The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1873-10-23
A TRIP TO SANTA BARBARA. CAL

We arrived at Santa Barbara at 7
O'Clock a. m. in dense tog, SO thick
that you could hardly see across the
street, and felt the poetry of the
beautiful Santa Barbara fast leaving
me, as we drove down the lopS
street and see the old tumble down
adobe buildings, lining the streets
on both sides. We pass the Santa
Barbara Hotel, one story adobe
mouse, with tile roof, and looking
no cleaner or neater than some Of
our Northern New York pig pens.
After breakfast l started out in
pursuit OF one of those beautiful
Orange Groves Of Santa Barbara. of
which | had read and dreamed so
much about. / met a well dressed
man, and accosted him with these
werds-"Good morning, sir, a very
fine morning (the fog was then SO
thick that | could hardly y see five rods
before me- He said, sGood morn.
ing, sir, yes, beautiful morni na." I
replied that it seemed to be lust a
little bit foggy. "Well yes" he
said, 1T is a little hazy this morning. ,
but he assured me that it was a verv
unusual thing, that they seldom had
any fog, and that he could not i'm.
agine what the matter was, thought
something must have gone wrong
with the clerk of the weather. |
said-'my friend, would you be kind
enough to point out to me one of
those Orange Groves, of which there
are so many in Santa Barbara L
told him with a very sober tace)
that had come all the way from
the other side of the continent, from
away down in New Jersey, on the
Atlantic coast, to see the orange
tree bending under its load of gold
en- fruit to go into the grove and
there reclining upon some grassy
knoll, eat oranges Till l was full. I
also told him that I wanted TO see
the lemon tree hanging full of nice
large lemons. He looked at me
very earnestly for msment without
answering my queation, and then said
my friend are You crazy?" l
told him l did not know that l was,
but perhaps 1 was. Why said he,
Oranges do not grow here, the trees
grow, bat they seldom bear any
oranges, and if they DO, they are
small, sour and bitter 'But,' said
he, Il am told they do grow some
very fine ones down at Los Angeles. ,
He told me to keep right along on
the same street few rods further,
and in a garden at my right l would
iho two orange trees but no oranges.
went on down to the ocean on
the long wharf, saw two young men
there working on the wharf. Said
they came from New Hampshire, had
been at Santa Barbara about two
years, thought Santa Barbara a pref
ty poor place for man to get a liv-
ing by cultivating the soil !; that the
crops were poor this year and had
been ever since they had been in the
place. l asked them what they had
to ship away. They said, nothing
eatable, as Santa Barbara did not
produce enough to half support it.
self, but had great share of it's eat
tables shipped to them from San
Francisco. Well then, 1 said, what
do you send away o, sometimes q
crate Of chickens, . few hides and
some wool. said to them-Well,
you have splendid climate here
anyway, if nothing else. They
laughed and said yes, but said they,
if an east wind should happen to set
in, as it often does, while you are
here, you wont think it very beausi-
full climate. Well to cut q very long
story short, I stayed in Santa Barba-
ra until Saturday morning, spending
my time in rambling over the barren
rocky hills around the town, and Wis.
iting anything that looked like cult
vation, for miles around. Went up
to the hot springs about FIVE miles
from town, up in one of the rocky
canyons among the mountains, where
the largest grape vine, probably in
the world, is growing. 1t is one of
the old Mission vines, and is proba-
bly, two hundred years old. 1t meas.
ures just feet and 8 inches in cir
conference.
was told by a party who claims
to know, that the man who wrote
the little Book that we had sent to
US, and which is kept for sale at all
the newspaper stands in California,
setting forth the hsassiss of Califor-
MIA in general, bat more particularly
Santa Barbara, he'd got seventeen
hundred dollars fer vritlsg that book,
and that the money sas paid to him
by boarding house keepers, and 10.
tel proprietors OF Santa Barbara, to
induce eastern people to come there
that they might get custom, as with
out the visitors at Santa Barbara,
they would starve in less than six
months.
heard some parties talking about
almonds, and saying they Go we'll.
asked how well, and they said tina
tree would yield three or four
pounds, and would sell for 05 cents
per pound. Wouldn't it be a big
thing for some of our Vineland berry
producers to 60 out to Santa Barbara
and go into the almond culture
Apples, pears and peaches do not do
well. l boarded at the best hotel in
the town paid $3.50 per day in
gold, and the only fruit I saw was a
few half-grown strawberries. Talk
| about Vineland being humbug 1,
can't compare with Santa Barbara.
The ladies and gentlemen who re.
oeive any benefit from Santa Barbara
climate, are those who spend one
half their time, riding and
| climbing over the hills and noun
tains. Those who do not ride and
rough it in this way, but sit around
the hotel and ride out only in cover
ed carriages on very smooth Level
roads, soon die and are buried back
in the hills. In riding over the hills
| came to . grave yard, disuouated
hitched my pony and went into the
enclosure, where l found on many Of
the tombstones the names of many
an eastern man and woman.
They call this very healthy clim
ate, and l do not know but what il
is. But l do know that a heavy fog
rests over the town until about 9 a