Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-07-03
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
The Beautiful "City of the Angels" as
Seen by Tennessean.

in my madness, whatever of madness
is shown in the method. Hamlet had
a foully murdered father to avenge,
and talking gibberish was part of
his plan; while have been running
amuck with my pen, with no more
rational object in view than to see in
the next issue of the STANDARD my
letter mutilated beyond recognition;
plural subjects precede singular verbs;
positives turned into comparatives,
and commas, periods, dashes and
quotation marks used and abused
withsuch reckless disregard of "copy"
that only a distance of six hundred
miles could prevent duel. The
Chinese at the Occident were first
served up; then taste of Rocky
Mountain scenery was thrown in as a
relish, and now propose to raise the
windows and let Southern breezes
wait to your nostrils odors Of orange
blossoms, lemons, grapes and flowers
until sweetness "tortures the sense"
/ was in and about Los Angles,
California, two days, and, with the
brilliant little gem lying at the
base of old Ben Lomond wildly in
mind, it must be allowed that / have
never yet seen any spot half so beau
tiful as this little city so properly
named "city of the angels" 1t is
town Of high hills, so much so that
Kansas City in comparison is a bill
lard table, and Telegraph Hill in
San Francisco alone saves its reputa-
ton. To stand on one Of these hills
and see the town dotted over with
orange and lemon orchards, the little
porticos embowered with luxuriant
vines and geraniums, and the glitter
ing church spires just overlapping
the tall eucalyptus trees, was a
sight worth remembering. Los
Angeles is in the midst of the orange
country, and to walk its streets and
see this golden fruit covering the
ground and rotting in every yard and
garden, one would almost expect it to
be given away at the fruit stalls, or
rather that keeping fruit stand
meant bankruptcy. Fancy my sur
prise then, on asking the price ofsome
remarkably fine specimens, to hear
that they were one dollar q dozen.
"They are the seedless naval Or
anges, sir, grown only at Riverside"
said the man, and the opinion was
being firmly grounded in my mind,
that half the people in this State live
on fools from other States. At The
Needles, the first place / set foot on
California soil, paid twenty-five
cents for cup of muddy coffee, and
now in the very midst of the orange
section, they want a dollar a dozen
for the fruit, when it can be bought
in Kansas City for forty cents. Had
l not right to such thoughts?
Together with a fellow-sight-seel
from Chicago, started out after
breakfast to see Washington Park
but we never reached our destination
because we encountered too many
charybdis' on the way, and though
cotton stuffed in the ears of Ulysse
and his men may have accomplished
much, no such puny methods coulC
prevent us from seeing the over-bur
dened orange orchards all the wa,
and planning an onslaught. One or
chard took up whole square, and ;
cozy little cottage set empowered il
its midst. Upon our knock, the mis-
tress came smiling to the door direc
from the cuisine, and very kindl.
gave us permission to walk about tn
premises. In one corner of the or
chard, standing on a ladder, stood
Swede picking the fruit from tn
tree, depositing it in a basket on hi
arm and singing a patriotic ditty tn
while. We stood talking with hin
some time, and by def methods an
honeyed words, won his heart to sue
an extent that when we were read
to go he invited us to help ourselves
We stood not on the order of accep
ing, but went to work. We ate unit
filled, then standing on the groun
and on the ladder, we picked orange
and filled our coat pockets, trowsel
pockets and vest pockets and longe
for more pockets to fill-indeed, fC
the purposes of the occasion, 1 woul
not have blamed the tailor if he ha
made my garments all pockets. Wit
oranges to the left of me, and orange
to the right of me, dragged myse
back to the hotel heavier and hal
pier man. On these trees the Oronu,