The night preceding New Year’s day is spent in religious ceremonies at the temples or at home.  Out of doors the air is filled with the smoke and roar of exploding firecrackers.  But when the clock has tolled the death of the old and announced the birth of the New Year, one would think that Pandemonium was let loose.  Unless one has heard it, no idea can be formed as to what this unearthly noise really is.  We are told it is to frighten away evil spirits, to invoke the favor of the gods, to bid, as they fondly hope, a final farewell to ill-luck; and, again, simply because they are happy, and when in this frame of mind, they love to manifest their joy in noisy demonstrations.  A certain time in the early morning is spent in worship at the shrines at home and in the temples.  They place before their sacred images, offerings of tea, wine, rice, fruits and flowers.  The Chinese lily is in full bloom at this season, and it occupies a conspicuous place in the joss-houses.  It is for sale on every street corner.

The day is spent in feasting, pleasure seeking, and in making New Year’s calls.  The Chinamen are always greatly pleased to receive calls from white men with whom they have business dealings, and they exhibit their cards with much pride.  They are very punctilious and even rival the Frenchmen in politeness, and it is considered an offense if any of their proffered hospitalities are declined.

But while Chinatown is the most extraordinary feature of San Francisco, and is visited by tourists who naturally look upon it somewhat in the light of forbidden and hence exceptionally attractive fruit, it is not by any means the most interesting or most important feature of one of the finest cities in the world.  San Francisco is the metropolis of the Pacific Slope.  It occupies the point of a long peninsula between the bay and the ocean, and so unique is its site that it includes some magnificent hills and peaks.  The history of San Francisco bristles with border and gold mine stories and tales of the early troubles of pioneers.  Whole pages could be written concerning the adventures of the early days of this remarkable city.  The time was when a few frame buildings constituted the entire town.  The rush of speculators following discovery after discovery of gold, converted the quiet little port into a scene of turmoil and disturbance.

Every ship brought with it a cargo of more or less desperate men, who had come from various points of the compass determined to obtain a lion’s share of the gold which they had been told could be had for the taking.  The value of commodities went up like sky-rockets.  The man who had a few spare mules and wagons on hand was able to realize ten times the price that was tendered for them before the boom.  Many men who were thus situated did not consider it advisable to throw away their chances by accepting grave risks in search of gold, and many who stayed at home and supplied the wants of those who went up country realized handsome competences, and in some cases small fortunes.