From:
The Oakland Tribune, 05 December 1910
MISSING LICENSE SUDDENLY APPEARS
William V. Bryan Gives Up Hope of Marrying When Paper Shows Up.
Driven to distraction by the disappearance of a marriage license from his pocket at Sacramento, Saturday night, William Vose Bryan, a wealthy real estate man about to give up hope of marrying Miss Mary Dennison Mitchell of this city that evening, when he thrust his hand into his pocket for the last time and discovered that the document had reappeared. Mystified, Bryan and his fiance, left their hotel in an auto and were made husband and wife, and it was not until their return that they were made aware of a prank that had been played upon them.
Bryan was in Sacramento with the Mystic Shriners conducting the ceremonies attending to the taking of a number of initiates at the capital over the [?] sands. He had arrived on the Western Pacific hours in advance of his bride, who reached the capital with her prospective mother-in-law, Mrs. W. J. Bryan, and Mrs. H. P. Booth, on the Eldorado flyer of the Southern Pacific.
MEETS PARTY
Bryan was at the station to meet the party, and after taking them to the Capital hotel spent more than an hour in locating the deputy of the county clerk's office, who looks after the issuance of marriage licenses. The license was finally obtained, however, and Bryan returned with it to the htoel, where several Shriners were waiting to greet him in the lobby.
During the congratulations, one of the Shriners filched the license from Bryan's pocket. Unaware of the theft, Bryan was about to escort Miss Mitchell into the waiting automobile a d drive to the home of Rev. A. R. [?]tton of the Congregational church, when he suddenly discovered the loss of the license. Bell boys, clerks, and maids about the hotel were kept busy searching for the license, while the waiting automobile was chugging outside.
MARRIAGE PAPER RETURNS
Bryan was on the point of going in search of another license, when he thrust his hand into his pocket and found that it had reappeared. It was not until then that he was aware of the prank that had been played upon him.
The marriage ceremony was brief, and Bryan and his bride returned to the hotel, where the gathering of Shriners and other friends were waiting to congratulate them a second time.
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan returned to San Francisco last night and will take up their home at the Bryan home, 2002 Buchanan street. They will leave shortly for a tour of the South.
"In California the happy New Year comes without the wishing. Balmy air, golden sunshine, refreshing showers, pleasant odors, verdant landscape, and attractive blossoms, charm the eye and please the senses, leaving no yearning for a happier New Year, if the physician is absorbed in his calling, for he will be deriving sufficient pleasure from its study to supply all other lackings."
"A California Christmas is all good. The earth rejoices, the skies give thanks and are glad. We do not have to be happy between shivers, nor imprison ourselves lest Nature slay us. All is joyous together. The rains have come, and with them the Resurrection. There are new heavens and a new earth; a turquoise arch above an emerald floor. The birds can keep Christmas, too--and a winter which even a goose has too much sense to inhabit is not fit for christians.
"I will give you a little story of two Christmas days in Los Angeles. One the first of these Christmas days, I have reason to believe, was held the first Christmas tree ever prepared in Southern California. In 1857 Los Angeles could boast of but a limited residence section. The plaza formed the center of the city. North of it were the adobe homes of the native Californian population, while south of it were the few business houses of that date and the homes of the American residents. Los Angeles street marked the eastern boundary, and beyond large vineyards and orchards extended toward the Los Angeles river. First street, open only to Main, marked the southern limit of population, except, perhaps, a few homes just the other side of it.