The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-26
From the New York Tribune.

FfOm the NeW Olk lIlDulle.
 % UDYARD KIPLING was in San " Francisco in 1889 Two chapters
 - in From Sea to Sea" are devoted to descriptions and impressions of the city and its people. From these chapters the following extracts are taken;
 Serene, indifferent of Fate
 Thou sittest at the Western Gate;
 Thou seest the white seas strike their
 tents, t
 o Warder of two Continents.
 Thou drawest all things, small or great To thee, beside the Western Gate.
 This Is what Bret Harte has written of the great city of San Francisco, and for the last 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 continent whose wardship were intrusted to so reckless a guardian. Behold me pitched neck and crop from twenty days of the high seas into the whirl of Cal ifornia, deprived of any guidance and left to draw my own conclusions. Protect me from the wrath of an outraged com munity if these letters be ever read by American eyes. San Francisco is a mad city, inhabited for the most part by per fectly insane people. whose women are of remarkable beauty.
 ''I.ater I began a vast but unsystematic exploration of the streets. I asked no names. It was enough that the pave ments were full of white men and wom- en, the streets changing with traffic and that thearestful roar of great city rang in my ears. The cable cars glided to all points of the compass. I took them one by one until I could go no farther San Francisco has been pitched down on the sand bunkers of the Bikaneer desert About one-fourth of it is ground reclaim ed from the sea. Any old-timer will tell you about that. The remainder is rag ged, unthrifty sand hills, begged down by houses.
 From an English point of view, there has not been the least attempt at grad ing those hills, and indeed you might as we'll try to grade the hillocks of Sind The cable cars have for all practical purposes made San Francisco a dead level They take no count of rise or fall but glide equably on their appointed courses from one end to the other of a six-mile street They turn corners almost at right angle, cross other lines, and for aught I know, may run up the sides of houses. There is no visible agency of their flight. but once in a while you shall pass five-storied building, humming with ma chinery, that winds up an everlasting wire cable and the initiated will tell you that here is the mechanism l gave up asking questions. If it pleases Providence to make a car run up and down a slit in the ground for many miles, and if for two-pence- -halfpenny I can ride in that car why shall seek the reasons of the miracle?
 Night fell over the Pacific, and the
 white sea fog whipped through the | electric lights. It is the use of this city,
 her men and women, to parade between
 the hours of and 10 certain street, called Kearny street, where the finest 1 shops are situated. Here the click of heels on the pavements is loudest, here l the lights are brightest and the thunder | of the traffic is most overwhelming l | watched young California and saw that it was at least expensively dressed, cheer | ful in manner and self-asserting in con yersation. Also the women are very fair. The maidens weBe of generous build, large, well groomed and attired in raiment that 1 even to my inexperienced eyes must have cost much. Kearny street at o'clock levels all distinction of rank as impar- tially as the grave.
 ..Recklessness is in the air. can't ex- l plain where it comes from, but there II | is. The roaring winds off the Pacific | make you drunk to begin with. The lag | sressive luxury on all sides helps out the 1! intoxication, and you spin for ever down