Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-09-29
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.

. :.
of the Old Iree-7Ke Palaces Of the
Rich.
Probably no one in the State of Cali
fornia has paid SO much attention to the
cultivation of grapes from which can be
made fine brandy as has Gen. Henry III.
Neglee. He has one hundred and fifty
varieties of grapes, many of which are
known as the French and German stocks.
The fruit of these vines he manufactures
into a high grades of brandy, and his
wine cellars now contain many thousand
gallons. some of it dozen years old. AS
the increase in value is entirely in excess
of and disproportlonate to the increase
in age, he can safely calculate upon re-
eaivino a high rate of interest upon the
capital laid up In brandy casks IN those
cellars.
Gen. Neglee aspires to become a phi
lanthropist by demonstrating that as fine
brandy can be manufactured from grapes
grown in California as from the fruit
when it is gathered from the vines in
the Fatherland or in sunny France, and
persons who considered themselves COM
petent judges assure me he is meeting
with gratifying results.
| entertain no aspiration to become a
manufacturer of fine brandies, but if any
one knows Of any other philanthropic
enterprise which is attended with as
small risk and which ensures such large
returns as does this. I give that person
free permission to inform me Of it.
An entire day could be proftably spent
in Gen. Neglee's grounds, for he has ex-
pended large sums of money beautifying
them, and has gathered plants and shrubs
and trees from many countries. His
flower gardens are veritable paradise
to those who are fond of Gods sweet
messengers, and Aunt Dinah would de-
light in "dem dar vegetables what he
raises" Six artesian wells furnish a
plentiful supply of water for irrigating
purposes, the surplus being conducted
into artificial ponds where fountains play,
the cool spray keeping the atmosphere
pleasant in hot days.
If you call upon the General, in his
cottage, he will treat you to some of his
choicest wines, and tell you great deal
which | do not know about his enterprise.
One thing | like about the old Cath
olic missionaries who laid the foundation
for SO many of the towns in this State,
they Immediately set about improving
the places selected, and proceeded with
determination which indicated they
had come to stay. The man who would
never set out fruit trees because he
shouldn't live to eat the fruit" always
seemed to me like selfish excrescence
on the face of the earth, which could be
dispensed with and no one suffer loss.
1t is over hundred years ago since
these representatives of the Catholic faith
came into this valley to begin their work
and no more beautiful monument could
be erected to their memory than is found
in the triple row of trees planted by
them in their first years here, and which
, shade the drive known as the Alameda
extending the entire distance of thre,
: miles between Santa Clara and San Jose
{ Handsome residences are reaching ou
t until soon the two cities will clasp hand
} under the trees. How those hard headet
and hard working old priests would hav
1 secuted the idea, if some one had whis
percd in their ears that the tinklin!
E music of the street car bells would som
5 time be heard on this fine avenue.
: The wheels of civilization turn no
S backward, and Santa Clara, if she ha
f not kept even pace with her sister cit
!. in the race, has had to yield very muc
$ to the inexorable law of progress. Their
q yet fingers about her streets suggestio
e of the olden time, and | caught myseI
s watching for the dark-skinned senorita
5 who seem the fitting inhabitants of som
v of the buildings.
s The Catholic School and Church built
n ings are conspicuous objects and al
y quite extensive. The old adobes are
: good state of preservation and steE
should be taken to preserve them bot
here and in San Jose, for people nee
these old landmarks to keep alive in the
e memories the past history of their tow
l. and since, once upon a time, there aro
l. in the city of San Jose, man so devoi
n of all appreciation of the beautiful,
'e bereft of all common sense, or any 9th
u kind of sense, as to attempt to lobt
$, through the city council vote to CT
20 down the trees which have been the
S light of the San Josean and Santa Cla
!. !. heart for century, there is no telliI
n y what some other idiot may not attem
Y, in the future.
te Let the trees live on. The heart
n each of them is full of the sweet secre
=. -. which have been whispered by those W
i. walked beneath their shade; they cou
s, the lovers vows they have listened to
ht the leaves that fade and fall, and tn
40 know that many vow was kept
" lnnner than the frail leaf kent its fire