284 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



dred feet in length— have left the ship-yards of San Fran- 

 cisco, and as many more are now in course of construc- 

 tion. 



5. A new semi-monthly steam-ship service between 

 here and Central America has opened and it is announced 

 that the first vessel, the "Amazon," with a capacity of 

 one thousand tons, will leave with passengers and freight 

 on December the first, a. c. 



6. The "Leytona" has arrived in San Francisco and 

 will henceforth sail between this port and the Sandwich 

 Islands. Two other boats, for the same purpose, will be 

 installed by the same company, immediately upon ar- 

 rival. 



Were it my intention to give you a recital of all minor 

 occurrences in and about the city, such as the construc- 

 tion of churches, road-building, planking of sidewalks, 

 bridge-building, new express lines, river-shipping, I 

 should have to fill half a dozen sheets. But to give you 

 even a faint idea of the busy life, I shall but state that 

 in San Francisco alone, there are no less than one hun- 

 dred and fifty-five brick buildings going up right now I 

 About four weeks ago, I read in a local newspaper what 

 a correspondent had to say about progress in the city of 

 Sacramento, where he assures us there are at present 

 two hundred and twenty-two brick buildings and eight 

 hundred and forty-eight dwellings of wooden structure, 

 not counting barns, stables, warehouses and the like. 

 And do you not remember that I wrote to you last win- 

 ter regarding the total destruction of that city? 



I shall not force any more news from this part of the 

 globe upon you. But I blush, when I compare my own 

 beloved fatherland with this country. Next to poverty, 

 it is the greatest misfortune that can weigh upon an in- 

 dustrious, strong-minded youth, to have been born else- 

 where than in the United States of North America! Well 

 do I comprehend the just pride of the Yankee and inter- 

 pret the fire which sparkles in his eyes, when he sings 

 his national hymn : ' ' The Star Spangled Banner, ' ' whilst 

 he watches the unfurling of the proudest, purest flag of 



