The Arizona sentinel., 1873-05-31
San Diego.
From the Santa Barbara Zeal. Index.

go, and my desire is at last gratified. 1t is
relief to see such activity as prevails here,
after staying in Santa Barbara few
weeks Let nee describe the city and lis
prospects, as do not think any mention of
it has yet found its way into print. 1t is
the commercial metropolis of North Amer
lea, as will be obvious to any one who re-
fleets that a straight line drawn from San
Diego in any direction whatever, will in
tersect New York, Yokohama, Honolulu,
Tendon, Liverpool, the Suez Canal, Phil
adelphia, the exhaustibly rich islands Of
the South Pacific, HOngkong and San
Bernardino. Further argument is ab-
surdly uncalled for. 1t is the entrepot for
region somewhat limited to the southeast
from the Gulf of Mexico, but further north
reaching out into the vast and fertile re-
gions beyond Chicago. 1t has the best
harb0r and the deepest water on the bar
of any known port except New York, and
the depth OF that. The entrance is rather
tOrtuous, and the steamer turns round
three or four times before reaching the
harbor, but once there no storm can find
it unless coming like a corkscrew, The
harbOr is l31 miles long, and after high
winds the sand is quite damp fer another
half mile. heard yesterday that the Pan
ama steamers used to come IN at high tide
aud lie in the mud like turtles till the tide
rose again; bnt think this was meant in
Jest. Professor Bache said thousand
ships could lie at anchor here, if too many
did not come ut once.
find the people rather sensitive on the
subject of the harbOr, for some unknown
reason. A friend told me that be saw
some Sandiegans treating sn old sea-captain
at the Horton House bar. All parties were
pretty mellow, aud one finally asked, cap
tain, what do you think of our harbOr :"
She's (hic) harbor on cOas' b. all odds"
Next morning this opinion from high
authority was quoted and made more CO.
herent in the papers with the endorsement
that "every word of it was golden" A
few days ago the same programme was ar
ranged for another captain, at the same
place. But he had not had enough of San
Diego whisky, and to the question what be
thought of the bar, the rough old salt re-
piled, "Bar be id! There amt half the
water goes over it that there is over this
one" heard that story privately it did
not appear in the papers. 1t seems as if
it would not be necessary to prove an es-
tablished fact by such means and to keep
proving it.
l forgot to say that in sailing up the bay
the village-I beg pardon-the city pre-
sents very bright and lively appearance,
owing to the sunshine and to most of the
houses being newly whitewashed. The
windmills are picturesque and numerous,
the largest being those of Mr.. Horton, Capt.
Wilcox, and the World newspaper Office.
This city is considerably larger than San
Francisco, but the houses are not built as
yet. The people are exceptionally cul-
tured and refined, only they haven't ar
rived here as yet. The city was "laid out
in 1862" and it hasn't got up again. There
are two handsome banks, ornaments to the
town, of one of which the foundations are
already laid; dozen hotels or SO, some of
which are destined to be" constructed
next season. The Horton House is well
kept, and thorough comfort pervades it, at
about double the expense for which one
lives at your pleasant Shaw House.
But it is chiefly its indisputable CONNER
cial Importance that San Diego distances
all rivalry. or to speak more accurately for
bids all idea ofrivalry. 1t asks but two or
three trifes in addition, shipping and
wharves and depots and storehOuses and
railroads and water and population COM
prise nearly all that is lacking, and these