The morning call., 1891-05-04
GooD-BY, MIR. PRESIDENT.

At the time these lines are read the Presi-
dent will be out of California and We'll on
his way to Portland He spent just a week
with us-not counting the time he devoted
to sightseeing in Southern California. Dur
ing that week he saw more that was new
and curious and interesting than it has often
been given to travellers to observe in the
same space of time-much that be will re-
member to the end of his life, and that win
serve him as material for conversation in
the years to come, when he has resumed a
private station.
He saw city which in the brief period
of little more than a generation has grown
from collection of shanties aud tents to
the grand proportions of a splendid metrop-
oils, rich in edifces towering into the sky,
and replete with every modern improve
ment he lived at a hotel that is equal in
all its appointments to the most perfect
hotels of the, greatest cities Of the Old
World. He visited a country resort that
casts into the shade the most fashionable
watering places of the East, in that it is
equally delightful in winter as in summer,
ana that its deniZens know no discomfort at
any time from heat or from cold. He cast
an eye over the tranquil waters of the Pa
cifc, and watched vessels arriving from
distant Asia and romantic Polynesia; while
at his feet swarms of seals gamboled in
their native freedom utterly unconscious
Of his presence. Finally, be ate a dinner
here after which Lucullus might have
sighed a nunc dimittis; a dinner
which stands alone among public ban
quets for the reason that every guest
was sorry when it ended. Take il all in all,
President Harrison must feel that his week
was well spent
He felt in duty bound to acknowledge the
welcome he got in a series of neat we'll
turned speeches. These, though they must
have proved a severe task upon his voice
and his fertility of thought, had the merit of
pleasing everybody. In every speech he
said something that was pleasant to listen
to, and he had the singular felicity of never
saying anything that he can now wish I'M
said. 1t is no light task for man, how
ever well trained, to speak three or four
times a day without repeating himself, or
without uttering platitudes or committing
indiscretions. Mr.. Harrison avoided all
these dangers. Wherever he was he had
something fresh to say. be never fell TO the
level Of dullness, and he never said a word
that hurt any ones feeling. His little
speeches were always sensible, agreeable
and in good taste. On more than one occa-
sion he showed that he knew what he was
about. and did not propose to be used by
politicians for party purposes, but it was all
done so smoothly that friction was avoided
and it is only since he left that those who
proposed to make capital out Of his visit
realize that they got left.
There probably never was public recep-
tion of this kind that did not leave some
bitternesSes behind. On such occasions
somebody always fancies he has been
Sighted and with singular faulty adver-
Uses his woes to the world. These persons
forget two old proverbs Of perpetual appli-
cation One says that when two men ride
on one horse one must ride behind, and the
other states that no human ingenuity has
ever been able to get quart of liquor into a
pint lot. a study of these immortal max
ms will console those who think they
should have been and yet were not invited
10 this or that ceremony, and that still
larger class v 10 are consumed with envy Of
the superior good fortune Of those who did
succeed in clambering to empyrean heights
by the side Of the peoples anOinted. Peo-
pie who are gnashDg their teeth at not haY-
ing had a chance to shake tie Pres Dental
hand must remember that that is Mr.. Har-
Tison's misfortune as much as theirs; il
they did not grasp his palm, neither did he
grasp theirs. The calamity is mutual.