Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-21
SIGHTS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Mrs. KOOs Writes Entertaining De-
scription of Golden Gate
Harbor and City.


Following is a copy of letter written
by Mrs. Julia Koos of San Francisco to
her son, Albert Koos of Omaha. 1t will
be read with much interest by the many
friends of Mrs. Koos in Omaha and Council
Bluffs:
The entrance of the San Francisco bay
is at Golden Gate, through a strait about
FIVE miles long and from one to two miles
wide. The high mountains and narrow
channel make 1t one of the safest harbors
In the world. In the bay there are three
islands within sight of the city, Alcatraz,
Angel island and Goat island. Alcatraz, be-
ing near the Golden Gate is strongly forti-
fed for the protection of the harbor. The
cities across the bay from San Francisco
are Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda.
In the bay can be seen Uncle Sans big
men-of-war. Ships leave and arrive at this
port from all parts Of the world. 1 wit
messed the landing of the steamer Korea
| on which the Chinese minister for Wash
| ington d. c.. came. We were allowed to
! go on board and all through the ship. In
the first cabin we sank into the velvets
and the dining room was grand The crew
on the ship were Chinese except the head
officers.
The Chinese people that come over here
have a dreadful time to get to land. They
cannot land unless they have relatives
here or unless they intend to go to the
| Mission school.
I had the pleasure of watching the Gus
tom officers go through the passengers
, trunks l first watched them go through
the Chinese things to see If they had
brought any opium. The officers would go
through the trunks just like robbers only
they did not take anything of course, ex-
cept the linen and silk goods which the
American people had brought from China.
These they would take to the desk and
duty would have to be paid on them.
One of San Francisco's chief attractions
is the Cliff House and Seal Rocks. The
Cliff House is built upon a projecting rock,
glass enclosed verandas overhang the water
for visitors to view the seal rocks, which
are about 800 feet from the Cliff House. on
which can be seen the famous sea lions
of the Pacific basking in the sun.
Overlooking the cliffs and seal rocks is
sutro Heights, the home of the late Adolph
sutro. The grounds are beautifully covered
with trees and flowers and amongst them
are white statues OF all descriptions Al
tho summit of the heights is a lovely man.
sion.
The next place Of interest is Golden Gate
park. It contains l,O4O acres OF land anC
. is said TO be one OF the most picturesque
| parks in America. There are many inter
r esting things to be seen in the park, sucf
as herds of deer, buffalo and elk Tn,
Japanese tea garden is a small space, fixed
so that you would think you were in Japan
II is taken care OF by the Japanese people
They have tea and cake for sale in theil
: native style. The museum contains man,
: curious things. Stow lake and Strawberr!
hill are lovely. The children's play grounds
5 are fitted up especially for children. Their
is a merry -go-round, goat and donkey cart
E and all kinds OF amusements. The aviar,
is very interesting. II Is a long building
! with thousands of different kinds of bird
, in IT,
, What is known as Chinatown In Sal
| Francisco occupies about ten blocks and 1
/ the most densely populated part OF tn
5 city, there being 10000 Chinese. In China
5 town the Chinese live almost the same a
= In their native country. The joss house
$ OF the Chinese are their places OF worship
J, in these temples are hideous images, whic
they worship
: One must not leave San Francisco with
= out visiting the United States mint whic
. is situated on the corner OF Fifth and Mis-
n sion streets. II Is a handsome building
e More gold and silver are coined here tina
!; at any other mint in the world. I was Per
s. mitted TO 90 In the vault. where the larg