New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-02-29
San Diego, CAL, Jan. %, 1885

ZUl. ~ 1901, SlU, 100, 4S0.IU.
San Diego, CAL, Jan. %, 1883
Ed. Review;
My last communication was from San
Bernardino, where we stopped but
few days. Before coming here we went
to Riverside, very pretty place of
about six thousand population, some
twelve miles from San Bernardino.
The orange groves around Riverside
are from twelve to fifteen years old,
and this part of the country is fair
sample of what all or the greater part
of southern California will be when as
fully developed. From Riverside we
took drive of some seven miles out on
the famous magnolia Avenue" This
avenue is one hundred and fifty feet
wide with a row of trees through the
centre and a row on either side of the av-
enue, also continuous hedge of ever
greens running the entire seven miles,
trimmed in various styles and shapes
with residence costing from five to
fifty thousand dollars on every live to
forty acres. One would think they were
in some city instead of being in the
country. The trees were so heavily
loaded with the golden fruit that great
many Of the limbs had to be propped
up and then to see in the front yards in
January all the kinds of flowers we in
Minnesota are so careful to put near the
coal stove to keep from freezing, was a
most wonderful sight to behold This
land with bearing fruit trees, is valued
at from fifteen hundred to two'thousand
dollars per acre. They claim to sell
from three to six hundred dollars worth
of fruit from an acre which makes a
very fair return on the amount invest
ed. Other trees yield large return,
for instance, Apricot, Peach, Olive, Eng
lish Walnut, Fig, Banana, Persim-
mons, Lemons etc. The raisin grape is
q source of great profit some of the
finest in the world being raised here
Alfalfa is also raised quite extensively,
from four to six crops a year being tax
en- from the land, yields about two tons
per acre and sells readily at from fif-
teen to twenty dollars per ton (from
Riverside South) three crops of pota-
toes can be raised in q year Their
wheat looks nice, but flour from it
makes most miserable bread, that is for
one who has had for years bread made
from Minnesota hard wheat flour. We
arrived in San Diego the 5th inst. This
is truly a most wonderful city. There
are o number of men here who are mil
lionaires, who made their money here,
and are using it very freely in building
costly residences and substantial brick
blocks. This city has grown from a
mere country village to thirty thousand
in the short space Of three years.
There are two harbors on the Califor-
MIA coast, one at San Francisco, the
other at San Diego and they are six
hundred miles distant from each other
A large amount of San Francisco capt.
tai is invested here in the way of large
stocks Of goods and substantial brick
blocks. The Chadbourn Furniture Co.
of that city are about to occupy a six
story brick block 1OOx1OO. There are
some very heavy wholesale stocks car
ried here in the line of groceries and
hardware. This city has far better
street car facilities than st. Paul or
Minneapolis, no monopoly in this re-
spect here, which is the reason for such
good service. They have steam motor
electric motor and horse cars and are
about to commence building cable
line. Pure water is being brought from
the mountains, forty miles dis
tant at cost of over half a million
dollars. All business streets are or
dered paved with Asphaltum and side
walks laid with either stone OF. cement.
In a few years they will have beauti-
full city. Across the bay the Coronado
Beach Co. have expended one million
dollars in building a hotel, and two
hundred and fifty thousand more in
building docks, motor lines, laying wa
ter pipes and beautifying and improv-
ing the island generally. Coronado
Beach will eventually be the garden
spot of the world. AS to climate, the
winters of Southern California are
about perfect, but am of the opinion
that winter is far preferable to the long
dry summer they always have. This
state has its advantages as well as
advantages, the same as all other coun-
tries under the sun and my advice to
anyone contemplating change would
be to come and reside full year before
deciding. A party of us Gall Minneso.
tians) went out few days since on the
motor to SWeetWater dam, some four
teen miles distant and had an outdoor
picnic. 1t was a lovely Minnesota
June day, about 20 above zero. To-day
we witnessed the laying of the Corner
Stone Of San Diego College at Pacific
Beach six miles distant from here.
C. Ell, Ross