ne sees nothing but squalor and misery. A visit to
one of them is a visit to them all, and one visit is generally enough to
disgust the seeker after strange sensation, the acrid smell of the smoke
and the noisome stench of the close rooms being almost unbearable.

The Joss Houses, in which are hideous idols before which tapers and
incense are constantly burning, and the Chinese theaters, with their
never-ending performances, are all strange sights in their way, and
sights that are well worth the taking in. The Chinese quarter is a blot
on the fair name of San Francisco, however, and leaving it one wonders
how and why it has ever been allowed to grow into its present huge
proportions. The memories of these after-dark trips still linger with me
even now, like the shadow of some dark dream, and yet I am glad that I
made them, if only for the purpose of seeing how the other half of the
world manages to exist.

In company with Tom Daly, Bob Pettit, Harry Palmer and others of the
party I enjoyed several horseback rides through the residence and
suburban portions of the city, where I found much to wonder at and
admire.

During our stay President Spalding, Captain Ward, Captain Hanlon, Mr.
and Mrs. Ed Williamson, Messrs. McMillan and Palmer, and Mrs. Anson and
myself were handsomely entertained at Oakland by Mr. Waller Wallace, of
the California "Spirit of the Times," a paper now defunct, and the
glimpses of the bay and city that we caught at that time made the day a
most pleasant one, to say nothing of the hospitality that greeted us on
every hand. Messrs. Spalding, Ward, McMillan, Palmer and myself were
also handsomely entertained by the Press Club, and also by the
Merchants' Club of San Francisco, an organization that numbered among
its members at that time many of the leading business men of San
Francisco and vicinity.

The day of our departure for Australia had been finally fixed for
November 18th, and the evening before Spalding, as a recognition of the
kindness with which we had been treated during our stay, gave a farewell
banquet to the members of the California League and the San Francisco
Press Club at the Baldwin Hotel, covers being laid for seventy-five
guests, among them being several men of prominence in the social and
business world of the Pacific Coast. The menu card for that occasion,
which is circular in form and represents a base-ball cover, now lies
before me, the idea originating in the fertile brain o