The San Francisco call., 1906-09-02
By Agnes Foster Buchanan.


" Francisco was not on the map
and Yerba Buena was only
small mission settlement. con
sisting- OF adobe huts and dwellings
around the Mission Dolores. san Jose
and Santa Clara were prosperous. thirty
ing towns, whose earliest inhabitants
had for the most part the warm, pulls
ing blood of CASTLE and Aragon in
their veins.
Among them such names as Gomez.
Sanchez. EstudiIo and Martinez stood
for social. political and Industrial
prominence. But at the head of these
makers Of history. second TO none. stood
the Peraltas. Their men were brave
sna fearless-their women soft Of voice
and fair of feature In San Jose dwelt
Vicente Peralta. A little farther
north, at Santa Clara. his brother Do
mingo set up his Lares and Penates.
Fortune smiled upon the brothers
PeraIta. Their acres broadened, their
cattle increased. their money bags grew
heavier.
Early in life Domingo PeraIta had
followed the example Of his forbears
and had taken to wife the prettiest girl
in all Madrid. She was Ia Belle Sc
nora" Of the settlement in the Santa
Clara Valley. One after another little
ones came to gladden. the Peralta home.
Then in 1925, one dreary January night.
the gods were kind for the ninth time.
A wee. tiny baby girl arrived. so frail
and delicate that the name they gave
her seemed grotesquely out of propor-
tion-Marie Angela Theresa.
It was not altogether an enviabfe
honor in those days to be asked to
stand sponsor 10 a child Of high de-
gree. It entailed endless expense. but
il was courtesy which could not well
be refused. In the first place. the god
mother was expected to provide the
layette for the little visitor. This was
generally OF the finest linens. hand
made OF course. and trimmed with lace
straight from the deft fingers of the
laoemakers Of Spain. That the outfit
for the new babe of the PeraIta family
waA a most exquisite one. remains OF
that old fnery still bear witness. The
christening robe is thin and worn bv
age, to be sure; the lace is old and VEL,
low, but the beauty Of it is stil there.
The texture of the linen rivals the
most fastidious spiders web. and who
can say that the value of the lace-has
disappeared because the threads once
snowy white are now yellow. almost
brown?
The first important event in the new
life came about a month after the
stork had paid it's welcome visit. II
was a bright morning in February. a
warm Joyous day, when the christen-a
ing procession wended its way to the
old mission at Santa Clara, where that
venerable man. Padre Bradea, taught
the cardinal virtues Of love and trath
by living a life regulated by them. In
the grateful. balmy air of a California
February morning there was no chance
OF exposure TO the pretty babe nor
fears for the welfare of the mother
none the less proud because this was
the ninth time she had clinbed m
toward the little adobe mission on the
self-same errand AS they reached the
chspels portals the chimes sang out
gladly. the organ pealed its obligatos to
the sweet-voiced choristers who. pre
ceded the padre down the aisle TO meet
the heiress Of the Peraltas at the door.
Censors swung by red-robed acolyfes
nlled the air with pungent fumes of
incense. During the ceremony Marie
Angela Theresa, so it is told, protested
nightly with all the strength of her
baby lungs TO a Continuance of the
dress parade. bringing joy and comfort
TO the admiring relatives around her.
For even in those days a babys cry at
her baptism was a good omen of luck
and happiness to come.
The sgodmother had already played
her part Now it was the godfather's
turn. Even were he inclined to over
look his part of the days performance
he had willing and urgent reminders.
Abono, bOnO," same musically II in
sistently from soft-tongued youngsters.
who as matter Of course followed
every christening procession. Present.
ly their patience was rewarded Down
around their heads came the coveted
gifts-sfnau pieces Of money. handfuls
OF them-to gladden. the hearts of the
youthful mendicants. All the way home
the silver shower continued. The pock-
etbook OF the new godfather must OF
necessity be a long. fat one for when
the gifts 70 the children meant pesos
the real drain on bis bank account be-
gan on the arrival Of the party at home.
Here every grown-up guest was pre-
sented with charger pieces of money
piastres. trimmed and decorated. Holes
were bored in the coin and gayly col
ored ribbons. generally the national
colors, tied in to give it festive ap-
pearance.
In the Simple, Simple Days.
Day followed day in monotonous
sameness in the early '2Os in the Santa
Clara Valley Of schools there were
none save those conducted by the
church, the sisters teaching the girls
and smaller boys. the older ones going
TO the priests. Higher education was
a thing unkn own. Indeed. the term
itself would have conveyed but little
even to the priests-simpie-h hearted and
single minded ezpounders of the limit
ed knowledge that was taught Girls
were instructed in the mysteries of
lacemak making-wondrous patterns among
the threads of which were woven
thoughts Of days to come when some
handsome senor (of course he was al
ways handsome) would come for them
from some far Off somewhere-perhaps
even from the land across the seas-the
land OF the unknown. and take them
away with him. And then the fingers