ‘a compelling force of public opinion. One of them is found in the strong self-reliance of men and women who have made and enforced their own moral standards. With very many men life in California brings a decided strengthening of the moral fiber. They must reconsider, justify and fight for their standards of action; and by so doing they become masters of them- selves. With men of weak nature the It is not so encouraging. The bad s shown in lax business official carelessness and cor- v r vices, and the general lack of pride in their work shown by artisans and craftsmen. In short, Califernia is a man's land, with male standards of action—a land where one must give and take, stand and fall, as a man. With the growth of woman’s reaim of homes and houses this will slowly change. It is changing now, year by year, for good and ill; and soon California will have a public opinion. Her sons will learn to fear “the rod behind the looking-glass,” and to shun evil not only because it is vile, but because it is improper. P Ll Al T e In no way has the unearned incr ment been more mischievous than in the booming of cities. of towns comes increase in the value of the holdings of those who hold and wait. If the cily grows rapidly enough, e gains may be inordinately grea :lous beauty of Southern Cal- nia and the charm of its climate have impressed thousands of people. Two or three times this impression has been epidemic. At one time almost every bluff along the coast, from Los Angeles to San Diego and beyond, was staked out in town lots. The wonderful climate was everywhere, and every- where men had it for sale, noi only ajong the coa:t, but throughout the oran_e-bearing region of the interior. Svery resident bought lots, all the lots he could hold. The tourist took his hand in speculation. Corner lots in San Diego, Del Mar, Azusa, Redlands, Riverside, Pasadena, anywhere, brought fabulous prices. A village was laid out in the uninhabited bed of a mountain torreht, and men stood in the streets in Los Angeles, ranged in line, all night long, to wait their turn in buying lots. ‘Worthless lana and inaccessible, barren cliffs, river-wash, sand hills, cactus de- serts, sinks o’ alkali, everything met with ready sale. The belief that South- ern California would be one great city was universal. The desire to buy be- came a maniz. “Millionaires of a day,” even the shrewdest lost their heads, and the boom ended, as such booms always end, in utter collapse. T. 8. Van Dyke of San Diego has written of this collapse: “The money market tightened almost on the instant. From every quarter of the land the drain of money ou’ ward had been enormous, and had been balanced only by the immense amount constant- 1y coming in. Almost from the day this inflow, ceased money seemed scarce everywhere, for the outgo still contin- ued. Not only were vast sums going out every-day for water pipe, railroad iron, cement, lumber and other materi- al for the great improvements going on in every diree8lon, most of which mate- , the widespread c rrosions of | ‘With the growth. rial had already been ordered, but thou- sands more were still going out for dla- monds and a host of other things al- ready bought—things that only increase the general indebtedness of a com- munity by making those who cannot af- ford them imitate those who can. And tens of thousands more were going out for butter, eggs, pork and even potatoes and other vegetables, which the luxuri- ous boomers thought it beneath the dignity of millionaires to raise.” But the normal growth of Los Ange- les and her sister towns has gone on, in spite of these spasms of fever and their consequent chills. Thelr real advan- tages could not be obscured by the bursting of financial bubbles. By reason of situation and climate they have con- tinued to attract men of wealth and enterprise, as well as those in search of homes and health, The search for the unearned incre- ment in bodily health brings many to California who might better have re- mained at home. The invalid finds health in California only if he is strong enough to grasp it. To one who can spend his life out of doors it is indeed true that “our pines are trees of heal- ing,” but to one confined to the house, there is little gain in the mew condi- tions. To those accustomed to the close heat of Eastern rooms the California house in the winter seems depressingly chilly. 1 know of few things more pitiful | than the annual migration of hopeless consumptives to Los Angeles, Pasadena and San Diego. The Puliman cars in | the winter are full of sick people, ban- ished from the East by physicians who do not know what else to do with their incurable patients. They go to the ldrge hotels of Los Angeles or Pasadena and pay a rate they cannot afford. They shiver in half-warmed rooms; take cold after cold; their symptoms grow alarm- ing; their money wastes away; and finally, in utter despair, they are hur- ried back homeward, perhaps to die on board the train. Or it may be that they choose cheap lodging-houses, at prices more nearly within their reach. Here again they suffer for want of home food, home comforts and home warmth, and the end is just the same. People hopelessly ill should remain with their friends; even California has no health to give to those who cannot earn it, in part at least, by their own exertions. It is true that the “one-lunged peo- ple” form a considerable part of the population of Southern California. It | is also true that no part of our Union has a better population, and that many of these men and women are now as | robust and vigorous as one could desire. But this happy change is possible only to those in the first stages of the dis- ease. Out-of-door life and physical ac- tivity enable the system to suppress the germs of disease, but climate without activity does ..ot cure. So far as cli- mate is concerned, many parts of the | arid regions in Arizona, New Mexico {and Colorado are more favorable than | California, because they are protected from the chill of the sea. Another class of health-seekers receives less sympa- thy in California, and perhars deserves less. It is made up of jaundiced hypo- chondriacs and neurotic wrecks. These people shiver in the California winter boarding-houses, torment themselves with ennui at the country ranches, poison themselves with “nerve foods,” and perhaps fi.ally survive to write the sad and squalid “truth about Califor- nila.”” Doubtless it is all inexpressibly tedious to them; subjective woe is al- ways hard to bear—but it is not Cali- fornia. TRSE TR IR N e With all this, the social life is, in its essentials, that of the rest of the United States, for the same blood flows in the veins of those whose influence domi- vates it. Under all its deviations and variations lfes the old Puritan con- science, which is still the backbone of the civilization of the republic. Life there is a little fresher, a little freer, a good deal richer, in its physical aspects, but for these reasons, possibl?', more in- tensely and characteristically Ameri- can. With perhaps 95 per cent of iden- tity there is 5 per cent of divergence, and this 5 per cent I have emphasized even to exaggeration. We know our “friends by their slight differences in feature or expression, not by their com- mon humanity. Much of this diverg- ence is already fading away. Scenery and climate remain, but there is less elbow-room, and the unearned incre- ment is disappearing. That which is solid will endure; the rest will vanish. The forces that ally us to the East are growing stronger every year with the immigration of men with new ideas, The vigorous growth of the two uni- versities in California insures the ele- vation as well as the retention of these ideas. In this way, perhaps, California may contribute something to the social development of the East, and be a giver as well as a recelver, But to the last certain traits will persist. It is the most cosmopolitan of all the States of the Union, and such it will remain. Whatever the fates may bring, the peo- ple will be tolerant, hopeful and ade- quate, sure of themselves, masters of the present, fearless of the future. From December Atlantic Monthly, 2 0630 306 306 306 108 306 108 J0% ¥ 106 06 06 0% 308 0% 0% 408 30 30 308 308 30 108 X0 306 30 30 10 30K 30% 30% 308 308 106 X0 30 308 306 106 0¥ 00 008 10K 308 106 308 408 308 308 0% 308 108 30 100 0% 100 0% 308 0% 308 308 106 X0% 0% 0% 30 308 30 30 1G¥ 10 0 06 06 06 300 308 10 108 308 306 308 306 206 30 306 306 J0¢ 308 306 108 308 10% 0¥ 106 10 X0 X0 108 30¢ 108 0¥ K¢ % 0¥ 3K 306 %06 3% o At body but themselves. While I have no cause to be especially satisfied with myself, I have abundant reason for being grateful to and satisfied with others. I hear many people say that when they were voung there was less wickedness in the world than now. I don’t believe a word of it. And, after all, the man who is always turning over a new leaf in life has left too many blots on the leaf last turned. Dr. Hertzstein—I would suggest to Major McLaughlin that he swear off on politics. Dr. Winsiow Anderson—Colonel Kowalsky swears off every day in the year on avoirdupois. Considering his ethereal proportions, it's not a bad “swear off.” But I would suggest to him that on New Year’s he swear off on warm places—for example, Baldwin Hotel fires. Superintendent of Streets Ambrose—I wish the people would swear off asking the impossible. There are no cobblestones in the city of golden streets, thank heaven. Suparvicor Edward Smith— The dude, the dude, the butterfly dude, He walks like a dolly, he talks like a polly. Rottanzi, swear off! Your soldier cjothes doff! Wake up from your trance! Climb up on your great high hat ordi- nance. Supervisor Byitanzi— Doc Smith, he says, says he to me “Here's a tip on the races, see!” Swear off, Doc, being so good to me. Doc wins, but I always lose, you see! Supervisor Delany—T'm a cornbeef and cabbage epicure my- self. But when Haskins invites us to ducks, I wish he'd swear off thinking that Hunger is the only thing that must be satisfied. There ic thirst. Supervisors Rivers, Shechan and Morton—We never swore off anything in our lives, so it would be hardly fair to ask any one else to swear off. Swunervicor Briti—My iriend Devany ought to “gold bricks” after January 1. Supervisor Haskins—Captain Delany has sworn off for several weeks on a shave. It's no use whistling “Still His Whiskers Grew” to him. The Baldwin barber is no more, and he fears any other wiii deface his manly beauty. He ought to swear off thinking so. His good looks are proof against any razor. Supervisor Devany—Tell the other man to swear off. 1 don't know who he is or what he must swear off. But the more rustling of turned over leaves the better. It detracts attention from those who are not swearing off. Washington Dodge, Assessor elect—Reporters might swear off on too vivid imaginations. In their flights of imagination the sometimes build out of thin air. Supervisor Laclkmann—I would ask the children to swear of. asking, “Got any election cards, mister?” Supervisor C inton—Swear off asking me to express my public opinion privately, and swear off demanding my private opinion pub- licly. Registrar Bigdy—The weather clerk has relented a little. B on New Year’s I wish he woyld swear off entirely on dry weather. [i swear off on he doesn’t we will have to irrigate with the tears of disappointmen’ % that are shed over the lack of rain. Willi am Keith, artist—1 would like to have colds swear off or me. They seem tv take a particular fancy to me, summer and winter alike. I wish they would confine their attention to.some other man A cold is not a thing of beauty, but with me it lasts forever. M. L2 Jeune, scu/ptor—1 wish people would swear off neglect- ing to patronize and encourage art. Attorney Geon-ril Fitzderald—My friends are too good tc ask them to swear off. But, since charity begins at home, I suppose it would not be uncharitable to ask my enemies to swear off. Cupid D iniorth, licons» el ric—Every bachelor in Sy Francisco ought to swear off on single life. Single blessedness is but a fib, and the man is dead that's single. T say this in the fullm;ss o1 knowledge gained in my professional capacity,