64 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



the West it is found for the most part only in dic- 

 tionaries. It is conspicuously sacrificed to show in 

 the palaces of the very rich, and it has never en- 

 tered the cottages of the poor. You may find it in 

 the homes of what would be called in England the 

 middle class, especially amongst the Jews, but even 

 here it is jostled and pinched by its bastard brother 

 Display. The women of the West are very hospi- 

 table, but at their luncheons and dinners you are 

 sensible that too much is attempted. A lady with 

 one servant entertains upon the same scale as her 

 neighbour who has four. Many of the dishes she 

 has prepared herself ; and in consequence she comes 

 to table a physical wreck, unable to eat, unable to 

 talk. In such houses a famine follows the feast; 

 after the guests have departed the mistress takes to 

 her bed. 



Speaking of examples, it is a pleasure to cite Mrs. 

 Phoebe Hearst and Mrs. Jane Stanford. These 

 ladies own and control many millions of dollars. 

 They are the widows of two senators who began life 

 poor and obscure men. Senator Stanford was one 

 of four who conceived and carried to a successful 

 issue the building of that colossal railroad which 

 linked the West to the East. Senator Hearst was 

 a famous miner. The bulk of their fortunes will 

 eventually be absorbed by the two Universities of 

 California. One can conceive no nobler use for 

 great wealth than this: the endowment and equip- 

 ment upon the most munificent scale of institutions 

 whose doors stand open to all who are worthy to 

 enter them. To this single end Mrs. Stanford has 

 devoted her fortune and her life. It is a fact that 



