Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-05-26
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
Al Ancient Capital Of Alta California-Ths
Old State Houss-A Costly R:ad-The Cy-
press Grove and Carmel Bay.

Al AnsieIs oaPisal VI Aasa oaiAeA AiaAAS
Old State Houss-A Costly R.ad-The Cy-
press Grove and Carmel Bay.
DEAR HERALD: The fact that
Monterey was one Of the ancient
capitals of Alta California invests
the venerable but somnolent old
town with . great deal Of interest
for the eye of the tourist. No burg
of the Catskills was ever more sug.
gestive to Irving Of Sleepy Hollow
than Monterey would be to the av-
erage go.a.head American. The
ancient commercial and political
glory has departed from the place,
but the memories Of the old.time
greatness cling to her still. The
streets, like those Of all old Califor.
mia towns, are fearfully and Won
derfully laid out. II they were de.
signed by the cows those eccentric
bovines must have been of u spe-
oially erratic kind. However, l
feasted my eye on the old State
House, which is now used as
school, to which the jail is an sp-
pendage. There IL something in.
structive In this association OF
teaching the young ideas how to
shoot and showing where the mis-.
siles pull up that are wrongly aim.
cd. The missped arrow, shot from
the school-house steps, returns,
like a boomerang, and lands the
archer in the Jail next door.
No doubt this State House was q
goodly edifice In its tiu.e, when
dobie building were the vogue 10
California. 1t Is at least built OF
stone, and thus claims an ar!sto-
cratic precedence over its unpre-
tentious neighbors of the oiden
day, when the most that WAS eX-
acted was that mud walls sh 0uld
be graced with u veneer of si0cco
or whitewash. la this venerable
old pile the first Constitutional
Convestion of California met and
did Its perfect work. Would that
its successor had hewed to the con.
stitutional line as well.
A SUPERB ROAD.
Abandoning Monterey, with its
suggestions Of &he fishermen's and
whalemen's industries-all that
now interpose between the town
and stagnation-I turned a curve
in the road which is now historic.
A rude cross marks the spot where
Father Junipero and his pious co.
sdjutors landed, many, many years
ago. This suggestion of the olden
time is quickly replaced by the ad-
mirable and romantic drive of sew
entsen miles which the Southern
Pacific Railway has constructed, at
immense expense, as an adjunct Of
the Hotel del Monte. While there
is about this drive no suggestion of
the rugged and enduring
perfection of the old Roman
highways, 1t nevertheless can
claim full affinity with
tlat practical Sootchmnn, Mac.
Adam, who has impressed his
sign manual upon all modern
highways. This drive has been
hewn through dense forest of ma.
jsstic pines, and no pleasure resort
of the East can point to any such
prodigal expenditure of labor, time
and money as has been poured out
upon 1t. It's course lies through
dense forests In which the pines,
crowned with mistletoe. rise to
great heights.
WHERE THE LITTLE EXPRESSES
COME FROM.
Every visitor to California has
been charmed by the abundant
propagation of the Monterey cy.
prsss-probably the most symmet.
rical Of plants. Byron puts the
orange At the head of all vegeta.
tion for gracious beauty, and I
think he was right, with the single
exception of this most unique of
trees, which Is trained by our
Landscape gardeners to such per.
lection Of pose. Well, the "daddyn
OF all the cypress trees which orna-
nent our gardens is little patch
OF scarcely moro than a mile in ex.
tent. which fringes this ocean
drive, that has now become an ad.
junct to the Hotel del Monte. II
10 said that these are the only
trees of the kind on the American
Continent. How they came there
deponent sayeth not, but there
they are, and they are nowhere
else. A little bird, nayhap, may
have carried the seed in its bill
from far off Asian strands, ant
dropped II there, in fructifyipl
season. to do its acceptable work.
At all events, 1t invests this seven
teen mile drive with a romantic
association and a botanical charm
which cannot be rivaled slsew ere
on the coast or the continent
One Of these expresses has pushed
it. way of TO rock In the ocean,
and IL there spreads Its eymmstri.