The Republican journal., 1888-01-19
The Climate Of Southern California

D1 HAElfS ~ lfI-I-1 W NAkNlk.
But it is seldom cold in the Needles and TIE
Mohaye Desert,-a shmmering alkaline waste !:
50 degrees in March. and say l2O to $50 de-
grees in July. 1t does not matter. The few
people in the farapart stat ions live in houses
that have a second detached roof, put on like
the fly of tent; and the heated. dcso!atc pas
sage is proyidential arrangement to lower the
spirits of the traveller to the enjoyment of the
irrigated country recovered from the desert in
Southern California. 1t is a Vcrtable paradise.
as really such as the oasis of Favoum in E@y pt.
Heavens. how the human eye does crave the
green color; how grateful it is for field OF
barley. straight eucalyrtus-trec. vines and
roses cambcring over the hoilSt>. he U>tTous
foliage OF the orange groves starred with globes
of gold. This is paradise. And the climate ::
Perpetual summer {but daily rising in price J
There is no doubt of this when you reach the
San Gabriel; Valley. Pasadena, and Los An-e-
les. Avenues of eucalyptus. pepper. and or
ange trees. two. three, four rows of them. sew
en- and eight miles long; vast plumed fields of
tons beginning to bud; barley fodder thc sub
stitute for hay) well up and verdant: pamet-
tos and other sem-tropical plants, and all the
flowers, and shrubs. and vines. gay, rampant.
vigorous, ever-blooming, in dooryards, gar
dcns, Overrunning trees and hou>os.-Surcly it
bare a>hy hills, but everywhere in the plain is
water, from the unfailing mountain springs,
running in wooden conduits and bitches. You
can buy this water at 50 much an hour. All
you need to buy is climate and watcG-tha land
is thrown in. 1t is warm in the sun.-the
thermometer may indicate 20 degrees: it is
even hot. walking out through the endless Or
angc plantations and gardens that surround
Los Angeles; but there i, a chill the instant
you pass into the shade; you still need Your
winter clothing, and if YOU drive, or ride
| in the grip-cars over the steep hills, YOU re-
qure winter overcoat. The night tenn
perattre throughout California is invariably
in great contrast to that in the daytime
| nearly everywhere fire is necessary at nigh.
the year round, and agreeable nearly all the
year. even in Southern California. | doubt if
it is ever pleasant to sit Out-of-doors or OIL the
piazzas at night. though it may be in the hotter
months, in the southern portion. But it is
| very confusing to the mind Of the ncw-ccmel
| to reconcile his necessity for winter clothing
| to what he sees and almost feels: in short. to
get used to the climate. The invalid i thrown
| of his guard by appearances; and should say
| that there is 10 country in the world where Il
| person needs to use more care about taking
| cold. Yet this must be said: the air is bracino
and life-giving. | did not, in any part of tho
State, in walking or taking any sort of eXcr-
| else. feel the least fatigue. y ''cold'' there
| fore, for a person in ordinary health and con-
| dition. is not the dragging, nearly mortal eX-
perience that it is apt to be in the East. Then
| the crowning advantage of the country. even
! if the climate is treacherous and needs watch
ipg in its effects, is that one can be ou-of-oor>
| all the time, nearly every day in tie year
| Meantime, he can eat oranges. if he is not par
| tlcular about the variety. and set rich selling
prospective or real orange groves to Eastern
| people. But he will never get over the sur
prises and contrasts of the country. We Went
one day, by rail, eighteen miles over the Gentle
| hills, from Los Angeles to its lovely seaport OF
Santa Monica. Fine hotel, charming beach ans
sand bluffs. illimtable Pacific Ocean. 1t wa,
not warm day nor a cold day. Just the ord
nary kind of day to sell Il suppose one
could buy days climate there, or ilai days
or swap of a morning for an afternoon will
| the real-estate broker>.-and every man an,
woman Is a rea.-estate broker). but we wore
thick winter clothing, and carried overcoats
which occasionally We're needed. Yet as many
as seventy-live sane people We're bathing in the
| Pacific Ocean as if it had been August Flow
ers, fruits, summer bathing, and winter over
coats,-you have to get used to it. January
Atlantic,