Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1886-05-27
CALIFORNIA. TRUTHS.
Hints to Home-Seekers in the
Great Golden State.


Great Golden State.
I noticed recently the following
paragraph. written by wel-known
and somewhat eccentric physician,
who, se..eral years ago, spent two or
three winters i'm this State:
II saw, when in Southern Califor-
MIA, family of parents and five chill
dren living under live-oak tree,
where they had stayed three years
with no other covering than the tree,
not even a tent. 1t was an intelligent
New England family; they left Massa-
chusetts wrctchcd from scrofula.
When l saw them they were in fine
health"
After nine years experience IN this
State, 1t is my option that the good
doctor was woiully deceived by that
intelligent New England family"
During "dry'' year a tent would
not be Impracticable, although it
world be found rather damp on a cool,
tcggy morning. But it is the height
of folly to conclude that people can
live comfortably (or otherwIse) in our
ordinary winter storms with no other
shelter than that afforded by an oak
tree.
Such statements as this have done
California incalculablc injury, They
are generally made by travellers and
tourists who are here for few weeks
or months, visit SOME of the principal
cities, take the popular excursions and
go back to their homes to be recog.
nized as standard authority Oh Pa
cific Coast matters. If the season is
favorable and their surroundings pleas
ant, their descriptions abound in rose
color. But if they chance to encounter
stormy weather. or are forced by the
press of travel into inferior accommo-
dations, or something occurs to inter-
fore with their own individual comfort.
then every thing is seen through blue
spectaclcs. The cities are mere mush-
rooms that have seen their best DAYS,
the fruit is insipid and coarsc, the
oranges sour, the climate a humbug,
the scenery nothing to boast of-even
Yosemite hardly p:ys for the eXpendi-
ture of time ara strength required for
the trip. Occasionally one Of these
doleful souls vents his private gricv-
ancc On the entire State, but the florid
descriptions are IN large majority
1t is easy to see how people may be
led to make these eXtravagant express
sions. Every thing here is new and
strange to them. They drive over
green plains spangled with many-col-
ored flowers, in January as though it
were June. They ramble through the
orange groves, breathing the fragrant
air, and picking with their own hands
the golden globes. They see dollhouse
plants poisoning freely in the open
air They are delighted with the
climate, the scenery, with every thing.
and frequently make the widest state
ments without taking the trouble to
re:ify them. They take a single eN-
ceptional instance. and hold it up for
ali invariable rule For example, |
picked a Gala the other day that meas
urcd six feet from the base of the flow
er-stalk to the tip of the spathe. 1t
came from free-growing variety
which has been specially enriched, but
this is the tallest flower it has pro-
uuced- Shall l, then, proclaim that
callas reach the height of six feet in
this favored land? Though this may
be true i'm occasional instances. would
it give nonresident a correct idea of
tho ordinary growth of callas?
Twas greatly pleased when read in
the Christian at Work last summer
Rev. John X. Aliens account of Santa
Barbara-it presented our semi-trop-
ical life so truthfully. But these hap
hazard statements that will not bear
investigation give Eastern people
particularly the poorer classes-a
totally false conception OF our State.
Many of them seem to think that it is
little short of Paradise; that if they can
only scrape together enough money
for the overland trip a fortune awaits
their arrival: that if they conclude to ac-
cept some position very large salary
will reward correspondingly small
amount of labor; and various other fig
ments that will lead to disappoint-
ment.
ANY person of small means who inn
AGNES that he can live comfortably in
California without working is deluding
himself. l never saw people work
harder than they do here. And the
WOTk ldStS tlc ySdi louhu. ~ w
sure. nearly every one takes play
spell sometime during the summer,
going either to the beach or the
mountains-but there is plenty of work
to be done at all seasons. 1t is some
times said that California is no place
for a poor man. But that depends
greatly on what sort of man he is.
A person in good health, able and will
ing to do whatever honest work comes
to hand, will probably do as well here
as in any part of the country. But il
is far better for poor people who arc
sick and unable to work to remain
where they are with their friends. The
professions arc crowded. Southern
California does not require any more
doctors, lawyers. teachers, or real es-
tate agents What she needs is al
army Of active. able-bodied men and
women who are not afraid of manual
labor.
Newcomers are invariably surprised
at the large amount of property for sale
What is the reason" they ask. THAI
every body wants to sell. if Californis
Is such a delightful place to live inf'
One principal reason is that each yea1
;t~naI, ara bn.lt ,ora of tht