June 22nd, 1851, there was still another ruinous fire which
raged among the homes on the hillsides and in the residence-districts
generally. This was accompanied with a most pathetic incident. While
the flames were raging around the Plaza, a man who was very sick was
carried on his bed into the midst of the open place, and there while
a shower of flame was rained on him and smoke blinded his eyes his
spirit passed to his eternal home in the Heavens. But although San
Francisco had met with all these losses in rapid succession, partly
the result of incendiarism and partly by reason of a lack of fire
equipment, yet the people, brave-hearted and unconquerable, rebuilt
their city on broader and safer lines; and the San Francisco of
to-day, so attractive and prosperous and beautiful, may be said to
have risen Phoenix-like out of her ashes. So it is that evils are
overruled for good in God's Providence, and the fine gold comes out of
the fire of discipline, tried and precious! Our walks now will lead
us up through the city to the Mission Dolores, the Presidio, and the
Golden Gate. But as we proceed up Market Street we take note of some
features of the life of San Francisco. Behold, here is an eager group
of men and boys in front of _The Call_ office. They are scanning the
bulletin of the day's news from all parts of the world, which will be
published in to-morrow's _Call_ or in the _Chronicle_ on the north
side of the street. In the early part of my sojourn in this city by
the Golden Gate I was impressed with this aspect of life here. It
was on Thursday the 3rd day of October that I saw a crowd of men of
various ages, and boys also, reaching out into the street, besieging
the bulletin board of _The Call_, at the corner of Market and Third
Streets. Why are they so deeply absorbed and why so interested? They
are reading the news of the victory of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan's
_Columbia_ over Sir Thomas Lipton's _Shamrock_ in the great yacht race
in New York waters, in the cup contest. Had this international race
taken place outside of their own Golden Gate, on the broad Pacific,
they could not have evinced greater enthusiasm and pride at the
result. The pulse of San Francisco is quickened and the heart thrilled
at American success on the Atlantic seaboard as much as Boston or New
York is elated when it triumphs. Distance is nothing. It is America
from Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate. The one thing that impresses you
here in San Francis