Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-01-13
A WINTER PILGRIMAGE
Amid Sunshine, Eruits and Flowers.
Special Corrcsponhonco.

Vile TO attend n citrus fair. 10 tender
FOOT the display OF citrus fruit is n matto
of interest In this region OF sunshine, bu
tho idea of an exhibit in tho winter, of ten
dor fruits, with oranges as the predominant
ing feature, was n novelty indeed l sale
exhibit in tho wintor," because by consult
ing tho calendar lind IL Ia the 8cason of th,
year when l Ihavo bcon accustomed to posi-.
tive evidence of winter, but in this locality
II did not consult tho calendar, would
hardly style the month OF December win.
i ter.
On tho principle that IL isn't good plnr
to lot any thing get away from you when II
Ia In sight, l concluded to become n pilgrim
and Join the excursion and that is how ]
find myself. Mt lh,s oliday sonson, enjoying
the beauties OF clrtus belt, studded with
tho CHOICEST gems OF nature. This Pilgrim
age required journey by rail of 170 miles
north of San Francisco, and more lovely
| December morning when we startcd-sun
! shining, Thermometer abovo 60 deg it
would be difficult 10 conceive. Though wo
| havo como tho distance north of San Fran
cisco which have namcl, this State ia 30
immense that we Lro still III central Cali.
| fornin. When L said a journey by rail,
ought to except the CROSSING OF the Straits
OF Carquinez, just in sight OF the Govern
mont Navy Yard on Mare Island. This WIS
|
intact To be in harmony with all things in
| California, this ferry was something i'm
| lnense, exceeding IN proport ons similar
| ferries in the Ea5G Tile boa. was 425 feet
long by ~ wide, having four tracks and
| capable OF carrying forty-fOur cars and two
engines. In the river crossings ut Detroit
and PORT Huron, Mich, IL is considered sa :
| isf0ctory TO push tho cars on the boat at
one side of the river and draw them off at
tho other, not Transporting the engine, but
q n o IN IN thta Nyif hall
the train, and, lest 1t should be lonesome, u
second engine pushes the othor half on,
and 10th engines, as well us tho en,ire
train. glide rapidly across the straits, land
ing us Mt Benicia
1t has always been matter of doubt to
me whether Dcnicla gained the groates5
reputation by at one time having been the
abiding place OF John @. Hconan, yclepg
'Bcnicia Boy" who caused the American
Eagle to bristlo with pride years ago over
the meeting with Tom Sayers in the prize
ring, or by having two or three ints been
the supposed capital of California, wuen
that erruttc concern was, like Noah's dove,
hunting for resting place Az al ovGnls,
Ii is Il thriving city now, and I'll wager that
ngood many more of the present genera
ton have heard of the Ben. cia Boy" than
the fact that the sent Of government OF this
Stte was located there. IL is almost inap-
propriate, however, 10 refer to 1t as having
been tho seat OF government, for, in those
between Monterey, San Jose, San Frame SEQ,
Vallejo aud Sacramento, until it was every
where little. but nowhere long.
A little over four hours ride brought the
pilgrims to Sacramento, where the dove OF
government finally located some thirty odd
years ago, after having once or twice been
washed ashore to San Francisco or else
where by Hoods A halt of n couple OF hours
gave us cnance to hastily view the capital
as well RS tue capitol of California The
capitol and the grounds have cost the State
two and half millions dollars, and while
the building Is perhaps surpassed by two or
thrce similar structures in the country, the
grounds can tRke the premium over all
comers, not excepting the National pitol
grounds st Washing ON. Some eighteen
acres comprise the immediate grounds sur
round ng the State House, and ms there
Is no killing off OF trees. or leaves, or
flowers, or grass, in the fall, in order to give
nature chance % spread herself in the
spring. nature keeps right on with her
work the year around and double discounts
hot-housc landscape gardening. So Slcra-
mento leads the word Tor the United
States, which is ahou5 all of the world OF
any consequencal in capitol grounds.
FAMOUS MINING CAMP.
II was night when lhs pilgrims reached
what was once n famous mining camp in
Calfornia-Orovlle Located on the sou
bank or Feather river, almost at the foot
of Table mountain, lies tiis city OF 1900
porous rs any Little city in the country II
there are any really poor peope here,
have been unatle to discover them. / was
one of par y of pilgrims who employed u
clrriage to see the country, and seated on
the box by the lvery-s able driver, was
quite struck when he pointed out large
sarep ranch as the property OF his father,
and mentioned tho busnLsS in which his
father was engaged in town. Ordinarily
people in his station ar. not in aflluen5 cir-
cunistanceg, but IN OroYiile they don't seem
to have any other kind Like ali live towns,
it has newspapers, and here there arc two
of them. One of them is.a daily, while The
editor of the other not to lie eclipsad in en-.
terpr So, acts as Secretary of this Board of
Trade, and supplies all applicants by mail.
or in person, with Information concerning
the country. u is no use for any place to
try TO grow without newspaper men 1t
simply gont
1hls Own was averltable 'i9er, and when
the gold discoveries made California famous
the rush here was immense AWAY lack in
the sos IL polled 1,S00 votes the third
Lrgest vote of any city i'll the Sta,c, only
San Francisco ami Sacramento leading il
The population receded after tho subsi.
denc. o. the gold fever untll in 1880 IL
was l 300, since which time it has taken
new START and steadily increased until the
town now numbers, us already ated,
=, Duo, There We're a5 one time 5000 Chi
nose here. and there are still q few hun
dred scat cred about but Oroville is now a
business city, instead of n mining camp,
the County Seat of Butte Comfy, and
the center of II wonderfully thriving agri-
cultural and citrus country For miles
about The city the ev dences remain OF
pl Ger mining, but there is more "pay drt"
now In oranges and other products than in
mining. The banks OF Feather river are
still wonderfully rich, but hydraulic mining
has been stopped by law in the interest OF
commerce andagrlculture, as it fills up and
destroys the streams The time was when
boats ran to Oroville from San Francisco,
but to see the mining debris in Feather nv
or Tor wnere the river used to be) one
can scarcely imagine such q state of af-
fairs. There are still valuable working
mines in Butte County, but, on the
usual California scale of big things, this
county is larger than Rhode Island and
well up towards the zs of New Jersey, SO
that there is room, outside OF Oroville, for
gold mining and still keep with N the
county After extracting literally millions
of dollars of gold from the ground, the ctl-
zens OF this county have now discovered
that untold millions still remain, in the
shape OF II soil which is so versatile that 1t
produces every thing, ranging from grain
10 nuts, and from fruit to gold. Though
this Is central, and not rs popularity sup
posed Northern California, it is only within
few years that the people have become
aware that citrus fruits could be produced
here equal 10 any an superior 10 most
Orange trees were few years ugo quite
generally planted in door-yards as an orna-
ment, because they are evergreens, and
thus by accident, after n few years passed,
the people found that they did not know
their own resources TIE orange trees
began 10 bear until they become loaded
down, and as one goes about the city in
this tby. the calendaD winter season
the luscious ripo fruit greets you OH
every hand, Notwithstanding the immense
amount that has been plucked for the ex-
hibit This result has proven revelation,
and now, scattered all through the county,
orange groves are heng established and In
many cases nre well advanced. In fact,
they claim $4,000 full hearing trees and
10000 more well along towards bearing,
within a radius of twelve miles OF this city
As the county only has 10000 population,
and this includes business men, laborers,
miners and farmers, Us well as fruit grow
ers. and land is cheap, there ia no wonder
that they expect 10 transform the old min
ing camp into u vast orange grove. As ten
acres of well cultivated orange grove af-
fords a sp endtd income, they claim that
there is room for 100000 more people In
th.. f.,0