Occasionally we tripped to “Mechanic’s Pavilion,” to witness the knights of the fistic art battle for supremacy, and note the radiant smiles of the shining lights of the arena as a “knockout” was perfected. But alas! the old haunts of Market and Ellis Streets and the beautiful edifices of the old-time “Frisco”—where are they? The echo answers, “Where?” Vanished with the stroke of nature’s wand, that calamitous earthquake and subsequent fire of 1906, in whose train the mournful ravages of devastation grinned in fiendish glee.
Though similar to the overwhelming destruction of the ancient city of Campania, San Francisco’s ruin was not irremediable,
for, like the surprisingly sudden demolition, there burst into view, like spring flowers following a thunder-storm, the magnificent new city of the “Golden Gate,” blazing in the zenith of prosperity. It may be necessary to make inquiries or perhaps consult a city directory, but you will find the same old joyful haunts flourishing as of yore.
My tour of duty at Mare Island was brought to a close on being ordered to New York to join the mobilization of the St. Louis battalion.
XI.
Semper Fidelis—the Guard of Honor
U.S. Marines at the St. Louis Exposition—Veterans of Various Expeditions—Mobilization at Washington, D. C.—Arrival in St. Louis—An Ideal Military Camp—Exhibition Drills, Marines in Bohemia—The Spanish Señoritas of Old Madrid—Coleens and Harpists of the Emerald Isle—Cheyenne Joe’s Rocky Mt. Inn—Palm Garden Dances in the “Wee Sma” Hours—Chaperoning a Theatrical Party—A Dinner at the Tyrolean Alps—A Famous “Broadway” Actress Meets Geronimo the Apache Chief—Marines Battle with Filipino Scouts—Arrival of Mounted Police, Farewell to the “Fair”—Oh, Maryland, My Maryland.
The battalion of marines that composed the Guard of Honor at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 was the finest representation of Uncle Sam’s sea soldiers that has ever been mobilized. In order to meet the requirements in organizing this battalion, it was necessary to select
men from the Atlantic, European, and Asiatic fleets, besides the various navy yards of the United States. The requirements of the navy department in selecting material for this detachment were: that each man must be not under five feet and eight inches in height and of military bearing, a veteran of foreign service, possessing an excellent character and a clean military record. Several months were spent in securing the necessary quota to complete these essential conditions, which, when perfected, represented not only the flower of the United States Marine Corps, but a worthy rival for honors with the best military force ever organized.