The Press., 1885-05-28
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA,
SOMETHING OF INTEREST TO THE CHILDREN.

Pomona, Cal, May IA, 1885.
 am thinking I will write few letters to the little folks, and if the editor will be kind enough to print them then several thousand of you can read them, and when you study the geography of California you will be more interested in it if you know what kind of people, insects and animals inhabit the state.
 The first settlers here were Mexicans, so called because they came from Mexico which joins California on the south, and they are most of them made up of the mix ed races of Spanish and Indians, and are of all sorts of color from white to black, and they almost invariably speak the Span ish language, and when they go to the store and want arena. you give them four and when they call for guyetta, you give them crackers and for harbone, you give them soap; and for mantikes, butter; and for mantaka, lard for salpurus, matches for balos, candles for noasis, walnuts for arose, rice monsana, apples and car mata, potatoes. Of course do not spell these names as they are spelled in the Spanish, but give you the pronunciation as near as l can, and outside of the English I like it the best of any language I ever heard spoken, and advise you all to learn the Spanish language if you have an op- portunity. These people, though not strictly religious, mostly adhere to the Catholic church. The old Mission Church at San Gabriel, which was built more than two hundred years ago, is in very good state of preservation, and IS only few miles west of Pomona. It once had fine chime of bells hanging upon it's walls, but about half of them have fallen out or have been removed. But the oldest church is 1 H. A EAv built by the Jesuit fathers, and, as itahey loved wine, they set out vineyards, and there is single vine at that place of the mission variety that covers an acre of ground and is supposed to be the largest i'll the world. The mission is most de- licions table grape, but the most of them are used in bad way they make wine with them, and there Is a winery right here i'll Pomona, but if you little folks should see them make 1t you never would want to drink any in all your lives. When once you see the Chinamen wading around in it with their dirty feet you would say-that's sufficient-I dou't want any in mine. But then, they filter out the toe-nails and the thickest of the dirt before they put it in bottles and send it off to sell.
 The Chinamen make up quite large portion of the inhabitants and do great
 
 the washing, and build railroads, make brick, work on ranches (farms are called ranches here), and many people hire them for cooks. They live mostly upon rice, which they cook and eat with sticks in stead of knives and forks.
 Then there arc tribes of Indians in diff ferent parts of the state who seem to have no occupation. But California is filling up very fast with the best class of eastern people, who come from almost every state in the union because they hear of the splendid climate we have here. They come upon every train, and it is thought they bring million dollars a week into the state, and great part of this money is used to make Improvements, and of course they make the very best of society. But must stop, or this will increase the bulk of the waste basket. The next will be about tarantulas and horned toads.
 i