Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-08-25
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.
Facts About the CIimate-Its IIeaIth>
fulness-veEetation. &c. sc.

RIVERSIDE, CAL, Aug. 3, 1875.
To tie Editors Of the Chronicle:
Perhaps letter from Southern Cali
fornia might be OF interest to you and
your readers. Geologically and other.
wise considered, this is one Of the
neCest countries on the continent-the
last that God made, and the last that
restless and migrating man has gone
forth to occupy; here, will add, the
last is the best Of all, the very superb
est land beneath the sun. That this
country has been to some extent exag-
gerated, by interested parties, none
who are posted can deny. These par
ties have lied, not so much by what
they have said as by what they have
not said. 1t is a case of lying by
wilIful and premeditated suppression
of the truth. They tell all the good,
and none of the bad. Hence, many
immigrants come here under the fatal
delusion that this country is Heaven
land filled with all good, and utterly
exempted from all evil This is a sad
and great mistake.
California, in common with all other
earthly countries, is mixture of the
good and the bad, with the good, how
ever, more largely predominating than
ia any other country l have ever seen.
1t is not necessary, therefore, to bring
al aIn ral In III
view, and then hide her deformities
behind the curtain. All that this
country needed to win and hold the
admiration Of mankind, was simply to
have told OF her " the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth
Your correspondent does not propose
to tell all the truth that might be told
of California, but so far as | go l shall
try to tell the truth. 1t is of Southern
California, in general, and of this To-
cality specially, that | wish to write.
AS to climate, this country offers as
good as the best of any other 1t seems
to me to be about all that the most fas-
tidious could modestly require. This
is what Californians call a "spotted -
country, that is, the climate of this
country, like Peter Cartwright's
growth in grace, is in "spots." Some
times a jaunt of ten miles here, will
afford as great change of climate ms
would two hundred in your country.
There are situated in this valley two
towns. San Bernardino and Riverside,
apart twelve miles; and | should not
wonder If the difference of climate be-
tween these two places, are not as
great, as are those between Knoxville
and Atlanta. All over this country,
taking the year round, there is re-
markedly even temperature. 1t gets
hot, but never cold. The variations
are nearly all on one side, making the
mean or average temperature quite
uniform. But if you select a single
twenty-fOur hours of the year, you
will be astonished to find difference
of from thirty to fifty degrees between
the hours of A. NJ. and . p. NJ; and
yet, these changes are constant. There
is remarkable disparity between the
temperature of the day and that OF the
night. No matter how hot the day,
the night is sure to be cool. Yet the
atmosphere is so perfectly dry and pure
that one can sleep out in the open
air with the utmost safety. In fact,
these cool nights are one of the many
eXcellencies of CalfOrnia's climate.
For sleeping they are most glorious,
and uneXcelled. None of that awful
rolling and unrest, that melting, roast
ing, seething afflictiOn, that one is
sometimes compelled to endure i'm the
East. Any one with good con-
science, aud'a moderately well behaved
liver, can fsleep in California. How I
pity you KnOXvillians these hot Au-
gust nights.
What Brooklyn is to New York, Cal
ifCrnia should be to the United States,
the great sleeping department Of the
Nation. If this management were
complete you Over-worked editors
could find SOME rest, provided you
have the first requisite 10 good sleep
ing-a clear and good conscience.
The winters are said to be beautiful.
Then 1t rains, and the weather is so
balmy that ali the earth is carpeted in
verdure, and the plains and mountains
crowned with flowers. The rain fall
here, even in winter, is light yet gem
orally sufficient to produce crop of
barley without irrigation. Plants, so
delicate, that you would have to muse
them in hot house or in the chimney
corner in East Tennessee, stand out
under the genial skies, and many of
them flower all the year. You can
judge of the climate by the fact that
oranges, lemons, lines, figs, apricots,
almonds and, in short, all the semi
tropical fruits grow here to maturity.
Yet, sometimes there comes a killing
frost. Such was the case last SPRING
a frost came in April, killing nearly
all the fruit, and leaving its blacken-
ing footprints on the tender trees. Such
frosts, however, are, fortunately, very
rare. Not for fifteen years, it is said,
has there been such another frost.
From April to November this is liter
ally rainless land, unless, perchance,
there comes shower in August. This
feature of Ethe climate especially like
No biackened heavens nor furious