amusing, stirring and characteristic. Always the "stunt" involved a lot
of pretty girls and often it demanded the services of the mayor. I shall
regret to the end of my days that I did not keep a scrapbook devoted to
Mayor Rolph's activities. For being mayor of San Francisco is no
sinecure. But as most of his public duties seemed to involve floods of
pretty girls - well, if I were a man it would be my ambition to be mayor
of San Francisco for the rest of my life.

The year I spent in California they were building the Exposition. They
made of that task, as they make of every task, a game and a play and a
lark - a joy and a delight - even though they were building under the
most discouraging conditions that an exposition ever encountered. But
nothing daunts the Californian, and so wood and iron, mortar and paint,
grew steadily into the dream city that later fronted the bay.

As I think it over, I am very glad that I did not tell the Californiacs
how beautiful Massachusetts is. Because it would only have bewildered
them. I am glad that I did not mention to them that I shall always
cherish a kind of feeling for Massachusetts that I can develop for no
other spot. Because it would only have hurt them. You must not tell a
Californiac that you love any place but California or that you have
found beauty elsewhere. It's like breaking an engagement of marriage
with a girl. It's like telling a child that there's no such person as
Santa Claus. There's no tactful way of wording it. It simply can't be
done. And I am very glad that I told the Californiacs all the time how
much I love California, how much I love San Francisco. For beauty,
California is like the fresh, glowing, golden crescent moon; it is
waxing steadily to a noble fullness of development; and San Francisco is
like the glittering evening-star; it fills the Pacific night with the
happy radiance of its light and life. I think of California always -