CHAPTER XII
THROUGH THE CITY TO THE GOLDEN GATE
A Well Equipped Fire Department—Destructive Fires—Scene at
the Call Office—Loyalty to the Flag—The Blind Man and Bobby
Burns—Street Scenes and Places of Interest—Market Street
System—Mission Dolores—Effect of Pictures—Franciscan
Missionaries—A Quaint Building—The Mosque a Model—The Presidio—The
Spanish and American Reservation—Tents—Cemetery—The Cliff
House—Sutro Baths—Museum—Seal Rocks—Farallones—Golden Gate—What
it Recalls—Golden Poppy—John C. Fremont—Drake and the Golden
Hind—A Convenient Harbour—First to Enter—With the Indians—Child of
Destiny—A Vision of Greatness—Queen of the Golden Gate.
Our walks hither and thither in San Francisco will lead us to many interesting places, and at times into the midst of exciting scenes. There is an onward sweep of the current of humanity, which is exhilarating in a high degree; there is activity on all sides; and you soon catch the spirit of the place. Men have a purpose in view, something to accomplish; and there is the entire absence of lethargy; there are no drones in the great hive. You realise that you are in a city of distances as well as surprises; and wherever you go you find some object or locality or happening that calls for comment. Hark! there is the fire alarm. The engines and hose-carts and fire ladders, with other apparatus, pass you as in the twinkling of an eye; and so skillful are the fire-laddies, and so well equipped is the department, that the devouring flames rarely ever make headway. They are quickly mastered. But it was not always so. There was a period about fifty years ago when great and destructive fires succeeded one another like a deluge and wiped out large portions of the growing city. There was then a woful lack of water, which is now most abundant, and the fire engines were very primitive in character and inadequate to the needs of the place. To-day every precaution is taken to guard against fire, and the great business blocks and the miles and miles of handsome homes are well protected.
I visited the central department, and it was most interesting to note the appliances of other days. It almost excited a smile to see the simple hand engines and old fire-extinguishers. On the walls of the "Curiosity-Shop" where these mementoes of other days were exhibited, not far from the Chinese quarter, were photographs of the members of the department, of past years; and among the faces were some of the most distinguished citizens of San Francisco. All honour to the men who protect our homes thus, who respond quickly to the fire bell which startles the ear in midnight hours, who risk their lives for the sake of others, who evince such hardihood and perform acts which are truly heroic! Some old inhabitant, if you question him, will go back to the past and tell you in graphic language about the disastrous fires which have swept over the city laying large portions of it again and again in ashes. The first, which was of consequence occurred in December 1849. Then the loss was estimated to be a million of dollars. On May 4th 1850 there was another fire which was a heavy blow to the business interests of the town. A third fire broke out in June 14th, 1850, and still another on September 17th, 1850, causing great loss. But, as the climax, came on May 3rd, 1851, what is known as "the great fire." At the time the chief engineer and many of the firemen were in Sacramento, and this greatly crippled the service. The fire-fiend held carnival for twenty-four hours, and property, valued at twenty millions of dollars, was consumed, while many of the people perished in the flames.
On Sunday, June 22nd, 1851, there was still another ruinous fire which raged among the homes on the hillsides and in the residence-districts generally. This was accompanied with a most pathetic incident. While the flames were raging around the Plaza, a man who was very sick was carried on his bed into the midst of the open place, and there while a shower of flame was rained on him and smoke blinded his eyes his spirit passed to his eternal home in the Heavens. But although San Francisco had met with all these losses in rapid succession, partly the result of incendiarism and partly by reason of a lack of fire equipment, yet the people, brave-hearted and unconquerable, rebuilt their city on broader and safer lines; and the San Francisco of to-day, so attractive and prosperous and beautiful, may be said to have risen Phoenix-like out of her ashes. So it is that evils are overruled for good in God's Providence, and the fine gold comes out of the fire of discipline, tried and precious! Our walks now will lead us up through the city to the Mission Dolores, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate. But as we proceed up Market Street we take note of some features of the life of San Francisco. Behold, here is an eager group of men and boys in front of The Call office. They are scanning the bulletin of the day's news from all parts of the world, which will be published in to-morrow's Call or in the Chronicle on the north side of the street. In the early part of my sojourn in this city by the Golden Gate I was impressed with this aspect of life here. It was on Thursday the 3rd day of October that I saw a crowd of men of various ages, and boys also, reaching out into the street, besieging the bulletin board of The Call, at the corner of Market and Third Streets. Why are they so deeply absorbed and why so interested? They are reading the news of the victory of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan's Columbia over Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrock in the great yacht race in New York waters, in the cup contest. Had this international race taken place outside of their own Golden Gate, on the broad Pacific, they could not have evinced greater enthusiasm and pride at the result. The pulse of San Francisco is quickened and the heart thrilled at American success on the Atlantic seaboard as much as Boston or New York is elated when it triumphs. Distance is nothing. It is America from Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate. The one thing that impresses you here in San Francisco is the intense patriotism of the people, and your own heart is warmed as you see the evidences of loyalty to the flag. I could not but be touched too at the devotion which the people everywhere displayed to the memory of President McKinley. Even in Chinatown a deep sentiment prevailed, and his draped portrait with his benignant countenance might be seen in houses and stores and in other conspicuous places.
As you walk leisurely along you will see on the sidewalk, on the south side of the street, west of the Palace Hotel and opposite No. 981, a newstand with American flags decorating its roof; and you will be interested in the man who stands in his sheltered place behind the counter on which are the daily papers. It is George M. Drum, a blind man. Poor Drum, a man about fifty years old, lost his eyesight in a premature explosion of giant powder, in a quarry near Ocean View, on the 3rd of November 1895. Yet he takes his misfortune cheerfully. He is chatty and witty and somewhat of a poet and is the author of a highly imaginative story about a "Bottomless Lake" and a "Haunted Cavern" in which that strange character, Joaquin Murietta, well known in all California mining camps fifty years ago, figures. This Joaquin Murietta has also been the theme of the "Poet of the Sierras," Joaquin Miller. Indeed it was from this "Joaquin" that Miller has taken his name Joaquin, being otherwise called Cincinnatus Heine Miller. It was my custom to purchase The Call and The Chronicle each morning from Mr. Drum; and on the second time that I saw him he said, "I wish to shake hands with you; I know you." "Who am I?" I asked, with no little surprise. Said he, "You are Bobby Burns." "Bobby Burns!" I exclaimed; and, thinking only of the Ayrshire poet, I said, "Burns is dead!" "Oh," he said, "there is a man here in San Francisco, whom I call Bobby Burns, and T thought that you were he." So the mystery was explained; and I could not but reflect that many other things which puzzle us are just as easy of solution when we have the proper key to them.
If your walk is extended into the evening through the brilliantly lighted streets, which electricity makes almost as bright as day, you will meet here and there detachments of the Salvation Army and the American Volunteers; then you will see a group of men around some temperance lecturer or street orator. You will also hear the voice of some fakir selling his fakes or wares, or some juggler who is delighting his audience with his tricks of legerdemain.
If you desire to make purchases of silver articles or gold ornaments you will go to Hammersmith and Field's at No. 36 Kearney Street; and if you wish to spend an hour pleasantly and profitably among books on all subjects, you will visit No. 1149 Market Street or 704 Mission Street. Here you will learn that books on California, whether old or new, are in great demand. Indeed all books relating to the Golden State are eagerly sought for; and if you chance to have any such you will be reluctant to part with them. They increase in value year by year.
The Club life of San Francisco is an important element; and it will be an easy matter for you to find admittance to the Pacific Union Club, the Cosmos Club, or the Bohemian Club, if you have the indorsement of a member. A letter of introduction or commendation from a clergyman or some well-known public man will secure for you the Open Sesame at any time; and here you can pass an hour pleasantly and meet the foremost men of the city, physicians, clergymen, lawyers, merchants, and army officers.