OCR Text |
Show SAN FRANCISCO BAY. S. E. Kiser of the Chicago Record-Herald, who recently visited San Francisco, wrote the following fol-lowing a few days before the earthquake: I lean against the rail and gaze Across the waters blue and clear, And dream of those romantic days When men came seeking Fortune here; I see a hundred bulging sails Pass through tho distant Golden Gate, As, stained and torn by many gales And having battled well with Fate, They bring the eager Argonauts At last in triumph to behold Tho haven of their fondest thoughts, Tho legendary Land of Gold. I taste the spray upon my lips And from the present turn in scorn To dream of men in tossing ships That beat their way around the Horn; I look on ancient, battered hulls Well washed and ,'or'n by many seas; I hear the plaintive cry of gulls That soar about with graceful ease, And, putting all my cares away, I dream such dreams as once they had Who, sailing up the splendid bay, Beheld Golconda and were glad. The wild duck wings its graceful flight fl Unmindful of the passing throngs, 'IH And all that spreads before my sight 1 Still fairly to romance belongs; ,H The splendid cities on the shores fl Remind me of their fearless quest fl Who came to claim the golden stores B That turned men's longings to the West; 1 Far out the mighty ocean gleams, The breeze blows sweet across the bay, 1 And all that is prosaic seems On Fancy's wings to float away. |