The San Francisco call., 1898-01-19

By the way, I'm to have an article in the next Arena attacking the Government for its treatment of the wards of the nation. Isn't that funny? But it was written be- fore knew they were going to commits sion me to go up there."
 ''In what way will you invest the money of these Los Angeles women7"
 "Oh, buy and sell mines, speculate in various ways" she said largely.
 Have you had any experience in min ing?" l asked
 I know very we'll that that isn't a req sonable question to ask a woman but or dinary rules don't hold with such a wo- man Mrs. Crane.
 "Oh, yes" she answered quietly, as other women might answer if they were asked whether they play a musical in- strument. ''I owned shares in an Ari- zona mine. The company was East. though, and when came out to Arizona wrote back asking if I could operate the mine-it was closed on account of the de- pression of silver-if I'd hire my own wOrkmen. They wrote back yes And I could just read between the lines their scorn of a woman's attempting it. But I did. l went to a thirty-secOnd degree Ma son-I always go to the Masons; my hus- band and my father were thirty-second degree Masons-and I told him I wanted him to direct me to a dozen of the best l tell you they worked for me. They were all old bachelors, and I was a widow. you know, and I was boss, and the thing paid.'
 Now. what's the Klondike going to do with a woman like that? She's cheery; she's courageous; she's experienced. She has the army for her friend-both her first and her second husbands were mili- tary men; she has letters from the Cath ollie Archbishops recommending her to the merciful care of the Sisters and the mis- sionaries, should she be i'll. She has Uncle Sam at her back, being his representative. She has various kinds of newspapers and magazines behind her. Her best friends are a family at Forty-Mile worth half a million in Klondike claims, whose hos pitable home she expects to reach about May 1. She has been toughened and strengthened by a life of hardship and ad- venture, and she's as full of hope as her sheeps- -wool-lined sleeping bag will be of her when she lies calmly down to sleep, without thought of the morrow's dangers or difficulties.
 And you'll wear" I began.
 Mrs. Crane pulled up her skirt and showed us women the full bloomers and the high, double-soled boots made spec ially for her in New York, that are to go with various colored sweaters.
 You must have a small foot to bear SuCH a DOOI dS llldl, Sdlu STane hostess.
 "I wear twos,' the commissioner from the Smithsonian Institution answered modestly.
 But these tiny feet and the stout dec laration that she's still a rebel are all the inheritance Mrs. Crane has from her Virginian ancestors.
 And MT. Crane?
 There is a MT. Crane.
 MT. Cranes dyspeptic, you know" said his versatile wife. 'He can't eat bacon and hardtack."
 Poor MT. Cranei I said with sincerest sympathy. Its unfortunate that he can't go with you.'
 "Oh, I need him at this end" answered MT. Cranes wife. There's a lot for him to do here. He'll have to send on sup plies to me, forward my matter, attend to my business and finish up a book I was writing about the Los Angeles schools, when left there. Oh, he's recon ciled to my going now. But if they have real good scrap over in China a pub