Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-25

habitants for many miles around.
Next was the breaking Of their
lumber shortage by buying up two en-
tire lumber yards at Lordsburg and
moving them to La Verne. The home
builders and hotel builders here had
suffered long and hard from the lime
famine, and the next great event was
securing a carload of this essential
material from the Orc Grande Lime
Company. Close upon this came the
full force Of street graders, eighteen
men and eight teams, and they are
still pushing the work with all vigor.
| About the same time came the grant
ing of a postoffice at La Verne, fer
which sixty-two voters had signed a
petition. The postmaster is John
Symes, who is an old Democrat
from Wisconsin, and formerly
a partner in the newspaper bus
mess with E. B. Usher, ESQ.,, the
present chairman of the Democratic
State Central Committee of Wiscon-
sin. The next week came the is
suance of The La Terae Nl,cs, as live
ly and neatly printed 2S column
newspaper as has ever been publish
ed in the State, aud the type setting,
presswork, and everything was done
right here in the new town.
| NATURES ANTICS.
Incidental 10 the publishing OF the
local paper was the work of finding
out what there was of interest in this
vicinity to tell the people about-and
thus came rapid succession of dis
coveries OF rocky recesses, gorges,
gaps, dells, dingles, chasms, water
falls, romantic hooks, and places OF
wild, picturesque and charming re
sort that can scarcely be equaled in
all this southern range of counties.
The great San Dimas caiYon is a
wonderland ofitself, aifarding passage
up its main course six or seven miles
to the Wolfskill falls. The old road
has been washed and gulli-d great
deal by the late rains, so that it is now
quite difficult to travel; but there are
three fine falls here within a halt a
mile, of thirty, forty and one hundred
feet high, bringing down the waters
of "Old Baldy's" terrific and snow
filed Alpine clefts. Near these falls
is grove of sugar naples, which is
the only growth Of these trees / have
yet heard of on this Southern Coast
Elder j. w. Fulton also reports a
mountain of pure white marble in one
OF the side cafons, and massive
ledge OF calcareous tula, better known
by the common name OF petrified
moss. There is also up this canon an
old road and pack trail to the mines
about the head-waters of the San
Gabriel river. These curiosities are
reached from La Verne by horse back
or pack mule conveyance, although
strong built wagons do also make the
trip, much of which is over cobhle
stones and right in the bed OF the
splendid trout stream OF snow water
from cold Baldy."
But La Verne has other resorts
nearer by. About two miles from
town at the mouth of Dry Canon are
the "crazy-quilt rocks" ''ramshorn
chute" and "tight-squeeze pass"
close together. A few rods further
down are the Puddingstone Falls,
thirty feet high, in a wild, rugged,
deep gorge broken through massi We
lodges of paleozoic rocks that have
been upheaved and tilted edgewise a
hundred feet high in some cata-
clysmic cenvulsion of former ages.
The rock formation is remarkably
fine and rare exhibit of the pudding
stone type OF conglomerate rock, with
the additional novelty of more tints
| al, IS IN
card from a paint factory. Below the
falls is sort of ampitheater enclosed
by towering cliffs more than hun
dred feet high, and here are caves
and rocks and trees and water
basins or lakelets, and rifles
and rapids-a combination OF
glen, gorge and jungle on gigantic
scale, and an ideal place for pic
mic, a sketchomaniac or "lover's re-
treat" Half mile further down ia
Crystal Gem Rapids, and little
farther is Giants Gate-a narrow
pass between perpendicular cliffs,
which tower above like the gate walls
OF some gigantic castle of fabulous
age and here, again, in former ages
was probably fall not less than a
hundred feet high, but now the pass
age has been worn down to the bed oil
the stream, like the famous "Devil's
Gate" at Pasadena; but this gate far
excels THAT one in the grandeur and
massive marvelry of its romantic cliffs
and other surroundings. This noun
tain rift for mile is called Pudding
stone Gorge, because all the rocks are
of that class, and the place is worth a
| trip from Los Angeles to see.
| LOCAL MATTERS.
Il La Verne has church organization
and regular preaching-Rex. J. w
Fulton, pastor. 1t also has goot
school, and large and faurishin!
, Sunday school. A Good Templarl
lodge will soon be organized; arc
there are enough Masonic brethren t.
secure lodge Of that ancient frater
nifty not long hence. There is fire,
reading room, too. Liquor saloons ar,
perpe iually excluded by covenan
running with the land. A fine hote
OF sixty-five rooms is now about hal
, completed and the builders are whack
ing it up at a lively rate. There is
good store, a restaurant, nursery
milk dairy. and other conveniences q
a settled community. Ground is as
signed for six public parks, and
professional landscape gardener is en-
gagged to lay out and plant the grounds
There are about forty families settle,
, here now and others planning to come
ENREvAL