[Illustration: Angel Island.] [Illustration: The Departing Day.] Then there came to me those beautiful lines of our own poet, Lowell Otus Reese: A touch of night on the hill-tops gray; A dusky hush on the quivering Bay; A calm moon mounting the silent East-- White slave the day-god has released; Small, scattered clouds That seemed to wait Like sheets of fire O'er the Golden Gate. And under Bonita, growing dim, With a seeming pause on the ocean's rim, Like a weary lab'rer, sinks the sun To the booming crash of the sunset gun. All over the long slopes grown with green, With the white tents scattering in between, The flickering camp-fires start to glow In the groves of the fair Presidio; While the solemn chord Of the evening hymn Rolls over the Bay Through the twilight dim As the flag comes down to an anthem grand, The brave, old song of our native land, And Angel Isle, when the song is done, Booms out "Amen!" with its sunset gun. Although Marin County was first opened up by the advent of the North Pacific Coast Railroad in 1875, it was not until the transfer to the North Shore that the road was operated in its present modern system. With the exception of the extreme North and East where the trains are run by steam, the County is traversed by well appointed electric trains which combine easy riding with quick transit. This was the first electric line in California to be operated by the third rail system, and it has proved satisfactory in every detail. Owing to the danger of contact with the third rail, the road is fenced on both sides, and the rail is concealed at stations. At the head of Richardson's Bay, and but a short distance from Mill Valley, is situated the North Shore Powerhouse. Here the power, which is transmitted from Colgate, over 150 miles away, is stored. Should there be any accident and stoppage to the power, electricity is generated at the Powerhouse by steam, which is always kept in readiness. As I gazed at the three switches, each in its separate vault (in order to be kept fire-proof) it was difficult to realize that in the small wires I beheld were centered power to operate trains, illuminate and run machinery and countless other utilities. [Illustration: Mt. Tamalpais From Mill Valley.] As this, the greatest motive power in the world to-day, was long unknown except as an element of destruction, until the man came who harnessed the lightning and made it do man's work, so there are still undoubtedly other forces of nature which but await the master mind to discover their utility. [Illustration: The Powerhouse.] A short distance west of the Powerhouse, on a slightly elevated mound, is an old orchard whose gnarled trees have sheltered for a generation and more the yellow adobe walls of the first settler of Marin.