Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-01-16
CALIFORNIA PIONEERING.
Experiences OF a Kennebec Woman on
the Pacific Coast

Experiences OF Kennebec Woman on
the Pacific Coast
Through the kindness of one of our Au-
| gusta ladies we are permitted to print several
abstracts from private letter, dated at West
Fall Brook, Cal. Jan. l. 1855. This town
or village is in the very southern part of that
State, and is one of the more recently estab-
| Iished places. In all its principal character
| isties it is like other Western villages. Ii is
the result partly of land speculation and its
scrub growth attests the partial failure of the
scheme. There may be sufficient in the ex-
perience of this Kennebecker to some what
| dampen the ardor of any who may have a
Western fever, and long for the balmy
chimes of Southern California:
1t is most beautiful day the sun shines
| brightly and the birds are singing. Most of
! the people have gone TO church with their
| light wraps on, but TO those not accustomed
TO it, the winds which blow of suow-clad
mountains, are cold. The nights are a horror
to me. they are so chilly and the beds get SO
cold, that had almost soon walk into the
Z
night after so pleasant day this. 1t takes
me two hours to get warm before going TO
sleep. The result is have a cold nearly all
the time and Friday was so feverish that
sent for a physician. All days are not ike
this however. Since came here there has
| been frost-enough TO inJure the heliotrope
and people have been worried about their
oranges. There has been a terrible wind and
sand storm, and there has never been more
illness in the place than at present. great
many cases are remittant fever and the doctor
says that he has found symptoms of malaria
in some cases "a thing entirely unknown here
until this fall.
This being new place people have not
begun TO raise very many things to eat and as
they are a long distance from large market,
they can't buy much except canned goods so
they eat canned fruit, canned vegetables,
canned oysters, which by the way taste like
chips, canned beef, etc | have eaten so
much canned stuff that feel as though my
whole internal economy was turned into a
tin can. The people with whom | am board
ing are SOutherners and of course, live mostly
on pork or bacon" Mr.. NJ. saws he thinks
pig meat is the only kind of meat fit to eat
80 we have fried pork, fried potatoes, hot
biscuit, coffee and jelly for breakfast; fried
pork, mashed potatoes, cold bread, strong
butter and jelly for dinner; and potatoes
warmed over, dry bread butter and jelly,
and fried pork for supper. Two or three
times they have obtained the choicest cut of
beefsteak and fjted it in pork fat
until it was more like an old boot sole and
then mine host would say. I'm afraid faint
cooked huff yet; beef wants to be cooked
purity we'll" | haven't sat down to well
cooked and decently served meal since | left
| = ri 70
| be had and for almost week rybody
went without very few people keep cows as
| yet.
| | have found that a great many of the
Eastern people here are from Kansas
thin, bilious, sallow, and lank this place is
a gathering together of the manned and the
halt, for almost without exception they have
come for their health" and half of them
are so homesick that it seems as though they
would die" There are three doctors and
six ministers in town, all here for the benefit
of somebody's health. Two of the ministers.
are settled over the two churches and the
others are hanging around to get well.
! Two of the physicians run drug store and
visit the sick when Called they have one
queer way of gathering in the quarters
| When any one goes to the store for medicine
no matter how simple, they make out regu
]
both prescription and medicine. Practicing
medicine here is quite easy, for the usual i'll
ness is fever and the usual remedy is quinine.
| had to take it, of course, when | was ill,
and now | have a chime of bells in each ear
and train of cars running round and round
my head If | find that | have to take
quinine to keep free from fever, shall start
for home as soon as possible. | had rather
freeze to death than have such pains in my
head.
There are many buildings being erected.
Several older residents are fixing up
their houses. The pigs are put in
pens now; they weren't when came here.
The new hotel is large one and d great
addition to the appearance of the place. At
the old hotel, all the dish water is poured
out at the back door and it runs along side
the house, across the foot of the street walk
and settles in the street in front of the hotel.
1t keeps the place thoroughly wet all the
time that people passing on that side of
the street have to step over it, Yet could
you see the paper published here, you would
think the place a sanitary paradse-but ii
isn't, by any means. Ii is like other new
places, though perhaps not favorably
situated in many ways. In one respect there
is great disadvantage communication
with the outside world is very inadequate.
The railroad runs through a canon and four
years ago it was washed out during a heavy
rain; the people could not get anywhere nor
have any supplies sent in, and before the
road was repaired they were reduced to
grinding wheat and corn in their coffee mills. |
| am fast making up my mind to live within |
haling distance of somewhere.