is church. He said the audience had the opportunity of hearing by far
California's best and oldest singer and to his mind the best he ever
heard sing sacred songs. He finished by saying that he felt it an
honor to hear once more her beautiful voice. Because of the great hit
we had made we were asked to give a third performance and to this we
agreed. The choruses were the same for the third night as were the
character duets between Walter Campbell, Sam Booth, Anderson and me,
which were repeated by request. The solos were alone changed. Sarah
Walker also repeated her Opinions at the Pastor's Donation Party,
causing much merriment that such an old lady could still take part
with the younger set, even if she was seemingly eighty years old. The
programme came to an end about eleven o'clock, which closed three most
successful nights both artistically as well as financially for the
cause of temperance in Visalia. On our departure in the morning the
committee escorted us to the train and presented us with offerings of
autumn flowers and fruits as tokens of their appreciation.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ON THE ROAD WITH DICK KOHLER, MR. VIVIAN, WALTER CAMPBELL, MR. WAND
AND CHARLES ATKINS

In 1876, I signed a six weeks' agreement with the Vivian Kohler Troupe
to tour Oregon, Victoria and the cities on Puget Sound. We sailed from
San Francisco on February 24 on the steamer City of Panama. Our party
was made up of six people: Mr. Dick Kohler, the only Vivian, Walter C.
Campbell, Margaret B. Alverson, Mr. Wand, pianist, Mr. Charles Atkins,
advance agent. We were a goodly company indeed, all up in our parts
and anticipating success in our venture. We arrived in Victoria,
February 28. As we landed, rockets were sent up and cannons gave forth
a deafening roar to inform the people the steamer had arrived, but it
was too late for us to disembark, and reluctantly we repaired to our
bunks to pass another night on board. Morning came at last and I
opened my eyes upon a quiet little bay surrounded by high, rocky
mountains, covered with foliage, including tall pines, and in the
distance the snow-capped mountains, lighting up the background of the
beautiful scene before me. By seven o'clock we were taken ashore in
small skiffs to the opposite shore where we were met by our agent, Mr.
Atkins, who had arranged for our conveyance to Victoria. After a smart
ride of an hour we stopped at the Fayhard Hotel, too early for these
slow Englishmen. Aft