Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-21
THE NEW DAMASCUS.
The Growing BIg Town OF tn,
HAPPY WILEY.
special Correspondence oil the HERALD
OAN RrnnAnnISn Mau 10 1899

l-pecial Correspondence OF the HERALD
SAN BERNARDiSo, May 10, 1888.
This town is often called the Damas-
Gus Of the West because, as the traveller
in the East wandering across the deserts
OF Arabia and Syria comes upon Damas-
Gus, so in the old days before the rail
roads, the overland immigrant toiling
acro.s the arid Moiave desert, entered
through the Cajon pass into the beauti-
ful valley OF San Bernardino. Damascus
was guarded by the Anti-Libanus noun
tains, and San Beri arlino is guarded by
the Sierra NJ idre range; the river Bar
rada watered and made green the gardens
of Damascus, and the Santa Ana River
carries life and fertility to the valley Of
San Bernardino. The similtude is, there
( re, a most perfect one.
The town OF San Bernardino is pleas
ant to look upon and the activity Of its
people is a surprising transition from less
than decade ago when "San Berdoon"
and Sleepy Hollow were synonymous
terms. In fact the street.-The Of this
teeming town is its most striking and at
tractive feature. From morn till morn
the streets are never entirely deserted,
and by day the lively how Of human
kind suggests good times and abundant
prosperity. / think every nationality
under the sun is represented in this
town and as becomes its climate there ia
dash enough Of native Californians tc
make picturesque the passing show OF
"Englishmen and Fiench,
Germans, Dutch and Danish,
Chaitering Chinese,
Portuguese aud Spanish
Men of every nation,
Birds of every feather,
Honest men and roguts,
/ Hustled up together
II the names of the Mormon agents
Lyman and Rich, who began the colony
of San Bernardino in 1852, could mater
ialize they would turn green with envy
at seeing the outcome OF their origina
plan. They would look in vain for th,
old adobe dwelling and would find il
their places substantial gbusiness-hous uses
and attractive residences. The buIdin,
! boom of San Bernardino, at its highest
/ perhaps, year ago, is not yet over, mol
{ is there any apparent reason why th,
: growth OF the town should not continu
at more than normal rate for man,
years to come. There is one patent rea
son why it should.
San Bernardino county comprises
j vast territory containing 23,476 sqrar
2 miles or Is, ,024 $40 acres, or more tina
the area OF the States of Rhode Island
a Massachusetts,, Delaware, New Jerse
and Connecticut combined. 1t is th
a largest county in the State OF California
, and within its area embraces variety c
!, soil, climate, and typographical feature
as diversified as California itself. Wit
, all this great territory looking to tn
city of San Bernardino as center an
= distributing point-sith this great are
: rich in fertile farms and citru
: groves, and minerals, the centrs
0 town must grow proportionately wit
Los Angeles, to which, necessarilyit mus
s always remain tributary. Chicago ha
O its Oshkosh, Detroit its Kalamazoo, Me-
!. York City its Gowanus Bav and Los An
;, geles will always have its lively and pros
= porous Damascus.
" Among the new and fine building
. which now adorn San Bernardino two al
- hotels, the Stewart House, aud the s.
% Charles Hotel The former is one of th
" most perfect structures for hotel pul
q poses in South California. 1t is for
+. stori s in height and is built of presse
l. brick with stone and metal trimming
If The appointments OF the hotel al
superb, the fare the very best and as
guarantee OF its excellence it is under tn
management of NJ. F. Thompso
= whose fame as hotel man
i known from the Atlantic to the Pacifi,
d The Courier, with Arthur Kearney {
y the helm. guards the Dem cracy of Sa
Bernardino.' The Party OF the People
- not SO much in the majority here as it
l. in some other towns, but it is big enoug
. to win. A careless friend, looking ov,
e my shoulder as write, has just r.
!, Il marked; "Having Democratic majo
Il ity you need not tell the HERALD reader
: that San Bernardino is not prohibitio
town" MARINER.