Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-09
The Golden Gate
the way your tongue stumbles
By MISS BETTYE ADLEE

the way your tongue stumbles on
these.
Cliff House.
The Cliff House and Seal Rocks
The building itself, an extensive old
structure is built on a rocky cliff ov-
erlooking the Pacific at the entrance
to the Golden Gate. Here one sees the
famous Seal Rocks with seals and sea
lions basking in the sun. 1t was in
tensely interesting to watch these
creatures whose barking could be
heard above the roaring of the tide.
Many sea gulls and birds Of various
kinds fluttered over the rocks about
them. Through glass we could dis
Germ large cruiser in the distance,
against the gray line Of the horizon.
Here we also visited Sutro Heights,
the estate of the late Philip Sutro. the
grounds of which are open free to the
public.
1t is a magnificent place; it's walks
and drives beautifully laid out and
bordered with a wealth of flowers and
handsome shrubbery. Its statuary
could, however in many cases be dis
pensed with The whole place bears
signs of neglect now, but was once
kept up in handsome style by its mil
lionaire owner.
But Half Century Old.
1S4S numbered 800 souls and then
came the miracle of the discovery of
gold on the north fork of the Ameri-
can river that attracted the vast
throng and built up what is today the
greatest city on the Pacific coast. Mar
ket street is the main business thor
oughfare, adjoining streets running in
70 1t on the bias, like cuts of pie.
They speak of "the district south of
Market" and north of Market" terms
that sound strangely familiar to our
ears.
If you ever had an idea that this
was the land of eternal sunshine you
would be disillusioned in San Fran
cisco. The atmosphere is bracing and
up to noon and after 4 o'clock is cool,
bordering on cold. We meet women
on the streets wearing sealsllin coats
and this temperature, under
stand, continues the same all
the year round. When the
sun appears about noon time it is
very warm. This climate, they say.
is peculiar to San Francisco alone and
one may take the ferry at any time
during their heavy fogs and cross the
bay to find sunshine and warmth, at
, any of the ports.
Up Mt. TamaIpais.
We have assembled Mount Tamal-
pals and the trip is fine. Aboard the
Sausalito ferry we crossed the Golden
Gate, passing crafts of every sort and
style to the landing on the opposite
short. Here third rail electric line
takes one to Mill Valley, a quaint little
village in the heart of Redwood for
est. Then we boarded the cars of the
scenic railway that prides itself on the
knowledge that it Is the crookedest
| line in the world The height of the
mountain itself Is about $500 feet
something over a half mile, but the
distance of is miles has to be trav-
ersed to reach it's summit There are
PSI curves they say, but long before
reached the top | concluded that who
ever said that must have lost count
In the crookedest part Of the road is
a perfect double bow knot The seen
cry en- route is very fine. Immediately
upon leaving Mill Valley, the road cuts
through fine forest of redwoods for
which California is famous. 1t crosses
and curves around deep rugged canons,
heavily wooded with redwoods, ma
dronas, oaks and laurels. Every once
in while one gets fleeing view
across the Golden Gate to the Pacific
beyond, only to be whisked around
sharp curves and more tortuous winds
in more devious circles. The ever
changing panorama is beautiful and
then to look far below and see the
wind of the track just passed over.
The road ends at the Tavern of Tamal-
pals, broad, low, white building from
whose sheltered yerandas the view on
sunshiny day Is one to rave over,
but the best view of all, obtained by
climbing from the tavern to high
promontory at the very peak of the
mountain, where there is United
States weather bureau station.
This is not the cog road, but a
standard bread guage railroad, with
steam, oil burning traction locomotives
of unique design. The line has been
in operation about nine years and the
/
as well as winter resort.
The Poodle Dog.
am glad to say that I have seen
the only original Poodle Dog, the
patriarch of q race of Poodles of more
or less pretension. l do not refer to
CANNES. but to restaurants. | had
heard so much of this old Poodle Dog
and yet l had thoroughly delightful
surprise when I stood within its walls.
Around this restaurant. the relic OF
the regime Of the early days, there
clusters a world of memories. The
story of how the place received its
name carries one back half century
ago to "tbe days of old. the days of
gold, the days of 49," 1t was in 1850
at the time the rush for
California. was at its highest,
and about the only currency
was gold dust, when q French
man and his wife came up from New