, 1874-03-13
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
High Prices Of Real Estate at and
~;
Around Los Angeles.
Peouliarities Of the Countrywide
Cost Of Living.
Tho Expense Of Getting Fr,,ll.Farm
into Working Order.
Extracts from q ser,es Of rrfpate letters.

&etraets fFon, q ser.es of prfpate letters.
Los ANaKIxs, CAL, Jan. s, 1874.
Handed hore on Now-Yoar's day, after rough
| and rainy VOYAGE Of noarly tlroo days' duration,
along tho ooaat from San francisco to Ban
podro, and nm rapidly recuporasing from The
fatigue Of the long journey from Chicago to thia
| point. In spite o! tho "paiace" cara, novel
aconory, etc., am bound In Ill candor to Say
that found 1t excessively wearisomo.
Twill report progross from timo to timo, sni
you may dopond upon 1t both tor my own sake
and yours, that will spare no pains to get at
6uch factB-or what eeem to mo to bo faots-aa
have bearing on tho question at Issue. You
| mates may aond you will bo
IN GOLD,
Los Angeles Is full Of Eastern people who
hayo como hero In soaroh of health, aud not
fow are prospecting with Wow to permanent
settlement. On this account think that ronl-
ostato dealers haye got pricos up to spoo,,l,-
tive rather than living standard. Unimproyed
1aud, soiM certain supply Of toater, Is worth In
this vicinity S1o0 and upwards per aero within
tho city limits, $500 and upwards with i'm
provoments both inside aud outside tho limits,
oil tue way from $3.50 to $1,000 por aero. The
climate seems to be all that any ono could roa-
souably desire thermometer IS to 60 during
tho day one rainy day 80 far. tho roat bright
and sunny mornings and evenings cool. Have
aeon many linon coats in uso on tho street to-
day, and found in my strollB tho shhdo Of tho
troea-conspicuous among which is tho pepper
trco, with its red, wa1-liko berries-quito re-
froBhng. -
JAN. l1.-Another rnfny day,-tho second since
my arrival. Grass Of delicate greon, and
profuHion Of flowers in full bloom, meet tho oyo
everywhere, and orange trees old enough tobear
arc loaded with fruit.
I have boen to tho Sun Gabriel Mission, but
found no land offered there that would accommo-
date itsolf to my pile. Prices arc unmistskahly
and (aa Would-be purchaser, thlnk)
UNnEAsoNABLY HIGH. -
mean, of courso, land toei supplied ,oiM soater.
That (tho water not tho lAutO has all hoen 'scor-
1aled, as they Say here, and is tho largest itom
in tho purohaBe-money. 0h how unlike Calu-
met
About one milo from the Mission there arc
somo good lands that can DO bought for $40 to
1876 por aero !; but there is no Burface-wator In
sufficient supply for fruit-cultnlo. However,
wells can bo dug (85 to 100 foet}, which, with
wind-power. will zach furnish water for s acres
OF treoB. Tho cost, including mill and tank will
be almost $500. This, you Boo, "marka up the
land S60 per aoro ut ono pop.
Ten miles from San Gabriel ia q now sottlo-
ment close to the mountaina, which has some
fine lands for sale. Their location iusuros tho
| cultiyator against al dnnger from frost. Price,
/ $40 pcr acre, e,-one-thrd cash, balance in one and
| two years, with intorost at IL per cent. Tho
land has now luxuriant growth OF 8hge, cactus,
etc., which cannot be cleared oil for less than
| 34+60 per acre. With certan supply Of watcr,
| tilis would DO m excellent location; but con-
fess was unable to share in the sangune calcu-
lations Of tho ownoEs in regard to that most i'm
| portant problem.
There are so many contingencesl What with
aguo, fogs, frosts, sand-atorms, feas, drought,
Mexican help, etcetora. Que has naed Of sharp
eyes long head, and a4le faith, who aerire4 to
become aottlor In Southern California. To bo
auro-so tits said-there arc mono Of these in
conyeniences here. But how well ]. remember,
out On the Mississippi River, when visitors mado
the inevitable inquiry about "fevernagor," that
It never was he,e, although they had 1t bad"
in the neighborug (and llyaD townl
JAN: 25.-since / wrote you laat, havc
visited
the place about which you ravod 30 rnuoh.
Well. Anahcim proper sandy and windy !;
at lesst found It disagreeably 80 but, in Other
respects, quito pleasant little town. Tho soil,
wcll-watered, produces freely. When the SETTLE
ment (German) was started, they had wine on
tho braiu, and 50 hayo generally taken to grape
have been ret out. They do not irrigato grape
vines at all if there has been wet winter (like
tho prcsent), and ouly once il dry ono. The
company that owus tho Btearns Ranchoa has
aoro); aud, with tho ~ater.quoation beyond all
DOUBT sono Of their lands would be very deBira-
bio. Mr. Olden, the accommodating and COM
municative agent Of this Company, Is confident
the psss'so 9y tdo tho lossS9turo &sS now
bill that will make their ditch "aii
right" But cannot precisely SEQ how 1egsla-
ton can supplement- the den0ioncos OF Nature
in regard to the 0uid-Bupply and do not al pres
msy naa as eas aenesa @ ni a
frosta are as sure as death or taxcs on the sandy
lauds here, although up in tho foot-hiIs thoro ia
no probability Of annoyance from either (of the
throo first nnnodD.
thus State, with q capital stock Of $4,000, has
bought Ito ares mlloa from Anahotm, and has
had q resident agent attending TO its interests
lor the past two years. He has put up house;
dug u we'll 76 feot deep from which ho ralBos tue
water by horsepower; has set uut a number Of
trees. which lo has had to irrigate dy ha,.d will
sot out moro trooa if "tho ditch is completed !;
II not, the enterprise will lprobably DO abandoned.
Last summon. he, with three others, worked
several days putting sacta on the young trees to
keep the graashoppers from killing them. (Put
down graBshoppora in your list Of California
productions
Five ml!eH from Anahelm, across tho Santa
Annn Biver, lies tho young settlement Of
HIGHLAND
(name about to be changed to Orango). It was
started IN 1871, is supposed 10 bo directly on tho
line Of the Toxaa Pacific Railroad (whose pro-
posed terminus is Sandy Ego, aud Gun boast Of
tho best olaBs Of settlers l have soen in this
country 10 far. They oil seem to be men Of
sense, and are most OF them men Of meanB, who
pull together for tho common veal while their
agent is bright jewel among real-ossate men,
doing great deal but sayng very little !; and
that littl tho truth, the whole truth, and moth
iu THAT business always koep within tho limits
Of saraoity but l regrot to say that out hero
some Of thom .oin llo. This, however, is d.
erosion.
The lands this gentleman has in charge aro OF
threo kinds: First. q iluo rich sandy loam
second, another, almost similar called fred
land third ooarso grave! with some soil in
tormlxod, and clay lonln underneath at depth
OF about feot. There Ia quite difference Of
opinion in the settlement regarding tho value Of
tle latter for orange and grape-oultnre, e,-some
atliming that 1t is the worry best for those pur-
posos; other some that 1t is not wortl, conti-