Santa Rosa and San Rafael. 303 



sieyed the day before to Santa Rosa. He, too, made us a happy speech. 

 Two of U3 responded; and what we said is no matter. The echo of it has 

 died away, and its substance, no doubt, has floated out to sea. 



In the afternoon of this memorable day we again boarded our train and 

 returned through the delightful valley, skirting the bay on our right, to the 

 boat, which, in due time, carried us over to the metropolis. It is Saturday 

 night, and we are obliged, according to the programme of the Society, to be 

 in Riverside Tuesday morning. It is more than twenty-four hours thither, 

 and we must make ready for the journey. Mr. Coleman accompanied us to 

 the city. On our way across the bay we had the pleasure of presenting to 

 him the following brief address : 



" The Hon. William T. Coleman has to-day added a personal compliment to 

 the many official and public favors which our Society has received since coming 

 to California. At the beautiful mountain garden, San Rafael, which he himself 

 more than any other his made one of the most charming spots on the globe, we 

 have been welcomed and entertained in a manner as hospitable as it was unique. 

 The banquet which he has provided for us has had all the charms of novelty and 

 informality. At his board nature has taken the place of art, and food has been 

 substituted for confections. We shall carry with us to our homes beyond the 

 mountains and recite to our friends no other incident of our stay on the Pacific 

 coast so satisfying to the natural man, so free in its administration and so appro- 

 priate in its kind as the banquet given us this day by one whom we shall ever re- 

 member as our friend." 



In the mean time, and for many days, the Society had been nurturing a 

 grudge against a gen tlemm who had been with us on all of our journeys 

 from El Paso onward. I refer to Mr. J. B. Lauck, in whose charge we had 

 been placed on our start from El Paso across the plains. He held, and holds, 

 the office of traveling passenger agent on the Southern Pacific Railway. 

 We had not been two hours in his charge, on our way to the Golden State^ 

 until we felt the impact of his management and high qualities as a gentle- 

 man. He was, in every part of our journey, tireless in his attentions to our 

 comfort and convenience. His activity in duty foreran our wants and de- 

 veloped many things for our pleasure and interest of which, if they had been 

 omitted, we would have been none the wiser. He gained the confidence 

 and then the friendship of our whole company, and, while retaining a sense 

 of his official duty, made himself as one of us from beginning to end of our 

 tour. We had already made up our minds to request of Mr. T. H. Good- 

 man, general passenger and ticket agent of the Southern Pacific, the ad- 

 vantage of Mr. L\uck's presence with us on our way to Riverside, and this 

 was cordially granted In return for what the latter gentleman had done 

 for us, and as a token of appreciation, the Society availed itself of the oppor- 

 tunity furnished in crossing the bay to gather Mr. Lauck into the cabin, to 

 make him a speech and to put into his hand a few double eagles of Cali- 

 fornia gold. We also invited him to bring Mrs. Lauck among us for intro- 

 duction and congratulations, and tendered him a certificate of membership 

 in the Society. May they live long and be happy. 



