The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-09-10


we were passing through country remark
ably interesting on account of its geologi-
cal formations Great mountains of red sand
stone ON either side of the valley through |
which we pass over the lava beds for miles
and miles. Later we passed by the Pueblo and
Zuni Indian villages with their curiously built
adobe houses, which they enter from tho top
by means of ladders. On some OF the houses |
we saw Indians sitting on the edge of the fiat |
roof. We saw great droves OF horses and |
tiocks Of goats and sheep, thousands In num-
her. We took dinner at Winslow, Arizona, |
and late In the afternoon we passed over n |
canyon ana the train stopped To lot us view II, |
and as II makes its crooked way around
through the rocks IL looks grand. Soon WE
came In sight or the pine clad hills AMI noun |
tains, the very sight which rests us after look |
Ing ~ long on tho red sand plains. The noun |
| tain scenery in again very beautiful and the |
station at the top is called Flagstaff. named
| from II tree which stands here ana IL SCI much |
taller than any others In the vicinity. At
Williams we stopped for supper. and then pro |
| cccded ON our way through tho pines down
grade all night, crossing the Colorado river.
The morning Of the 10Th we were nj The Nee
dies, the lowest place We had seen, ~ this IL
only loo r. above the sea- Hcre u great doal
of the timc'thc temperature IL as high as l2J
degrees and sometimes 40. Around the de-
pot we saw those coarsc haired Indians selling
| melons and wares made froGa the clay.
We passed ON through II sandy desert valley,
whctc water can be obtained I'm only two
places for u distance of $50 milos. The first
signs of civilization was the Calico mining Iis.
trict In the mountains near IsarstOn, where
| we could see the machinery of the silver
mines. We took dinner at Barston, where a
| delegation from Los Angeles was waiting To
receive us with fruit, melons and choice Cali
| fornia wines. After dinner speeches were
made ana soon we wore on our way again to-
| ward San Diego Reaching San Bcrnardino
| in the evening we were now In the country of
orange groves. Here land Is worth $500 per
acre. We went into II garden which Ia irrigat-
| cd and saw figs and many other kinds of fruit
growing, ana lovely flowers. geraniums grow
| ing like weeds, both inside and outside of the
hedge fence. The first peaches that we saw
sold by the wagon load, was mt Cotton. Ii soon
| grew dark, and when we awOko next morning,
July 30, we were in San Diego. We were soon
welcomed by the band and carriages came Ia
take MS To the different hotels and were free
for Ms Ia use driving around the city. Street
cars and ferry boots were also free for us to
go across the bay Ia the Pacific cost and see
the white capped waves dash upon tho beach
Many people were there bathing in the surf.
| We saw II school of porpOiscs piunging around
in the water ana seemingly having fine time.
The city has Il population of about 5000, IL
building up fast, and real estate il rapidly
changing hands and increasing in value. II
has one of the finest harbors and the highest
light house In the u. s. In the center of the
city there IL park, haying a pavilion for the
band aud the walks are bordcrcd by lovely
flowers and trees. II is very dusty here at this
season, but the climate is beautiful, being just
cool enough to he pleasant. ana varies but lit
tie IN. year round. Having spent most On
joyabc day here, we start for Los Angeles ut
p. M, and arrived there the next morning,
July 3ist. where we spent most enjoyable day
In visiting our friends and sightseeing. The
Los Angeles citizens gave II banquet the whole
day long in the City Hall. which was splcndidly
decorated and bouquets were furnished to all.
We went by cable car to Bunker Hill, u very
slightly place, commanding full view OF the
city They are selling lots and building resi-
dcnccs MI along the line of the cable road
away out to the foot of the mountains. We
next visited Mrs. LOngstrcets orchards and
gardens which have recently been sold for
grandeur. II seems rs though nearly every
kind of evergreen trees could be found here.
Roses covering porches and growing in huge
bushes IL IT, high; beautiful ivi8s, gcraniums,
fnschias and hcliotropcs cover the garden
walls. Here we saw bananas growing and
orange, lemon, apricot, pear, plum, peach,
lime, iig, palm, date palm, pomegranatc, live
oak, pepper, rubber, eucalyptus, magnolia and
1 nnI a IN
| not know the name of.
| In the afternoon we went Ia Pasadena a very
| popular resort. This trip of seven miles gave
| us Il fine view Of this grand fruit country, for
| we passed through both orchards and vine
yards. We spent the remainder of the day
| visiting our friends, AMI started for San Fran
| cisco at 10 O'Clock IN the evening. We had To
| go ny tnc way "r narstnw. whore we arrived
| the next morning for breakfast, August I.
We were on our way again, and before
| and after reaching MoJave, we crossed some
| very drcary country sandy and hot, and in
several places we were deceived by u mirage,
ami made us To think we were looking at
lake in the distance. In crossing the Sierra
| Neva,las we beheld some more grand noun
tain scenery. AT one place we counted five
tracks of the road we had passed oyer and it
made complete loop in passing around n
hill and under the track we had previOu sly
crossed. We passed through Is tunnels VIII ich
were almost in sight aof each other. At one
place we could SEQ the station three miles away
| but we had Ia travel eight miles to reach it.
In the afternoon il grew very hot, being los
in the shade in our car. Tn the approach of
night Il grew cooler and we entered the great
wheat counties of the San joaquin valley. We
saw many large warehouses and thousands of
bushels in sacks on the platforms. They do
not need protection from rain ut this season
for there il none.
The ext morning, August 2, we arrived at
Oakland where we crossed over the bay, a dis
lance of eight miles, by ferry Ia San Francis.
co. All the business part of the city was pro-
| fuseiy decorated with tiags, bunting wreaths,
etc.
San Francisco Is fine city. IL has u
splendid system of cable street cars, paved
streets, electric lights, etc. Every yard
whether large or small has its flower garden.
The weather at this time of the year is quite
unpleasant part of each day. The mornings
are foggy ana late in the afternoon the wind
blows very chilly from the ocean. Gentlemen
| lind their ovcrcoats are very comfortable and
hldics going out to spend the day provide
themselves with fur wraps and parlsols,
Tuesday. August 81, we witnessed the grand |
parade Of the q. A. r.. representing all parts |
of the Union. Ii was II beautiful sight, lasting |
from 1880 II. m. until p. m. Later In |
the afternoon we drove through Golden |
GAZE Park, which contains 1000 acres, situated |
in the northwestern part of the city and bor- |
dering on the Pacific ocean. Ii is adorned |
with arbors, mounds, rustic branches, monu- |
mcnts music pavilion, grand walks and
drivcways adorned with lawns and beds Of
flowers i'm bloom the year round The Con-
scrvatory is only quarter Of a mile from the
main entrance and is marvel Of beauty. II
is 80 feet long, Cd feet wide and has Il dome Is
feet high. IL is constructed entirely of iron
ana glass, the glass weighing IS tons. There
are 1--WE miles OF fine drives through the park
To the Cliff House and Sutro Heights. When
we reached the CliT House we found il was
100 feet above the ocean and commands fine
view of both country and ocean and within
stones throw of the famous Seal Rocks where
hundreds of sea lions are growing and tumb-
ling in their sport The next two days we
spent In visiting the Woodward gardens, the
Chinese and Japanese bazaars and Telegraph
Hi which Is reached by cable cars and com
mands fine view of tho city and bay. The
Woodward gardens. although private proper
ty, are considered one of the principal attrac-
tons as Il pleasure resort of the city. They
contain Il valuable AMI extensive collection of
curiosities, wild animals fossils and paintings
from all parts of the globe. There IL a music
pavilion and the gardens are magnificent.
The pathways and lanes lead around Orna-
mental flower beds and groves of trees from
every cline, under which there ere hundreds