[5 pages - 3 hotel letterheads and 2 obverse plus one blank letterhead with names of buildings and position of hotel suite rooms indicated - postmarked '10 Sp 24' Marine Post Office, NZ RMS Tahiti to Mr C. A. Gracie, The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd, Wagga Wagga, NSW Australia]
Hotel Whitcomb
San Francisco, Calif 9th Sept 1924
Dear Mother,
We are well and truly on land at last and having a great time. After a rotten trip of bad weather and no lively passengers we finally came ashore at San Fran at about four p.m. on Friday last and came straight to the above address.
After a clean up we visited the main street of the City or rather should I say part of it as this Street, Market, is 4½ miles long.
She sure is some place and as I have not three or four days to spare at present to write about all I have so far seen I will tabulate them here and explain in detail on my return.
On Friday night we visited Chinatown which is a fine place in this city and then after a walk about retired for the night. We made a late start of Saturday as we did not arise until 9am and then had to get our laundry ready and that was a big job after our three weeks travelling then down town to see the sights- wandered around all day part of the night trying to get our bearings in such an immense place. On Sunday we made an early start for Oakland on the other side of the Bay. Starting with a streetcar ride from the pub to the Ferry thence by boat and then in to 12th Street Oakland by electric train. The fares for the whole trip return was 28¢ or 1/2 in our money at par. This City is nearly as big as 'Frisco which has a population of 600,000. The population around the Bay is about 2 million.
On our return to Frisco we saw a picture show, had tea and saw another. It seems strange to see business going on on Sunday but the residents only have three watchwords. Grow quick, get rich quick and die quick. The greatest of the three is the middle one and they live up to it hard.
Some of the banks keep open all day and all night and advertise the fact with electric signs. Only one thing talks here and that is the almighty dollar.
The cafeterias are great fun here. You wait on yourself have anything you can reach from the shelves and pay accordingly. First you take a tray and knife, fork etc. Then set out on the foraging party and eat it after having first had your dinner priced by a lassie who gives you a ticket from a machine and then when the inner man is satisfied you pay on leaving and the stuff one eats is truly amazing. Fancy having buckwheat cakes with maple syrup served with your pork sausage in the morning and its goodo. But the unbroken rule throughout all the eating houses and Sundaes shops is a glass of iced water first. No matter what your have ice cream, ginger beer or dinner it is always started with iced water.
10/9/24 up at 7am to finish this as the Tahiti returns today and we are seeing it out so will post this on board. We are going down to see Boy Charlton off.
To return to the story, however on Monday we made arrangements for our trip onward in the morning and in the afternoon west sightseeing in a car but what a car it was as it held 25 and was beautifully finished and did 40 per hour without one knowing it. We saw the Presias (military reserve) Cliff House, Seal Rocks, Golden Gate and G. Gate Park on the Twin Peaks 1200 feet above sea level. from which a great view of Frisco is obtained and then on to the old Mission Church and thence via Market Street home.
At night we intended writing letters but a far distant relation of Bill's had been chasing us all over the City (6 Hotels) and had called 5 times here when we were out, finally found us at home so we were invited out for the evening to Oakland reaching their home at about 8.30pm we talked for awhile and they then took us for a spin in their bus through the business part of Oakland seeing the big radio station, General Electric Station KGO, Chevrolet works Derrant and Star works and then back to catch the train home.
They are very nice people and we were sorry we did not meet them earlier.
Yesterday we did another sightseeing trip of 112 miles seeing the world I thought. We started from town crossed the Bay to Oakland throughout the Millionaires suburbs of Piedmont and Clairmont up to the Greek theatre Skyline Boulevard of 1000 turns in about 10 miles, both to Clairmont Hotel for lunch through the Californian University grounds and then on the Standard Oil Co works crossed the Bay again to San Quenton prison on through the Main County of beautiful Avenues back to the Golden Gate across the water and home again at 5.30 when I commenced this letter to you.
Last night we were very tired and after a walk around after dinner retired to bed early as we have a lot to do today fixing up our trip on. We leave tomorrow morning 7.30am for Los Angeles arriving 7.30pm stay for four days and then to Grand Canyon for 1 day Colarado Springs 2 days Denver 1 day Ohamaha 3 hours and Rochester to see the Mayo's re Bill. So from there I will next write to you as we will most likely be there some time as it is not very large I will have lots of time.
Bill is very well and is enjoying himself but as we have come over for a special purpose we are not wasting much time reaching our main destination and after that we will be free to go where we like. We are not doing Yosemite Valley as it takes four days at the least and we have not the time to spare.
Of course I am having a great time and as I cannot write at length of all my doing I am jotting them down in these letter and will talk for weeks later when I can go into detail.
I am writing to NY today to send our mail to Rochester so we will have some home news when we arrive.
I have marked our room on the other side of this sheet so you can see how we are living. We have a big wardrobe of the variety one walks into and washbasin etc built in with H & C water and a bathroom and toilet right alongside the latter also with H&C water on tap. Of course we are paying for it.
Well that is all I think for this time. Please ring Tom for me and tell him I will write from Rochester as time will not permit from here. Give him any news you think may interest him. Also the office and tell Mr McDonald I have not forgotten the lads. I will drop Chas a note. Hope you are all well. Love from
Gordon.
