Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-11-30

the valleys and lowlands would be either
prostrated on beds of sickness or else
dead. They came to the settlement as
last chance, and as one Of the individuals
referred to said to the HERALD man it
seems as if each has got new lease OF
life. But it is not as sanitarium alone
that Hesperia waves her hand to the
home-seeker. She has land as rich, as
fertile and as capable of great things as
any spot in the world, and what is
more there is lots of it, for the
company in charge has 10000
acres unst Id and on the market.
The soil is rich, yellowish-red loan OF
from one to eight feet deep, beneath
which is clay formation that must by
no means be mistaken for hardpan tor
it is as capable of nourishing roots as the
ground above. A good portion OF this
princely domain has Yuccas. scattered
here and there, but this is rather an ad-
vantage than detriment, for on being
cut down and sun dried they make excel
lent fuel. Juniper trees also abound
throughout the tract and the frontiers
man will attest how valuable this wood
/ is when fire is needed.
THE HISTORY OF HEsPERIA.
1t is about three years since the atten-
ton of Los Angeles CAPITALISTS was drawn
to this section cf the country. Before
any active steps were taken thorough
investigation was made of the surround
| ings and the result was 80 satisfactory
that a syndicate was formed and incorpo-
rated with a capital stock of $4 ,000,0 900
1t is unnecessary to pass any comments
on the directors of the organization.
Their financial standing, business abili-
ties and determination of purpose are so
we'll known that all will admit that when
they interest themselves in any project
it will go ahead, and with rapid strides,
too. Their names are Ex- Mayor E. F..
Spence, President First National Bank
of Los Angeles Major George II. Bone
brake, President of Los Angeles National
Bank; Mr.. F. G. Howes, Cashier of
Los Angeles National Bank; Mr.. H. L..
Macneil, formerly Cashier of Los An
geles County Bank; Mr.. R. M. Widney,
President of University Bank of Los An
geles; Mr.. G. Ganahl, of the Schallert
& Ganahl Lumber Company; Messrs. S.
H. Mott and VIM. Fl. Perry, of Perry &
Mott Lumber Company; Mr.. j. M. DA-
vies, OF Davies & Anderson Lumber
Company; DIR. w. L. Wills; G. H. Duns-
moor, County Clerk, Los Angeles county.
The first act Of the company was to de-
eide on some means of obtaining
water, not only for the proposed
townsite, but for the entire colony.
Judge Widney took the matter in hand,
and the result was that he reported that
by constructing ditch from the head
waters cf the Mojave river around the
side of granite mountain for distance
four miles, to a point about seven miles
from the center of Hesperia sufficient
water could be obtained to supply all the
water that the colony would need for irri-
eating and domestic purposes. 1t was
| big undertaking, involving the expendi-
ture of very many thousands Of dollars,
but it was decided upon and to-day
Judge Widney can point with pride to
his achievement, for it is one of the
| finest pieces Of work on the continent.
| The HERALD man went over every foot
of it on Wednesday. From the spot
where the ditch commences to catch the
river to the point where, at an altitude
OF 394 feet above the surrounding level,
it discharges into pipe line
it is marvel Of engineering
skill. The water is brought round
rocky cliffs that before the ledge
was cut must have looked almost impas-
| SdUlc, duu 81 well 10 IL tIldu
not one drop Of water is lost by seepage
throughout its entire four miles of length
It carries enough water to fully supply
bring upon it, and by an admirable sys-
tenn of filterage empties into a IA inch
pipe, which conveys the water through
the lands of the company in such a man
ner that whenever tract is sold the
fnr ha or 1xy1 1or
pipe enters into large reservoir about
at the present time, stored up enough
pure cold water to supply three or four
| towns.
THE CITY OF HEsPERIA
is laid off on the west side of the rail
road track, and in addition to good
hotel, store, postoffice and Wells Fargo
Office, contains number of residences
which are scattered about the well
graded streets. Everything is there
to make a busy place in the
not very distant future. Plenty of
good water piped to every lot, fuel in
abundance, rich soil and a surrounding
country that there is no reason should
not one day be one OF the most prosper
GUS parts of California. There is not the
slightest indication of alkali visible any,
where, and the residents claim that any
crop will grow and flourish. Expert
ments made with vines 60 to prove that
the land is excellently adapted for the
grape, and number of orange and fruit
trees are being planted, with every indi-
cation of success. The scribe never
passed day in more pleasant manner
than the one he spent in riding and driv-
ing about Hesperia, and it was brought
to a pleasant conclusion by
A TRIP TO VICTOR.
| The journey was made on a hand-car,
as the regular trains had all passed by,
and merry party it was that jolted down
grade in charge of the section foreman
aud couple of saturnine. looking Chi
nese. Los Angeles should be greatly
interested in what is going on at Victor,
for from that place comes the curbing
that is being put on the streets, and also
the granite blocks that are going down
on First street, in front of the Downey
block and other parts of the city. The
supply is practically inexhaustible.
Solid mountains of granite, divided by
the waters of the Mojave, rise on either
side of the railroad track, and the quar-
ries, being thus situated, can be easily
handled. About forty men were hard at
work drilling and hammering when the
scribe looked over the property, and this
force will aooD have tn ha loroalu ~