238 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



It is pleasant to testify that there are few Phari- 

 sees and hypocrites west of the Eocky Mountains. 

 In this land of sunshine, men possess the virtue of 

 transparency : their deeds, whether for good or evil, 

 are not obscured. Let a drunkard reel through 

 the streets, an object lesson to all, rather than lie 

 whisky-sodden behind the bolted door of his own 

 chamber ! It is easy to know the men of the West. 

 They talk freshly and frankly upon all subjects 

 that are vital : religion, politics, love, hate, the 

 topics which are carefully draped and masked else- 

 where. But, subject to that instinct for display 

 which impels some bankers to pile their counters 

 high with big gold pieces, these wares of life, too 

 garishly set forth, became shop-soiled and cheap- 

 ened. When the Nevada Bank of San Francisco 

 reopened its doors after a certain financial crisis, 

 the gossips predicted an immense show of gold. 

 They were disappointed ; but the verdict of the 

 Man in the Street was : " We know that they have 

 it ; why should they show it ?" Millions lay in the 

 vaults, the more potent to inspire confidence be- 

 cause unseen. 



If snobbishness (as defined by the Century Dic- 

 tionary) be a term applied to one who is servile in 

 spirit or conduct towards those whom he considers 

 his superiors, and correspondingly proud and inso- 

 lent towards those whom he considers his inferiors, 

 then the children of the West are not snobs. The 

 pettiness and meanness which characterise the rela- 

 tions between the upper, middle, and lower classes 

 of England are conspicuously absent. Class distinc- 

 tions increase and multiply in California ; but poor 



