heard for
the first time. I had chosen the beautiful Cavatina by Raff, and was
accompanied by Mr. F. Erbe on the violin, who played the obbligato
with exquisite grace and finish. In the evening I sang Praise Thou the
Lord, O My Soul, by Holden, with two violins, cello and organ
accompaniment. This extra service was the forerunner of other good
services for the length of eight months, when the ladies' funds were
so low they were obliged to discontinue my services, with profound
sorrow, as the chapel had been crowded during all these weeks and the
place was getting too small for the worshippers. A church building had
been begun and money was needed there, so I reluctantly departed and
took up the work in the Catholic church with Father Stockman, priest,
at a salary of $40 a month, Miss Zabriskie, organist. The choir was
composed of sisters from the convent, with a tenor and bass by two
young priests who sang well the songs and chants of the church. In all
these weeks I had also begun my classes and taught singing and
painting. The change had benefited me and I busily passed the days and
weeks, adding all the time new voice and painting pupils until I
numbered fifty-one pupils and classes twice a week in Colton and San
Bernardino. I was as busy as ever I was in San Francisco. But, alas,
the hot climate (104 degrees in the morning) to which I was a
stranger, was more than I could stand. At noon no one stirred out of
the house or store. I stood the weather for sixteen months, then my
family doctor ordered me back to San Francisco if I wanted to live.

I left San Bernardino for San Francisco, May 11, 1889. Arriving in San
Francisco I took a flat on Geary street, near Steiner. On July 6 I
began my work in the Larkin Presbyterian Church and continued there
one year, when no funds separated singer and people. I gave the small
struggling congregation another month of my services. The congregation
met in a hall in the Western Addition. I think a church was built
later, but it, like everything else, was destroyed in the earthquake
year. I never returned, for after a year at the Geary street flat my
son William and I concluded to move to Oakland. I had lost my position
in the churches. Calvary Church offered me my old place but I did not
wish to oust another who was giving satisfaction, and declined the
honor. In Oakland we rented one of Mr. Bilger's cottages on Fourth
avenue. After remaining there for two years and a half my son Wi