the long interval that has ensued the roof has, in a large
measure, disappeared, as well as several of the steps leading up to the
front. Hundreds of people have cut their names in the stone work, and
the monument, which ought to be preserved in perpetuity, looks so
disreputable that little regret would be caused were the entire fragment
to be swept away by some unusually heavy gust of wind.

More than 1,500 soldiers were buried in the Chalmette Cemetery after the
battle referred to. Since the war it has been well nigh forgotten, but
several duels and affaires d'honneur have been settled on the historic
spot.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE HEATHEN CHINEE IN HIS ELEMENT.

A Trip to Chinatown, San Francisco--A House with a History--Narrow
Alleys and Secret Doors--Opium Smoking and its Effects--The
Highbinders--Celestial Theatricals--Chinese Festivals--The Brighter Side
of a Great City--A Mammoth Hotel and Beautiful Park.

Chinatown, San Francisco, is such a remarkable place, and contrasts so
strangely with the wealth and civilization of the great city on the
Pacific Coast, of which it is a part, that its peculiarities cannot be
ignored in a sketch of the most remarkable features of our native land.
Writers and artists have for years made this blot on San Francisco's
splendor the subject for sarcasm and cartoon, and, indeed, it is
difficult to handle the subject without a considerable amount of
severity. Californians are often blamed for their harshness towards the
Chinese, and the way in which they have clamored from time to time for
more stringent exclusion laws. It takes a trip to Chinatown to make it
clear to the average mortal why this feeling is so general in San
Francisco, and why it extends throughout the entire Pacific Slope.

There are about 25,000 Chinese in and around San Francisco. A small
proportion of these have abandoned the worst features of their race, and
make themselves comparatively useful as domestic servants. In order to
retain their positions they have to assimilate themselves more or less
to the manners and customs of the country, and they are only
objectionable in certain respects. But the one-time dwellers in the
Celestial Empire, who make their homes in Chinatown, have very few
redeeming qualities, and most of them seem to have no tangible excuse
whatever for living.

They adhere to all the vices and uncivilized habits of their
forefathers, and very frequently add to them equally object