THROUGH THE CITY TO THE GOLDEN GATE

A Well Equipped Fire Department—­Destructive Fires—­Scene at the Call Office—­Loyalty to the Flag—­The Blind Man and Bobby Burns—­Street Scenes and Places of Interest—­Market Street System—­Mission Dolores—­Effect of Pictures—­Franciscan Missionaries—­A Quaint Building—­The Mosque a Model—­The Presidio—­The Spanish and American Reservation—­Tents—­Cemetery—­The Cliff House—­Sutro Baths—­Museum—­Seal Rocks—­Farallones—­Golden Gate—­What it Recalls—­Golden Poppy—­John C. Fremont—­Drake and the Golden Hind—­A Convenient Harbour—­First to Enter—­With the Indians—­Child of Destiny—­A Vision of Greatness—­Queen of the Golden Gate.

Our walks hither and thither in San Francisco will lead us to many interesting places, and at times into the midst of exciting scenes.  There is an onward sweep of the current of humanity, which is exhilarating in a high degree; there is activity on all sides; and you soon catch the spirit of the place.  Men have a purpose in view, something to accomplish; and there is the entire absence of lethargy; there are no drones in the great hive.  You realise that you are in a city of distances as well as surprises; and wherever you go you find some object or locality or happening that calls for comment.  Hark! there is the fire alarm.  The engines and hose-carts and fire ladders, with other apparatus, pass you as in the twinkling of an eye; and so skillful are the fire-laddies, and so well equipped is the department, that the devouring flames rarely ever make headway.  They are quickly mastered.  But it was not always so.  There was a period about fifty years ago when great and destructive fires succeeded one another like a deluge and wiped out large portions of the growing city.  There was then a woful lack of water, which is now most abundant, and the fire engines were very primitive in character and inadequate to the needs of the place.  To-day every precaution is taken to guard against fire, and the great business blocks and the miles and miles of handsome homes are well protected.

I visited the central department, and it was most interesting to note the appliances of other days.  It almost excited a smile to see the simple hand engines and old fire-extinguishers.  On the walls of the “Curiosity-Shop” where these mementoes of other days were exhibited, not far from the Chinese quarter, were photographs of the members of the department, of past years; and among the faces were some of the most distinguished citizens of San Francisco.  All honour to the men who protect our homes thus, who respond quickly to the fire bell which startles the ear in midnight hours, who risk their lives for the sake of others, who evince such hardihood and perform acts which are truly heroic!  Some old inhabitant, if you question him, will go back to the past and tell you in graphic language about the disastrous fires which have swept over the city laying large portions of it again and again in ashes.  The