The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-09-08
OUR CALIFORNIA LETTER.

oAKLAND, CAL, Aug. 22d, 1888.
AS my friends will see from the
@oo'e, am still in "Oakland, .
nough very different Oakland from
~ one you all know so we'll. But
sseems strange that we should cross
~e continent and settle down in a
pace with the same name as the one
" came from. In name only are
w TWO places alike, and towards the
s'Vse OF my letter 1 will give you a
'a'nt Idea of what this Oakland is.
Alter leaving Oakland our first
1@Ilng place was Chicago, where we
SIeht two days with a friend, and
Mey were days full of pleasure.
Ohlcago is worlds wonder, and it
would take weeks to see its many
The buildings are good,
anu 70 where in the East, even New
X orK can such blocks of fine build.
lag be found, and the great whole.
Saie1ouses look like solid fortresses.
Inestreets are crowded day and
nighwith throngs of people, and the
roar ad din is deafening. Chicago
mas mce fine depots than any other
CITY IN the Union. They are scat
teren aiiover the city, and it must
have tahn millions to have built
them. TIE B. & o. has a wretched
old brick sed which is a disgrace to
the city ant the company. which an
sWers the purpose Of a depot. But
SO far the B. & o. have not been
granted any privileges by the city,
and doubtless when they are, they
will build something to be proud of.
To-day Chicago is far ahead of New
York in fine buildings, cable cars and
fine streets, and she has park that
is the finest I have ever seen. In
this park you find very fine collec-
tion OF animals. The view from the
park is lovely. and thousands of peo.
pie wend their way through it, en-
joying its beauty.
From Chicago we went to Kansas
City, where we had four hours, II
was on Sunday morning, and nearly
every business place was closed. We
saw what we could of the city, and
while rough-looKing and built on
bluffs, 1t Is wonderful place. This
was our last stop until we reached
Los Angeles and Pasadena. The
journey from Chicago to Kansas City
4,as through lovely farming coun.
ny, and thu corn. fields stretched
away for miles and miles, and we
passed through lovely towns, and
past beautiful homes ; in fact such a
country as California with all its
bOGSted beauty, cannot compare with.
For hundreds of miles west of Kan
sas City we saw nothing but corn.
fields; fields containing from one
hundred to FIVE thousand acres, and
covered with corn from four to six
feet high, and remember that was
about the 18th of July. Ohio, In.
diana, Illinois and Missouri, are all
fine states, but Eastern Kansas beats
them all. The great prairies (Which
are now corn-fields) sweep away for
hundred of miles. and are as level as
garden. Houses are seen every
where. and towns and hamlets every
few miles. Everything speaks Of
prosperity and happiness, and here
people Hve, don't simply exist.
Leaving Kansas City at noon on
Sunday, we settled down for three
and a-half days. ride. having two
large baskets full of lunch, and some
books and papers, and thus prepared,
we were ready to enjoy the changing
scene as we sat in a splendid Pullman
Palace car, and spun away toward
the sitting sun and the "Golden
State" Through Kansas we saw
vast field stretching away in every
direction, covered with corn, and
great pasture fields where thousands
and tens of thousands of cattle were
feeding. The change is quite marx
ed In crossing out OF Kansas into
Colorado. The Southeastern corner
Of Colorado through which we passed.
being very much like the "Glades''
of Maryland, only as we ap-
preached the Rockies the great level
glades and timber covered lands
stretched away for miles and miles,
and great mountains rose up thous-
ands OF feet, many of the peaks being
$4,000 to 14.000 feet high. We saw
CLEANS of the "eternal snow" on
some of them glittering In the brigh
July sun. All through Colorado we
saw great herds of fine cattle and
horses, and cowboys" by the hun
dreds; and we saw them do some
fine shooting. After crossing the
Rockies we went "down grade" and
passed through a wild country OF
level lands covered with great hills
and cliffs of rocks. and cut through