Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1888-04-21
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
The Real Estate Boom Played ous.

uiatlon OF the country ihpcfseiNeiJ w
mands that q town be built at this beau
tiful spot" Such is an excerpt from .
real estate advertisement in a Los An.
geles paper Of recent date. Either the
advertisers are devoid OF oil ense, or
they take the general public to be a flock
Of fools. Ridiculous idea The towns
in Southern California should rather cry
for an increase in the rural districts if
they expect to live. A queer Nation.
indeed; but then anything for 3 boom.
The man who lost the boom in Kansas
City found it in Southern Californian
that burg called San Diego he lost it
again, became bankrupt, and had to bor-
row the wherewithal to enable him to
again reach his friends in the East. Some
people whom we met on the train say
San Diego has tumbled; property has
deprecated in many cases 500 per cent,
and every form OF business in that once
fourishing town in the sand Is now ct q
s~tandstill. The man who
BOUGHT FOR A RISE
Was nearly shook to death by the fall,
and it suggests the idea that shrewd,
practical men might turn an honest penny
by adopting the mining methods, and
applying them to real estate transactions
by buying long and selling short.
The fact is plain to the most casual OBJ
server that property in many parts OF
Southern California is held at too exor-
bitant a figure. It cannot sustain il, and
a depreciation in values is sure to follow.
Tire man who pays his last 81, 900 for five
acres of land, with the expectation OF
making a living on it will, perhaps, strug-
gle along for two or three years and then
sell his place to pay his debts; or he who
pays his last $500 for a lot worth com.
paratively nothing in some mushroom
town, with no sustaining population in
the country, is morally certain to be bit.
ten by somebody. The chances are all
against them for many and obvious res.
sons: business is mostly overdone in all
branches, and for the laborer work 10
scarce and living high. A few items in
regard to wages, rents, cost Of living,
etc., may be OF interest to the readers Of
the SENTINEL. We give it for Los An
geles, which will apply to all towns OF
any prominence in Southern California.
There is scarcely any demand for
LADY CLERKS
Or saleswomen, but when one is forum.
ate enough to crowd into o situation, she
will receive about $40 per week; cham.
bermaids and mattresses from Sl5 to $50
per month; dressmakers from 81 10 81 so
per day, while potwhollopers or domes.
tics receive from S35 to as high as S25
per month, always providing that they
can force themselves past the competing
hordes OF Cinnamon into q situation;
bricklayers and carpenters generally COM
mand good wages, the former from 81 so
to So, and the latter from 50 to 81; the
general wages for laborers is 81 per day,
and farm hands $50 per month.
The cost Of living, always provided one
has the wherewithal to live with, and
there are a great many who do not in this
land Of booms, is about as follows:
Workingmen pay from 81 so to So per
week for board, and from 81 to IS per
week for a furnished room. A small
house, If it can be procured. rents from
$40 to $50 per month. Wood is very
scarce, and costs from $40 to SIG per
cord, and coal from $50 to S24 per ton.
The openings for mechanics are very
slim. Last season they were In active
demand; this year there is not much call
for either laborers or mechanics.
MoNTALvo.
On March 3lst an auction sale OF town
lots and acre property took place at Mon.
talvo, near San Buenaventura, in Ven
tura county. OF course we had to skip
over there with the crowd. Round trip
tickets were only 81 90. The small bills
and posters would lead the novice to an
ticipate a veritsble Garden of Eden. So
we gathered there to thenumber Of about
300, to inspect this Paradise and listen
to the dulcet tones of the veteran auc.
tioneer. Looking from the switch there
were no depot buildings) we deserted the
star spangled banner floating in the
breeze from a mound half q mile north of
us, so we knew that we were still in the
United States, although away off from
any settlement. Headed by q lively
brass band, engaged expressly for the oc-
casioD, we journeyed off to the mound.
The unlimited supply Of water to be
piped to every lot" we found in an exca.
walton on the eminence, pumped there
by an engine at the foot of the hill out
Of an a~rtesian well. We understood that
the aforesaid engine had pulled and
blowed and wasted steam for about ten
days to get what little water there was
contained in the reservoir from the well.
IL was nearly the same circumference "a
the fish pond at the Eureka Con. works,
and about half as deep. But the band
played lively and we were all enthused,
so to speak, SO much SO, really, that our
friend,
THE AUcTIoNERR,
Disposed of $4,000 property during the
afternoon. We struck out for the train
towards evening with just a tincture of
remorse ranking in our bosom that we
had parted company with our shekels on
such a fool proposition as investing in lots
in a town where nobody lived, and there
were no dogs to bark at strangers. We
hasten to correct an objectionable error
in the last sentence by stating right here
that the "Montalvo" Herald, a good
sized weekly newspaper was published
there, and filled with a great deal of local
news about the climate. We know it is
an enterprising local paper. just what is
needed in Southern California, for o
young man took great pains to give each
of US one, wherein we read with great
pleasure the following: Homes for 300
families at Montalvo. Good water, good
soil, good morals, and good schools. What
more does one want here below 2" Truly.