The Press., 1888-04-19
LETTER FROM SAN FRANCISCO,

The blizzard which lately swept through the east, and like some bowling beast of prey, wrought depreciation throughout the length and breadth of the land, will con. Stitute an epoch in the history of the couu- try. It will be talked over at the freside for generations to come, and the perils and prIvations attending it will he woven into many a romantic theme Yea, and it will bring into bas relief the glorious climate of California, the "El Dorado" of the world. Here, ill San Francisco, the "Queen City of the Pacific, our western belle, far sur passing in beauty the roses at her throat
 promenaded the thoroughfares and vainly endeavored to escape the rays of old "King Sol, while her eastern cousins were cap tives in their own domains, and Sentinel Snow" kept watch with vigilance that would have been praiseworthy in peni- tentiary guard Railroads blockaded else where, but i'll California trains were speed ing over hills and through dales, carrying myrlads of pleasure seekers to and fro. No cab to be hired for love nor money, and here the young debutante whirls away in her carriage to the Grand Bal Masque," or the drawing room reception. Oh ! for the eloquence of Demosthenes, the pen of q Tasso that might vividly portray the climate of this western land, whose shores are washed by the Pacific. Oh for the brush of an Angelo that might breathe into lifeless canvass the blue dome above us, far outrivalling "Italian skies :" the rugged Cordilleras, whose snow-capped peaks loom up in the distance like unseem- ly spectres the mineral springs which make California a veritable Baden the valleys where the lowly shepherd tends his fiocks the ravines and canons so weirdly beautiful the limped lakes the murmur- ing brooks ; the flower gardens resplendant with blossoms III mid winter. But my efforts were vain. We truly sympathize with our friends on the Atlantic shores, who are wont to refer to us as those ''un- civilized western folks, but we are not so ungenerous as to resent the insult at this, their time of trial. Moreover, we can af. ford to be condescending since nothing | unusual has occurred to break the even ,enor of our existence. As to our being dnclvlllzed well, you see, we are rather young and have considerable to learn. As late as 1859 there was but one shanty in the "Queen City" and our "sister states" east of the Rockies were then well estab- lished and prosperous. But hoary headed veterans though they be the infant state can toss her head defiantly at them and at the world, for have we not the magnificent harbor of San Francisco commanding the commerce of the Pacific from the Bay City" to Japan Does not California ex- ceed every other state in the union in the production of wines, gold, tropical fruits, etc. Is not San Francisco the fourth city of the Union in foreign commerce, and is she not proud in the possession of some of the finest streets and public buildings in the world Her educational system can compete with any other city, on either side of the Atlantic. So much for our lack of civilization. Our rapid strides toward progress are without parallel in the an- nals of time. We have inspired the admir- ation of the universe and gained the recog- milton of the most preiudiced. The climate of California, her natural wonders, her achievements and her brilliant prospects, point her out as the future Eden, and the time is not far distrnt when California will be in "modern ages" what Rome was in the "ages of antiquity"-the ''mistress of the world" FRANK T. BRUCE.