The San Francisco call., 1896-08-23

NEW YORK, AUG. 18.-The only ex-
cuse I have for not writing letter last
week can be traced to the fact that there
were no Californians in sight. The terrible
death-dealing humidity that has swept
stopped tourists and visitors and plugged
up the channels that are ordinarily news
producing.
At the present writing over 700 people
have either dropped dead in the streets or
died in their BEDS Children have gasped
out their young lives in a struggle for
fresh air and animals of all kind have
dropped dead in their tracks or gone mad.
The hotels are deserted and the registers
show no new names. The movements of
those Californians who are already here
have simply been confined to trips to the
seashore and back to their hot rooms and
hotels about midnight. Whenever I do
run across Western native, he simply
mops his brow, says unkind things to me
for speaking to him and reels off down the
street denouncing the town and the cli-
mate.
A breeze such as comes off San Fran
cisco Bay every afternoon would be worth
all the money in Wall street this day.
Linen suits, light coats and negllgee shirts
have been found to be simply worthless as
form of comfortable clothing. Grad
ually people are beginning to appear on
the streets with less and less each day. If
the heat keeps up much longer there will
be few thousand arrests for indecent ex-
posure.
Old residents say, "This is the first time
we have ever had such weather." but the
visitors don't regard such an explanation
as a sufficient balm for their feelings of
disgust.
Perhaps, though, you have had enough
of this.
Another Californian, by the way, has
taken unto himself wife. This time it is
Holbrook Blinn, leading man with Effie
Ellsler last season, and soon to join
Roland Reeds new company. He has, it
is. perhaps well to state, married Miss
Ruth Benson. formerly of San Jose. She,
too, is of the Thespian order and was lead
ing lady for Mrs. Auzerais when that lady
took a tour from San Fran cisco to Alaska.
Mr.. Blinn was along as leading man.
That's how it all came about. The whole
affair was clever little incident, and Mr..
Blinn, who was rehearsing with Mr..
Roland Reeds company at the time,
found that he had a great many more
friends at the wedding than were origi-
nally arranged for. 1t seems that he told
his superior that he had little business
around the corner that required his i'm
mediate attention. Mr.. Reed at first OBJ
jeeted to the young man leaving the re-
hearsal, but when Blinn let the cat out of
the bag all hands took an hour off and
the knot was tied at what is known as
1.-THE Little Church Around the Corner
in the presence of the company.
/ have very frequently had occasion to
call attention to the strength of the word
California when used at the right time
and in the right place. An incident oc-
Cured not long ago in one of New York 5
leading restaurants where the Bohemians
and actors gather with the newspaper
men which illustrates the point to nicely
Mr.. Charles Nicholson, formerly of San
Francisco, and myself, had AIKEN seat in
the aforesaid restaurant and after eating
a course or two our friend Nicholson in
sisted that the best thing to do was to
order some California wine and have the