Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-10-10

Ia u book 81 more than ordinary virtue.
Yours very faithfully.
JOHN FRrrwELL. JR.
Los ANGELES. Aug. .. 1s72
FRIEND SAWYER IL believe promised
you before leaving the East. that | would
give YOU brief description OF I.o. Anye-
les and the country around II. 1ou would
| understand better about this country To
come and see for yourself, and 10 do 80
would be no very great hardship. One
has only to get an the right train and keen
ON Westward, aud he will be SIRE 10 reach
San Francisco. At that city very little
Inquiry is needed To find the steamer that
will bring him to Wilmington. or san Pc
dro. which Is but - miles from I.os Anre-
les. and connected with II hy railroad tina,
passes over beautiful plains. tina, In the
earlier mouths OF the year are green pas
ture, and grain fields a. far u. the eve can
see. soon amer leaving Wilmington you
get a sight Of the mountain range. whose
naked peaks rise sombrc and grand, away
above the fleecy clouds that lean along
their bronzed .i'ies. You have hardly
time to take good look at these grand
old mountains before the cars rush In he
tween the green willows that stand like a
wall on either side of the railroad. Run
Ming streams OF water are on both side.
used Tor irrigstins the vineyard and orange
groves thai are just beyond the fence OF
willow. Here and there mere .lan,,
may be had Of pleasant cottages and
splendid residences. of the owners Of thr>..
valuable acres, aud occasionally. an old
Mexican house made Of mud with a hat
roof may be seen reminding one OF the not
long ago, when that people held complete
sway over thi, beautiful valley The city
Los Angeles j. 30 feet above the level of
the sea in the broad valley Of the 10. An
geies nver- This stream furnishes water
for itrigating the orange groves that ar,
one OF The chief sources OF wealth A. Ncll
- attraction and beauty Of this famed CITY.
You could better understand the i,n,,.
lance Of this water question II tell ,ou.
that there !, not on an average. twenty
rainy days la year. that there {, no snow
aud very seldom frost at any time of th..
yeac, that often there J. not a trop of rain
falls for eight month, Ia the year. Bat
must not forget TO tell you that an cNc-p.
ton to that, occurred last week; We had \
very heavy thunder shower. almost fan
e'cd NV >elf back Ia Maine a. | listened io
the pcals Of thunder. The winter /, a
rainy season that may continue but a few
days and at mos, hut few weeks. The
city OF los Angeles contains abou, 10 Orl
Inhabitants, made mp OF all manner OF pco
pie. representing every Kindred. language
aud tongue known 10 the civilized world.
About one-;hird OF the population ar,
Americans, onc;hird old spanish and
MeNlcans. or native Califsrnian.. and IN.
balance are Chinese, Indians, Negroes
representatives OF South America. the
ISLANDS OF the sea. Ancient Greece. and
quite sprinkling OF French "gin,lenin''
from cork aud vicinity.
Very extensive orange and lemon or.
also hundreds Of acres OF the finest yaric-
ties Of grapes, including the very best for
eign sorts pomegranites, apricot., pears,
peaches and all the semi-tropical fruit.
flourish. Barley aud corn are the chief
amer the fruits, more corn /,
grown in this county than in all California
besides. Thousands of sheep are raised
IN this county annually, and twenty-five or
thirty thousand are often owned By one
person. The wool crop of the lat year
amounted 10 more than one million of dol
lars for this county alone. The wine made
III this locality Is of a superior quality and
the quantity Increasing each succeeding
year. The grape has never been known
To fail Ia this vicinity though 1t has been
cultivated for great many years. Large
herds of horses and cattle are fed ON the
plains. and in very dry seasons, driven 10
the mountains, where there l. au album
dance of water and pasturage Honey Of
a most excellent quality is produced ia the
mountains near this city, tons OF il are ex-
por.ed from this point TO san Francisco.
where II commands high prices. Some
experiments in the production of silk and
cotton have been very successful All
kinds OF vegetables; strawberries. too. can
be produced In abundance. All it requires
Is an industrious. enterprising people 10
build factories and mills, (and you will
say railroads. 10 develop the wonderful
resources Of this comparatively new coun-
try. The Mexican rules and manners are
fast fading out, and four years OF Ameri-
can rule has advanced this city and county
In wealth. learning and morals to far
greater extent than one hundred years Of
spanish and Mexican control. There are
six churches here, Northern and Southern
Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal,
Catholic and Hebrew.
The schools are very good indeed. much
better than expected to find them The
wealth of this region is yet undeveloped,
there are but twenty-five miles of railroad
In all Southern California. Thousands of
acres, capable Of producing splendid crops
Of corn and small grain, are awaiting the
industrious Anglo Saxon to yield their
golden harvests richer far than any ever
gathered from the gold mine.
With a climate delicious and healthful
and such land Of productive capacity,
the future of Southern California, and the
city Of Los Angeles IS one to be envied.
And now you will ask me, do you like that
country! | answer no, dislike it very
much. | prefer old Maine with all her
rough scenery, clustering winds and even
the deep snow you had there last winter.
What do you think of Horace Greeley.