Morning journal and courier., 1889-09-09
THE SIERRA mADREs.

Among the silent Mountains-Down
 the Beautiful San Bernardino Val
 ley - Former New Haveners met
 There - ReaIands Visited - F. K. !
 Brown and J. E. Judson, Two Con.
 necticut Boys Who Have Done Some
 Notable Work - other Connecticut |
 Boys-Grand Scenes and Scenery. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Since last we wrote you we have been up | among the Sierra Madre mountains, out Of l reach of even telegraphic communication. Leaving Los Angeles with its roses and ole- anders, date and fan palms. graceful pepper trees and all it's wealth of beauty, we enter the San Bernardino valley and soon reach Pasadena, with it's orchards and vineyards At Riverside we met MT. Joseph T. Mans- Mansfield, formerly with F. 5; Bradley Go. We pass the night at the home.like Glenwood Hotel, and next morning drive through Magnolia avenue, nine miles in length, lined with orange orchards, lemon and peach orchards and vineyards. From this city come the famous Riverside lemons. Nineteen years of culture show how prohta- ble orange growing may become, ss some groves of that age last year yielded $S,VVo1 per acre. In San Bernardino we meet MT. E. A. Holt, who dozen years ago was the bookkeeper in the Second National bank. This city has now population of o,OOO or 5000, and is a charming place. vieing with Riverside. Here are giant palms and cactl, hedges of calla lilies and century plants. In this semi-tropioal climate the century plant blooms in twelve years, at the end Of that time sending up tall shaft with it's blos- soms and then yielding it's life. We saw one such over thirty feet in height, four -ffths of which was comprised in the blossom stalk, grown in six weeks.
 Just south of San Bernardino is Colton, famous for it's marble quarries. At Red- lands we leave the railway and prepare for our journey into the mountains. Many New Haven and West Haven people have made this city their home, and although 1t has been incorporated but two years, when hard ly dozen houses were there, it now num- bers about 1, 400 inhabitants. Here we meet Mir. F. E. Brown, s. s. s. '76, stirring business man and former West Havener, who with his partner, Mayor B. G. Judson, have in conjunction with R. J. Waters, Esq, who surrendered his lucrative Chicago law prac- tice to join hands with them, done much to develop this the most delightful and fertile spot in tho whole valley.
 I At the depot MT. Irwin P. Doolittle, late of Westville, is awaiting us and we are driven l ward A. Futile, s. s. s. "A; also good West Haven man. Here we also meet Mir. Walter o. Butler, s. s. s. '76, who asks | many questions about his old New Haven home and friends. We rest in Redlands @ | day and enjoy being driven among tRe re-
 nowned Navel orange groves and Muscat grape vineyards, both largely profitable. Redlands is nearly 1,50O feet elevation, and | the drives over it's gently sloping hillsides are in strong contrast to the levels on which are built the other cities of the valley. I Another advantage is that the higher attitude l gives freedom from frost and ensures the safety of orange, grape, lemon, peach, lime, | fig and apricot raising.
 ! In our drives we see the umbrella tree, the Eucalyptees or Australian blue gum, the cy-
 press, the msguey plant, Spanish dagger, | Yucca tree, castor bean, pampas grasses,
 banana plants, rubber trees, pomegranite and all the other trees and flowers we have
 mentioned previously.
 Next morning we are off early and drive twelve miles up Mill Creek canon to Thur mans. Here we halt for dinner and are the Riverside Water company. We leave the | wagon here and mount burros or mountain csnaries," as they are oftimes termed from
 their discordant bray, and our jolly and pie 1 turesque cavalcade sets out on it's ten mile
 climb to Lewis camp, where we are to rest for the night.
 Through deiles, rocky canons, along the mountain side our patient, slow moving, sure footed little beasts carry us until ws gain the mountain crest at an altitude of | {, 900 feet. Here we halt to rest for few moments and drink in the landscape (slso
 absorb little rattlesnake antidote). On our right is Mt. San Bernardino, Il, 500 feet high, and beyond is old Greyback, 800 feet taller I yet, on whose bare summit no vegitation grows, and the snow can yet be seen in drifts here and there. Now we descend the oppo- site slope, 1,050 feet to Lewis' camp at
 "Seven Oaks' in the valley of the Santa Ana | canon, ride which for beautiful scenery is I-- -T1r ry-1s
 fornia.
 At the "Seven Oaks" during the summers
 there is usually quite settlement of campers | In pretty grove of alders and oaks, between
 the mountains and the Santa Ana river, is (
 cluster of cabins which form the hostelry o1
 Lewis and Townsend. One is sure here of { ! good supper, an entertaining host and bee
 on which his tired bones can rest after hit
 shaking up on burro's back, while the sound | of the dashipg mountain torrent will lnll hin to sleep. At seven o'clock the morning fol
 lowing, after a hearty breakfast of steak
 trout and quail, we are again on burrobacl for a sharp climb of 2, GOO feet more over thu
 range to Bear Valley. Up we go, startling
 the birds, squirrels and jack rabbits, whicl latter animals one of our party calls ''narrov gague mules." Then we wend our way down the trai l amid snow plant, wild eolumbine and tai ! pines till the blue waters of Bear Valley lak | meet OuE eye, ueStlluR lar uOWu DGlOW ue ! We reach the lake which is about five mile long and a mile wide, and turn our burro , loose at the dam, whose arched back restrain , this large water supply, which entiches tn
 Valley of San Bernardino and irrigates it
 orange orchards. There are row and sail , boats on the lake and comfortable hotel After dinner we row up the lake two mile or more, where Thurman meets us with tn burros and we reclmb the range and reaol Lewis again at 6 p. m. and round the blaz & ing camp fire after our hunger is appeased 1 recall the incidents and abilities of the day. Next day we make the climb by burr proxy to Mountain House, $500 feet amop
 the sugar pines, many of them 150 feet tai | and bearing great cones Q foot i'll length, ant
 leave the burros in the valley below at noon 2 have dinner, get into the wagon again an drive to Redlands. Our mountain expedition | is ended. We have driven 24 miles and rid
 den 40 miles more in three days, climbe
 tall mountains, had many laugh, and song 2 l and story, and been amid wild and beautiful , scenery in glorious weather, bright skies m i | the best of good fellowship. At Lewis, at a. m. the morning we left there, the ther
 mometer indicated 4So; in the afternoo
 when we reached Redlands it stood at 9C ,. but the air was dry and pure, no humidity. i AS soon as the sun sets, the heated air i 3 the valley rises and the cooler mountain si 5 descends to fill the vacuum. and the night
 in Redlands are simply perfect. In the COG
 starlight we sit and talk and smoke on on
 of the broad verandas of our friend Futile 4 house, md live the trip over again. Mex ? day we say our goodbye to charming Red g lands and its hospitable citizens, we driv
 about the beautiful streets of San Bernardin
 and there with regrets we take our leave C 4 our kind friends, Doolittle and Butler, wh . have spared no efforts for our comfort an '' pleasure. The California Southern railroa
 ! nt1rv vuou f0 Praaant
 ! Arizona, from where we will write you agair 5 Deovolente. OBSERVER. Fl Daughters of Liberty.
 r Olive Branch council No. 2, D. of L., wi
 give a basket festival entertainment th 5 evening in their rooms in the CouR1E D building. Ladies will bring refreshment |, A new piano will soon be placed in the loda
 room.
 All lovers of running and trotting sheul