Reno | Page 3

any reader. Naturally fictitious names have been used.
Part 5. Reno and Its People: Is meant to give prospective residents or visitors an insight as to just what kind of place they may expect to find, and to dispel any fears that the accommodations would not be comfortable. It will acquaint newcomers with the kind of men and women one finds oneself associated with in daily life, which to strangers in a strange land, is most important, I think. Newly arrived colonists, perhaps lonely and heartsick, will not find it quite so hard to go to a strange country, if they know in advance that the people are generous, big hearted and sympathetic; progressive and interested in all things that stand for the betterment of humanity.
Part 6. Nevada Divorce Laws: Gives the reader any and all information required to secure a divorce in Nevada; and besides it contains the opinion of many great thinkers on the question of divorce, coupled with a plea for universal divorce law. One should find this an interesting chapter, whether a prospective colonist or not; its contents, however, are absolutely indispensable for anyone anticipating divorce in Nevada, and consequently ought to be read most carefully; more especially so, as for the actual legal advice in this part, I am greatly indebted to one of Reno's ablest lawyers, Senator H. Walter Huskey.
Part 7. Sons of the Sagebrush: A few short biographical sketches of men I met, read about and heard about during my stay in Reno. It is well to know the kind of men we may come in contact with, both in business and in a social way; most certainly it is well to know the type of men we may have to come in contact with in a business way. For that reason I have written a few little sketches of these men. Among them are lawyers, judges, mining men, hotel men, politicians and pioneers. Aside from giving some useful information this part is interesting for its character studies and its amusing little incidents.
LILYAN STRATTON. November, 1921.
[Illustration: WASHOE COUNTY COURT HOUSE. RENO NEVADA]

PART 1
SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LIFE
Dull in Reno? Why no; how can one be bored in this delightful "big little city," when here you will find a concentration of all the most picturesque phases of life--a conglomeration of gaiety and tragedy, humor and drama, frivolity and learning! What a fertile field for the psychologist and sociologist.
It is wonderfully interesting not always to turn to books only, with their rigid, lifeless rules and laws; books can only convey to us the things someone else has learned! Those who desire a real understanding of human nature's handiwork must work and play on human mountains, in human fields and human swamps.
Being an ardent student of life and character, I have found Reno highly interesting and amusing, and dear reader, if you will do me the honor to accompany me through the following pages of this chapter, I am sure you too will be interested.
First we will visit the restaurants, cafes and hotels which are teeming with the vigor of life, vibrant and pulsating; and if you know and understand human relationship, or wish to, then you may overflow with sympathy, laugh in conviviality, or perhaps weep in the privacy of your own room for what is and for what might have been....
The fashionable restaurant is not a large pretentious place, elaborately decorated, but there is something in the atmosphere which is not tangible but which we yet can sense. Who are all these people? and if each told his own story, how tremendously interesting it might be! Unconsciously, you know that the atmosphere is distinctive; that things are different; so many interesting personalities grouped into such a small place is something most unusual.
Over in the corner is a New York banker; his strong, handsome face marked with character lines and crowned with white hair: the stamp of long years of struggle in the financial world. See, he is smiling across the table at his companion, and his face is almost boyish as he chats and laughs. Such a companion! I wonder what fate has sent her to cheer the desert city; a modern Cleopatra, even more beautiful than she of Egypt: a radiant beauty, this dark-eyed queen of the Orient; ruby lips and teeth of matched pearls; hair black as midnight, and fires smoldering in dreamy eyes as if in pools of mystery... Bored in Reno? How could one be?
This is only a cafe such as you might visit in any other city. One might see the same banker and the same Oriental beauty in a New York cafe. But there they would not be nearly so interesting; for such people to be in Reno means either a domestic comedy, tragedy or romance. Each one is a