152 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



that he did not like it, because it was English. I 

 explained to him that the whole thing, just as it 

 stood, — horses, harness, and vehicle, — was not 

 English at all but Austrian. He eyed me dubiously. 

 Then he said ; " Well, it looks English any way." 



The American nation borrowed our national air 

 and set to it words of their own. It is now part 

 and parcel of Uncle Sam's dearest possessions, and 

 many of his children fondly believe that Uncle Sam 

 composed the music, just as many English peasants 

 are convinced that the Bible was originally written 

 in the vernacular. In the same spirit, English 

 customs that formerly were eyed askance have been 

 adopted and naturalised. 



When the first English drag rolled through the 

 streets of San Francisco, the street arabs flung 

 stones at it, regarding it as a symbol of what they 

 abhorred : the stage-coach, so to speak, of Class Dis- 

 tinction, whereon the few could be driven through 

 life, exalted above the many. To-day there are 

 many drags, and the gutter-snipes cheer as they 

 roll by, freighted with youth and beauty, not be- 

 cause their democratic principles have forsaken 

 them, but because they realise that to them per- 

 sonally the coach brings pleasure and profit, — the 

 joy of beholding a perfectly appointed equipage ; 

 the profit of reflecting that one day they too may 

 sit in the seats of the mighty. 



I can remember when it was hardly prudent to 

 walk abroad in breeches and leggings. The small 

 boys, if they refrained from throwing stones, would 

 pelt you with ironical remarks. " Give that feller 

 the whole sidewalk — he needs it," was a favourite 



