Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-10


Thou seest the white S,as fold their tents.
Oh. warbler OF two continents.
Thou dr1xest all th'nss. small and great,
To thee. beside the western gate
HNHIS Is WHAT BRET HARTE has written OF
Il the great city Of San Francisco. and for the
past fortnight / have been wondering what
made him do it. There is neither serenity nor
Indifference to be found in these parts. and evil
would it be for the continents whose wardship
we're intrus ted TO so reckless a guardian. Be
hold me pitched neck and crop from twenty
DAYS of the high seas into the whirl of Califor-
mia, deprived Of any guidance and left TO draw
nv own conclusions. Protect me from the
wrath of an outraged community If these let
tiers be ever read by American eyes San
Francisco is a mad city-inhabited for the
most part by perfectly insane people, whose
women are of a remarkable beauty. When the
City Of Pekin steamed through the Golden
Gate I sav with great joy that the block house
which guarded the mouth of the finest har-
Dor in the world. sir could be silenced by
two gunbosts from Hong Kong with safety,
comfort and dispatch. Also. there was not a
single American vessel of war in the harbor.
This NAV sound bloodthirsty. but remember /
had come with grievance upon me-the
grievance of the pirated English books
SEES A REPORTER.
Then q reporter leaped aboard and ere /
could gasp held me in his tolls. He pumped
me e1haustively while was getting ashore, de-
manding Of all things in the world news about
Indian journalism 1t is an awful thing to
enter a new land with new lie on your lips.
spoke the truth to the evil-minded custom
house man. who turned nv most sacred raj
ment on a floor composed of stable refuse and
pine splinters; but the reporter overwhelmed
me not 50 much by his poignant audacity as
bfQnIffll |
j did not tell him more lies IS 1 passed into a
city of 300. 900 white men. Think Of it 800, 900
white men and women gathered in one spot.
walking upon real pavements in front of plate
glass Widowed shops and talking something
that ut first hearing was not very different
from English. II was only when had tangled
myself up in hopeless maze of small wooden
houses, dust, street refuse and children who
played with empty kerosene tins, that dis
covered the difference of speech.
You want to go to the Palace Hotel?" said an
affable youth on a draw. what in hell are you
doing here. then? This il about the lowest
ward in the city. Go six blocks north to cor
ner of Gearv and Markey. then walk around till
You strike corner Of Gutter and 10th and that
brings You there"
do not vouch for the literal accuracy of
these directions, quoting but froma disordered
memory.
Amen" I said "But who am I that /
should strike the corners Of such as you name?
Peradventurc they may be gentlemen of repute,
and might hi. back. Bring it down to dots, my
son."
thought he would have srnitten me. but he
didn't He explained that no one ever used the
word street. and that every one was supposed
to know how the streets ran. for sometimes the
names were up on the lamvs and sometimes
they weren't Fortified with these directions
i proceeded till found mighty street, full of
but paved with rude cobblestones, after tie
fashion Of the wear one.
THE CABLE CAR.
Here a tramcar, without any visible means of
support, slid stealthly behind me and nearly
struck me in the back That was the famous
cable car Of San Francisco. which runs by
gripping an endless wire rope sunk in the
ground hundred yards further there was a
slight commotion in the street, gathering to-
gether Of three or four, something that gilt
tered as IL moved very swiftly. A ponderous
Irish gentleman. with priests cords in his hat
and small nickel plated badge on his ia.
bosom emerged from the kr D. supporting a
Chinaman who had been stabbed il the eve
and was bleeding like pig. The bystanders
went their ways and the Chinaman, assisted by
the policeman. his own. OF course this was
none Of my business, but / rather wanted to
know what had happened to the gentleman who
had dealt the stab 1t said great deal for the
excellence Of the municipal arrangement of the
town that a surglng crowd did not at once
block the street TO see what was going forward
was the sixth man and the last who assisted
1t the performance, and nv curiosity was six
times the greatest. Indeed, 1 felt ashamed Of
showing it.
CRACK AT THE HOTEL CLERK.
There were no more incidents until
reached the Palace Hotel. a seven-storied war
rem Of humanity with a thousand rooms in it.
AL the travel books will tell you about hotel
arrangements in this country. They should be
~ n N q ann tod nd ar,1 al Il
and this letter is written after thousand miles
Of experiences-that money will not buy YOU
service in the west WheE the hotel clerk-the
man who awards your room TO you and who is
supposed to give you information-when that
Respondent individual stoops to attend to your
wants he does so whistling or humming or
picking his teeth, or pauses to converse with
some one he knows These performances
gather, are 70 impress upon you that he is a
Tree man and your equal From his general
appearance and the size of his diamonds he
ought TO be your superior. There is no neces-
nty Tor this staggering self-consciousness of
freedom. Business is business, and the man
Who Il paid 10 attend TO a man might reasona-
biy devote his whole attention to the job. Out
OF ONCE hours he can take his coach and four
and pervade society if he pleases.
In vast marble paved hall under the glare
O. An electric hight sat forty or fifty men, and
Tor their use and amusement were provided
spittoons Of infinite capacity and generous
top hats-the things that we in India put on at
. wedding breakfast If we possess them-but
sney al spat- They spat on principle. The
opittoons were on the staircases, in each bed
foom-yea, and in chambers even more sacred
than these. They chased one into retirement
bat they blossomed in chiefest splendor round
she bar. and they were all used, every reeking
enc Of them
ANSWERS MKNDAcIoCs AND EvAsryE
Just before i began to feel deathly sick
smother reporter grappled me. What he wanted
70 know was the precise area of India in square
miles. referred him to Whitaker He had
never heard Of Whitaker. He wanted it from
ny own mouth and / would not tell him. Then
he sverved of just like the other man to de-
tails Of journalism in our own country. ven
tured to suggest that the interior economy of a
paper most concerned the people who worked
~ That's the very thing that interests u.s.
ne aad Have you got reporters anything
nke our reporters on Indian newspapers2n
we have not" said. and suppressed the
thank God rising to my lips. why haven't
yooT said he. because they would die" 1
sAid- 1t was exactly like talking TO a child-a
very rude Little child He would begin almost
every sen tenee with, Now tell me something
about India, and would turn aimlessly from
one question to the other without the least con-
enulty- was not angry. but keenly inter-
ested- The man was a revelation 10 me. To
his questions returned answers mendacious
and eyasiye- After all il really did not matter
what said be could not understand L can
only hope and pray that no readers will ever
Dee that portentous interview The man made
me- out to be an idiot several sizes more ORWELL
ing than my destiny intended, and the rank
ness Of his ignorance managed to distort the