By the Golden Gate; Or, San Francisco, the Queen City of the Pacific Coast: With Scenes and Incidents Characteristic of its LifeCarey, Joseph
History
By the Golden Gate; Or, San Francisco, the Queen City of the Pacific Coast: With Scenes and Incidents Characteristic of its Life
Carey, Joseph
San Francisco (Calif.)
to conduct you, a dragoman or courier, you will be likely to make
mistakes as ludicrous as that related of an English woman. Sir Henry
Howarth, the author of the "History of the Mongols," a learned and
laborious work, was out dining one evening. It fell to his lot at his
host's house to escort a lady to the dinner table; and she, having a
confused idea of the great man's theme, surprised him somewhat by the
abrupt question, "I understand, Sir Henry, that you are fond of dogs.
Are you not? I am too." "Dogs, madam? I really must plead guiltless. I
know nothing at all of them!" "Indeed," his fair questioner replied;
"and they told me you had written a famous history of mongrels!" It
is best then always to take a guide, and you will have no trouble in
finding one, who will charge you from two to three dollars an hour. If
you go with a small party, which is best, all can share the expense.
It will take about three hours to explore the town thoroughly and
study the life. The writer went through Chinatown on two evenings
at an interval of a few days, and saw this Asiatic Quarter of San
Francisco to great advantage. The first time was with a licensed guide
of long experience, and the second time it was under the direction
of a police-detective. Some five friends were in the party; and we
started on our tour of exploration about half past nine o'clock at
night. The night is the best time in which to study the life, for then
you can see the Chinese in their houses and at their amusements, as
well as many others who still are at work; for some of the Chinese
artisans toil for sixteen hours a day, and long into the hours of the
night. Here among them are no strikes for fewer hours, but patient
toil, as it were in a treadmill, without a murmur. My licensed
guide was Henry Gehrt, a man about fifty-five years old, of German
parentage. He had been in the business for twenty-seven years, and he
maintained an office on Sacramento Street. His badge was No. 60.
All guides must wear badges according to law. As we went hither and
thither we met occasionally groups of sight-seers, among them some of
our friends, members of the Convention, Bishops, and clerical and lay
deputies, who felt this was a rare opportunity to study heathendom;
and I am sure all went away from this strange spot thanking God for
our noble Anglo-Saxon civilisation, as well as for the knowledge of
His Revelation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account