Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-06-15
SAN FRANCTSCO'S WAYS.
WHY LIFE ON THE PACIFIC COAST
IS SOMETHING OF A kOrTeRY.

The rrsvaisnce os GamblIss-Iivisg Es-
pcusss Restaurants - Iivin. Very
Much ON Entremcs--It IL More Parisinn
than American.
Especial correapoodcnccl
SAN FRANCISCO, June 10. 1885,
Should you happen to arrive In San
Francisco from tho first to about the mid
die of the month, you will find the peo-
pie In wild state Of excitement The
cause is the immediate approach or Inn
mediate presence Of the regular monthly
drawing Of tho big lottery, which occurs
on the second Tuesday Of each calendar
month, and brings with IL a rather curl
Gus condition of affairs. Although strict
~ against the common law, lottery
tickets arc openly sold coupons they
arc called--and u would seem that every
man. woman and child In the town Is
the posscssor Of twentieth, tenth, a
fifth, "A half or a whole ticket The en-.
tire city "plays tho game"
IL you socially visit friends house,
the host or hostess expresses an interest
In you by inquiring the number Of your
lottery ticket and mentioning the num-
Der Of theirs The clerks In the stores,
the merchants at their desks, and tho
boys on the streets all have tickets or
sections of tickets. and ns matter of
course the day Of the drawing is one Of
unusual excitement. Extras are issued
from the newspaper offices giving the
numbers of the lucky coupons; the bull
letin boards are bcsieged by deeply in
tcrcsted mob. and the next day column
Interviews are published with tho win
ners Of any particularly generous sum
All this, to the visitor from abroad, IL
more than passing strange. To the resi-
dent IL IL an ordinary circumstance of
life. Your true San Franciscan would
rs soon go without his dinner us without
his lottery coupon sooner, much sooner,
am sure.
But IL must be borne In mind that less
than fifty years ago San Francisco was
settled by the gamblers, and the spirit Of
chance they inculcated hasn't disap-
pcarcd by any means. Gambling. or,
more politely speaking, speculation, is
as rampant today as 1t was in 40. You
bte u IDt pIliy w Ittt tSt.ttt, uilitib
stocks and business enterprises, but IL 10
met in the every day walks of life. Step
into cigar shop to buy n weed, tho dice
arc promptly brought out and tho attcn-
dant Is ready to throw them and see
whether you shall pay for two cigars or
none Ride through the streets on
cable car with an acquaintance and he
wants to flip n nickel to decide whether
you or he shall pay the fare. Women
ply the seductive thing called poker us
dcftly MS tho men, and skill In "a quiet
little game with a small limit appeals,
on the coast, to bc u national character
istic. However, it is perhaps needless TO
dilato on this peculiar phase Of tho mod
crn Californian.
Living In San Francisco is TO many q
vexcd social problem. In certain respects
1t is like Paris, either very costly or very
cheap. One finds 1t the most expensive
and again the most reasonable city in
America in which 10 reside. Rents are
high. wages Of servants more than dou-
bic what they are in the cast and house
keeping il a luxury which the man of
modest means cannot comfortably en-
JOY. A tidy little two story house brings
500 month, n servant girl will not work
for less than $50, and IL she IL good
cook $40 is her price. Tho family wash
ing Is always done outside aud costs
about So u week. Thus 500 month
is required for rent and wages alone.
Living at the leading hotels is also cost
ly, about 81 day with incidcntals
added.
OF course, the vast majority of ordi-
nary people cannot afford this mode of
life, and the plan generally adopted is
expressed by the words furnished
rooms San Francisco appears to the
stranger like IA vast lodging house. Turn
where you will, FURNISHED rooms 10
rent grccts tho eye, Inthe midst of the
business thoroughfares, along tho side
streets, out on tho fashionable prom
cnades. all over the city and its suburbs,
rooms aro to let for men, women and
children. They arc to bc had mt all
prices, from 81 n week to 500. For in
stance. am now occupying u parlor and
bed room, with bath room privileges, for
81 "a week. In the same building are a
score Of couples living in a similar way.
! They pay for their apartments from IS
10 Sl5 week. OF course, this mode Of
! life il not conducive TO morality.
In fact, it offers a premium on promis-
cuous relationship, but in San Francisco
no one inquiries about tho private affairs
Of his neighbor, and the reputation of
the city Is far from being like unto Gao
sar's wife. The rain falls upon tho just
and tho unjust, and the landlady, from
tho lowest TO tho highest grade, takes
her fec from any respectable appearing
couple and "no questions asked" This
enormous population existing in lodg-
/ ings lives at the restaurants which
abound in the city. They are of all
/ kinds and conditions-Frcnch, English,
Italian, German, Spanish and simple
| American. Meals can be had all the
way from ten cents TO 81, but the large
majority of people favor what is known
rs the popular saloons, where the scrv-
| ice Is neat aud clean and the food whole
some and well cooked. These immense
| dining rooms, of which there are several,
arc unique. We have nothing like them
in the cast; they appear indigenous to
| the soil
When first saw this bill of fare as
sumed it was a place similar to the
"cheap and nastys" in London or the
students cafes in the Latin Quarter OF
Paris, but took three meals at one OF
them yesterday, and my experience may
bc worth relating. Nearly all the dishes
arc 10 cents each; il you take three it is
% cents; or two l5ccnt dishes and one
10 cent dish is 80 cents. This mode OF
discounting is peculiar and quite study
although the Frisco clerk and modest
| merchant have il down fine. Potatoe,