The Men of the West 37 



Angel ; but his fervent wish to serve his country, 

 abandoning thereby all that most of us count as 

 making life worth living, has curious significance 

 to a foreigner. There are about a million Jim- 

 mies in the United States. 



In the West the war was taken very soberly. In 

 the clubs, in the restaurants and caf^s, at the 

 theatres and music halls, there was none of that 

 cheap and vicious excitement that in its worst 

 phases is delirium. The regiments marched into 

 San Francisco, they sailed through the Golden 

 Gates, and always the streets and docks were 

 black with friends to wish them " God speed you." 

 An observer could not fail to be profoundly im- 

 pressed by these comings and goings. Between 

 them and the mimic parades of the National Guards 

 upon high days and holidays, was the difference 

 between the real thing and the sham. The faces 

 of the fathers were grim as they watched their sons 

 file past (they were thinking of Gettysburg and 

 Vicksburg), and the women's cheeks were wet. 



The word " Chauvinism " has been used more than 

 once of late in connection with the people of the 

 West, — a word to which a deserved stigma is 

 attached. But, for my part, the militarism of the 

 people was a pleasant thing to witness. Rich and 

 poor alike joined hands in singing the national 

 anthem, and the fact that it is set to the music of 

 " God Save the Queen " did not detract from its 

 power and purport so far as I was concerned. 

 Columbia called her sons to arms, — 



" And all the bugle breezes blew 

 Reveille to the breaking mom." 



