CHAP. XIII.

THE SEAL ROCKS.

213

covered for the most part with grass plots, thousands of trees have been planted in it, pines, cypresses, mimosas, and the evergreen Australian gum-tree; the brilliant scarlet geraniums are growing eight feet high, and flowering shrubs on all sides delight the eye, while the air is filled with their sweet fragrance.

The Golden Gate is of course seen to most perfection by those who enter the harbour by sea, but I was quite content with looking at it from the surrounding hills, and I shall long remember a pleasant day spent at the Cliff House, where some Californian friends entertained us at luncheon, and we spent the afternoon watching the far-famed seal rocks, where hundreds of sea lions disport themselves— sometimes basking in the glorious sun, then diving into the water, talking in their strange language, with the peculiar bark for which they are noted, their weird and discordant voices being heard far above the Pacific Ocean breakers which wash the shores. This is justly esteemed one of the city's chief attractions, and these rocks and their inhabitants are rigorously protected by the authorities.

"Why are these splendid mansions built of wood instead of granite or even brick?" is the natural question which rises to one's lips on being introduced to the magnificent houses of Mrs. Mark Hopkins, Mr. Crocker, Mr. Leland Stanford, and other millionaires in California Street. Some people told me it was ordained by the imperative law of fashion; a physician assured me "that stone houses were damp and unsuitable in this climate," others darkly intimated it was due to the frequency of earthquakes.

Let the reason be what it may, the fact remains that the first stone residence has only just been commenced for Mr.

James G. Flood. It may perhaps bring about a new era in house building, but the house itself will not be completed for two years. It will be built of brown stone from the Connecticut quarries, of the same character as that so largely used in New York, although granite quarries abound in the immediate neighbourhood of this city.

In the meantime the wooden houses, built of red pine wood, and heated throughout with furnaces, are terribly dangerous when they once catch fire it is difficult to stop the conflagration or prevent it from spreading. Two blocks from the Palace Hotel, a large lumber yard, close to the shipping docks, caught fire one night, and I watched from the windows of the beautiful suite of rooms always occupied by Christine Nilsson during her visits to this city, one of the most terrible fires I ever saw. For some time it seemed as if nothing would avert its progress, and the greatest excitement prevailed. At times the flames seemed nearing the Grand Hotel just opposite, at other times they lighted up the ships in the harbour, till they stood out like so many spectre vessels. At last, in a lull of the smoke which was being vomited forth while blazing rafts shot up into the evening skies, we saw that the brave men had reached the roof, and had the fire-hose in full operation on the burning pile; and after considerable efforts it was evident that the fire was under control. The fire-brigade here is in splendid condition; more than three hundred men are engaged in the service. The average number of fires is twenty-five in a month, and the red pine-wood, though it soon makes a fierce blaze, also absorbs the water very rapidly, so that a welldirected stream early applied saves many a house, thanks to the promptitude of the fire patrol.

CHAP. XIII. THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.

215

I was greatly interested in the Foundling Hospital in the Golden Gate Avenue, to which I was introduced by Dr. and Mrs. Hardy. It was a strange sight to find in one nursery. more than a dozen little infants one or two days old. Upwards of a thousand have been admitted since the institution opened, and for the most part they are adopted by wealthy but childless parents, who, in many cases, adopt them as their own, and preserve the terrible secret which surrounds its birth both from the child itself and inquisitive neighbours. The unhappy mothers, thanks to the Christian-like spirit and watchful discretion exercised by Dr. Hardy, are given every chance to make a fresh start in life, and are thus saved from the abyss of despair which drives so many to total destruction. Stern moralists have ventured to urge that such unfortunate girls should not be saved from the consequences of their evil doings; but very different are the teachings of the great Master, who shamed the Pharisees of old by suggesting that those without sin should cast the first stone, while He gently bade the penitent woman to go her way and sin no more.

CHAPTER XIV.

Strange contrasts afforded-Drinking and total abstinence-Divorces-Fast sets and earnest reform workers-Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper-Free Kindergartens-Mr. Tabor's Art Gallery-Lotta Crabtree's fountain-The Baldwin Hotel-Mr. Highton-Silk culture-Efforts of Mrs. Hittell and the State Board-Prizes won at the Philadelphia Exhibition by Californian ladies for the best silk cocoons raised in the United States-Commercial opportunities of San Francisco-The Immigration Association-Chinese labour question.

SAN FRANCISCO is a city of strange contrasts. Perhaps there is not a faster place in the world, and yet there are few more conspicuous for works of true benevolence. There is more drinking, and more fanatical total abstinence than I ever encountered elsewhere; more flagrant use of rouge and cosmetics, more extreme dressing and devotion to pleasure among the fashionable people who live in the hotels, or on "Nob Hill," the local slang for California Street. The number of divorces compared with marriages in this State is fearfully large-" more than one in every ten,” I was told by a lawyer who seemed an authority. This may account for the extraordinary boast of a San Franciscan boy, who, incited by his Chicago friend's remarks on his "Ma's gold watch, diamond pin, and new sealskin sacque, costing six hundred dollars," contemptuously observed, "Pooh! that's nothing; my ma's got a new divorce." Certainly this freedom is one of the marked features of Western life.

It must be admitted that there is to be found in America,

CHAP. XIV.

MRS. SARAH B. COOPER.

217

and especially in San Francisco, a terribly fast so-called society set, engrossed by the emptiest and most trivial pleasures, slaves to fashion, and with scarcely a thought beyond their promenades, dancing parties, and the number of dresses they will have for their annual visit to a popular watering-place. The one aim and end of the existence of some women is the modiste and a millionaire. After what I saw with my own eyes I could scarcely marvel at a preacher's vigorous condemnation of the heartless frivolity to be seen on all sides. "The first characteristic of these ladies," said this New York divine, "is their extravagant adornment of their persons;" he then proceeded to allude to a wellknown belle, whose wardrobe is insured for more than 20,000 dollars, concluding by a denouncement which he dared not have made had there not been sufficient justification for it. He charged this fast section of his country women with being neither true in speech nor action, and added, "There is unchastity among them, and they know it. They dress to excite the lower passions of men, and all the time they know they are sacrificing themselves. Consequently the fashionable woman sometimes sinks into an abyss of shame, and disappears from society altogether. Men talk a little, and some women shudder,-but that is the end of the story."

There is, however, another side to the picture, and in this very city will be found a pleasant, intellectual, cultured society, and also a large number of earnest workers in reforms of all kind. Notable among the latter is Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, a bright genial lady, whom to know is "a liberal education," and whose work in the various social movements for the improvement of the people is such that