The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-09-04
California Correspondence.
AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM AN
OLD TINE ALEXANDRIA
BOY.
NIsALIA, CAL,
Aug. &c, 1889. J
Editor Deu,0crnf-

VI ~ AN'hC tio ttd!hC VI SUitlul iIld
has been heralled throughout the civ
ilized world, and information concer
ming the golden land eagerly sought
for both at home and abroad. Blu,
the opening up of the Southern coun.
try by the completion of the A. It. &
S. +. Railroad to Los Angeles and
San Diego, and the consequent boom
as yon know has operated to great,
quicken this interest, particularly in
the Northern and Eastern States, where
the greatest dream of bliss is home
in a land freed from the icy fangs OF
Winters jaw. But other causes have
operated to reach and interest the
South as well, until her interest in onl
fiowery land has also largely increased
The result of all this has been the
spread through private sources and
the public press much that is false
The truth is always good enough, and
particularly does it apply in our case
and believing a few lines ia this strain
to be of some interest to old friends
and readers of the DEMOCRAT gener.
ally, an ex-deyil of the Office comes
to the front.
| have no Ratchet and cherry tree
incident to point to in support of my
veracity but l am an ex-devil of the
Office, and a native of Alexandria, and
that to me is enough. But to my sub.
jcct California is land of gold
silver, climate, fruit and flowers; the
rarest roses blooming alike in July
and December. And the sources OF
wealth are many and varied. The
pine and red wood forests of the noun.
tains, the fisheries of the coast, the
minerals, fruit, stock and grain and
equitable climate of the valleys and
ocean front, are all sources of income,
all of which perhaps, no other one
State enjoys. But with all this, Cali
fornia is over done, and the days OF
the poor mans harvest are passed;
and it is my opinion that most any
State in the Union is better for him
than this. The extended advertise.
ment We have received led thousands
to suppose all they had to do was to
come here and pick up gold with thei,
fingers, and lay on the ocean and sing
to the waves. The result has been
that most of these people sold their
all in the East, and coming here cx.
pecting to~lnake fortune, to-day find
themselves without money or work
and suffering for the needs of life
And every avenue of work seems sc
crowded that the immediate future is
as dark as is the present. And taking
advantage of the situation corporation.
have reduced wages generally, leaving
him that has employment with higl
prices all around, and small wages tt
meet them.
But much of California remains t,
be developed, and for capital there i;
no better field for investment in til,
Union Much of the soil remains t,
lie cultivated, many mines to b,
opened, factories to he started, etc.
and when this is done the surplus la
Dor can be utilized and an opening
made for more. Nor should the mar
of moderate means he discouraged
With little money and brains ant
muscle, his prospects are good. Lane
i , this vicinity is selling all the wa,
f ON twenty to fifty dollars per acre
a ID is good investment at such pri
COS. Indeed, tue fertility is some
thing wonderful, and is probably onl,
eqaalled by the number of unoccnpiee
aces. THIS valley, in which / live
is called the San Joaquin Valley. l
is about four hundred miles long par
alol with the coast line, and about twt
hundred miles wide, possessing som,
of the finest land in the State, ant
settled but sparsely. OF course, it il
owned largely in bodies of thousands
of acres, but is selling at prices indi
Gated.
As the settlement increases price!
will follow and render good returns tt
the purchaser of the present. W.
have only one railroad through this
great Valley, but several more arr
projected and will be built as the in
crease in products demand. Onr towl
is the oldest in the valley, is the coun
ty seat of Tnlan county, and might,
pretty place, filled with tall trees, ant
pretty girls, with the lofty Sierrs
mountains looming up to the East, ant
the broad Tulare plains to the West
and deep blue sky smiling over all
Our land here is good. We are nea
the forests and mines of the mountains
and fertile plains that stretch to thu
coast range Oil the West. We ar,
connected with the Southern Pacifi'
railroad by two branch lines, runnin!
to Tulare and Goshen. Our people
are thrifty aud happy, aud our futur
is as rosy as one could wish. If yo'
ever come to California, come to vi
salia first. 1t is the place to start from
even if other parts of the State shoull
afterwards claim your attention.
J. Z. BAILEY.
Watch these columns carefully
for Bauer Il Wells sledgc hammer
are at work are at every plank higl