Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-12
WONEN'S DEPARTMENT.
EDITED BY BELLE MEADE SMITH.
nc beauty Of CalifernIa.

The Beauty Of California.
Before we come to California we
hear only of it's beauties, but after we
come we hear much of its ugliness.
Possibly this is due to q natural dis
appointment arising from an antici-
patton too great even to be realized;
although it seems to me that the
physical individuality of the Pacific
slope is so pronounced, that to be ap-
preciated it must be viewed without
the slightest shade of comparison.
s'Itis difficult to find Subjects" re-
Gently arrived artist said to me a
short time ago, "there is so little
LEAKAGE, and consequently such an alb
sence Of foreground" A day or two
after l repeated the above remarks to
a man who has spent three years in
travelling through the State, and who
had become one of its ardent ad-
mirers. eff that artist" said he in
reply, swill go into the mountains and
look up some OF the caflons that are to
be found upon all sides, he will not
be at loss for subjects. l was born
in one of the most beautiful sections in
England, have spent years in the
Ioveliest portions of Canada, and |
have visited most of the places of
interest in the United States,
but assure you that nowhere
have I beheld such perfect pictures OF
nature as have beheld while in the
saddle. have travelled in and out
and up and down the Sierra Madres.
It is true, che continued" that Cali
fornia has not the hedges, the foliage
or the agricultural finishing Of Eng
land, which abounds, so-to-speak, in
blooming bouquets; but it has vast
ness and dignity that l have seen
no where else." I came direct from
Philadelphia to LIS Angeles, and
since came, have not left the city
except to visit the San Gabriel Mis-
sion and Santa Monica. Therefore
in discussing the beauty of California
am compelled to confine myself to
a very limited range; yet it is this
very limitation, and the intense feel
ing have upon the subject, that
makes me most hold to the belief that
the more educated the eye is the
more appreciative will be the view
conceived of the beauty Of the State
From my earliest childhood I have
lived in the loveliest OF suburbs and
have spent much time in the park of
which the Quaker City is so justly
proud, and which am positive is the
most extensive and beautiful natural
pleasure ground in the world; while
/ can recall with delight the lowell
mess of the Pennsylvania spring time,
clad in its wealth of green, and its gar
lands of field daisie and buttercups; /;
and the splendid decoy of autum
wherein nature takes upon itself the
varied hues OF the setting sun. Yet, l
can honestly say, that | never, until |
came to California, realized how blue
the sky was, or how vast in all it's at
tributes was nature. Stand in the val
ley and gaze along the horizon where
the mountains and the sky meet, and
you will be impressed with the dignity
of the creation which looms up above
you; stand upon the hilltop COM
manding a series of kaleidoscopical
views Of the valleys, dotted with
houses and gardens, and stretching as
tar away as the eye can reach, and
you will be impressed with the va t.
ness of the creation which lies at your
feet Even where the hills are the
'brownest, and in places where the
real estate craze has not yet planted
its standards, there is to me a prevail
ing sense of awe. cannot understand
it or explain it; but / know that l
never stand face to face with nature,
such as it seems to me to be in Cali
lorna and no where else, without feel
ing that centuries have rolled aside,
and that the drama of creation, de-
Spicted as it is in the first chapter Of
Genesis, is just now being enacted !:
I'm the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth"
"In the beginning" in the solitary
places, feel that now is the begin
ming, and that time and space and sin
and death are yet to be evolved out
of the darkness that we read was
upon the face Of the deep. People
either see or they do not see the
beauty of California, and it is just as
useless for one, who does see it to at
tempt to point it out to one, who does
not see it, as it is useless to attempt
to make black eyes blue, or crimson
yellow.