him. California is still young, still pioneer in outlook. Society has
not yet shaken down into those tightly stratified layers, typical of the
East. There is a real spirit of democracy in the air.

The first time I visited San Francisco I was impressed with the remarks
of a Native son of moderate salary who had traveled much in the East.

"This here and now San Francisco is a real man's town", he said. "I
don't know so much about the women, but the men certainly can have a
better time here than in any other city in the country. And then again,
a poor man can live in a way and do things in a style that would be
impossible in New York. At my club I meet all kinds of men. Many of them
are prominent citizens and many of them have large fortunes. I mix with
them all. I don't mean to say I run constantly with the prom. cits. and
the millionaires. I don't. I cant afford that. But they occasionally
entertain me. And I as often entertain them. So many restaurants here
are both inexpensive and good that I can return their hospitality
self-respectingly and without undue expense. In New York I would not
only never meet that type of man, but I could not afford to entertain
him if I did."

Allied to this, perhaps, is a quality, typical of San Francisco, which I
can describe only as promiscuity. That promiscuity is in its best phase
a frankness; a fearlessness; a gorgeous candor which made possible the
epigram that San Francisco has every vice but hypocrisy. Civically, two
cross currents cut through the city's life; one of, a high visioned
enlightenment which astounds the visiting stranger by its force, its
white-fire enthusiasm; the other a black sordidness and soddenness which
displays but one redeeming quality - the characteristic San Franciscan
candor. That openness is physical as well as spiritual. The city,