Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-02-22

Although we have already written ON
this subject, viz, the respective gains
and losses in Los Angeles county during
the late flood, we are now prepared to
write with larger information, 1t is
natural that, in the first flush Of disas.
ter, only the most disagreeable things
should come to the surface. The com.
plants Of those who are In our immedl.
ate neighborhood rightfully first attract
our attention. But the clouds having
lifted, it Is also just that we should esti.
pate the situation with mathematical
exactness.
Over all tho threnodies which com
memorate private griefs ana losses we
hear the notes which promise golden
year for Los Angeles and Southern Cali
fornia. Not since the season Of lS74-75
have we begun to experience such re.
generating visitation. For. years past
the rivers, creeks, lagunas. ciencgas and
ordinary springs have been dwindling In
the volume Of their waters. Even the
artesian belt felt the cooperative infu-
ence which, yenr by year, had dissipated
the distant sources of their supply, until
it had become question as to whether
even that valuable belt would not give
out, in time. The moist lands them.
selves, which had always yielded such
generous returns to the husbandman,
while measnrably. holding their own,
showed signs of sympathizing in the
local meteorological dispensation.
On sudden in comes the Weather
Clerk in the role Of good natured Har-
lequin; and, presto change. Allowing
for ali the drawbacks attendant upon
the present season, which are in truth
due to the folly Of our own people, the
beneficial change is magical. Our quite
extended watershed has collected store
of snow and water which will last for
years.
The local calamities, as they reach us
from the county, are steadily minifying.
The municipality Of Los Angeles and the
Railway Company will have to bear the
great brunt OF the loss outside of the
unfortunate Individual sufferers in this
city. While the contiguity of the
mountains to the ocean, and their i'm
petuous descent thereto over often sharp
activities, guarantee occasional floods,
and although these floods did great dam
age to public and considerable damage
to private Improvements, as the gran.
gers get in from the countryiwe find
them nearly one and oil wearing smiling
faces. To inquiries as to the loss and
gain they nearly all respond that the
heavy downpour, even with its attend
ant discomforts, was heartily welcome,
and that the gain outstrips the losses in
the proportion oil ten to one.
Here and there, in the San Gabriel val.
ley, and, amongst the rest, upon the
place Of Mr.. l.. j. Rose, the Storm King
has left his impress upon few acres
On the other hand, the lately set out
vineyards all over that fecund valley are
in splendid feather and will begin, un.
der the most favorable auspices, long
and prolific career. In Pasadena the ir.
rigating system has been temporarily in
terfered with; but, on the other hand,
who wants to insult an honest and intel
ligent granger by talking about irriga-
tion for years to Gomez As a test in.
stance, when we sift the stories of the
injury to the two thousand acre vine.
yard Of Mr.. Remi Nadeau, near Flor.
ence, we find that ten or twenty acres,
in the direct course of the torrent, is the
sum total of the actual damage. And
so the story goes from all points.
The flood was destructive, it i4 true.
but the damage was confined to houses,
eulverts, bridges and railway tracks.
Per contra, we shall be kept busy for
years chronieling the good it left in its
track. Shakespeare wrote OF human kind
that "the evil men do lives after them,
the good being oft inferred with their
bones" As respects the late freshet,
exactly the opposite is the case. The evil
worked by it will be quite transitory,
while the good will last for years.