The Newtown bee., 1890-05-09
TRUMBULL.

One of our towns people, now on
siX-weeks' trip to California and back by
way of Salt Lake City and Chicago, has
sent letters to friends here. extracts from
which might be of interest to some of the
readers of the BEE:
Las Vegas, Hot Springs, New Mexico-We
are at the Montezuma hotel for the first rest
we have taken. We have travelled very fast
and sleeping in Il car is very much like sleep
ing in a threshing machine when in motion.
This place is about 1000 feet above the level of
the sea and it has only rained four days in the
past eight months. The air here is dry and
said to be very healtbful. We had
ventful ride through Missouri and Illinois. At
Kansas City, we were taken about the city by
the superintendent OF the Car Co. and we rode
for two hours on the cable roads, OF which
there are l6S miles, a feature of this place.
The city is built on the bluffs, the ascents
are very steep Since then, we have been rid
ing over Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico,
mostly dead level. To-day, we passed
through the great cattle and sheep ranch
country and saw immense herds of cattle and
iocks of two three thousand sheep. In
many places were the carcasses of the Door
cattle that have died on the plains of starva-
ton. We have seen lots of prairie dogs, adobe
houses, Mexican dug-outs, burros and mount
aims. Tomorrow, we intend to try the mud
baths given here and, perhaps, shall ride on
the burros. The burro is little donkey but
very strong and there are lots of them here.
One could be bought for SO. but it would cost
$50 to send him home.
Pasadena, Cal.-IfI should place Paradise
instead of Pasadena at the head of my letter.
it wonld be nearer right have never before
been in such lovely place. Yesterday and
before.
Mojave pronounced Mohave) desert which is
a vast waste of sand, about $50 miles across
and stretching for hours along endless levels.
Nothing but sage bush grows and sometimes
nothing but sand and rock can be seen. 1t was
very warm and so dusty that we had to keep
the car windows down, and even then the
sand penetrated everywhere. But when this
morning came and we arrived here, we felt as
the hymn says, ave are nearer Heaven to-day
than ever we have been before" feel as if
it was extravagant to even sleep in this place.
The hotel is very fine and the grounds are like
an immense conservatory of all kinds oftrop-
ical plants and flowers. The roses are as large
as peonies, heliotrope grows in trees, orange
trees are loaded with fruit and also in bloom
and You can imagine the perfume There are
hedges three yards wide of lilies (calla1 roses,
geraniums, enormous cacti, century plants,
passion flowers. everything you can imagine,
only you cannot imagine the quantity and the
beauty. East, south and north are mountain
ranges for background to this Garden of
Eden. The peaks of the highest are covered
with snow, but looks soft and feathery at the
top like clouds and, they slope down the
valley, are cololed with the loveliest messy
green. There fences nothing but
hedges to separate the beautiful villas and
these hedges are made of such common things
as Gala lilies, roses, palms, etc. We drove
one day to Roses Winery, where the Califor-
mia wines are made. There are 1900 acres i'm
one vineyard. Other parts of the ranch have
orange. lemon, apricot, English walnut and
other trees. There are $1,000 acfes i'm all and
5000 acres. including the Winery, were sold to
an English syndicate for 81, 100000 There are
such beautiful roses here. One place we drove
through is called Rosenbaum and it has 800
varieties OF roses. We saw bushes everywhere
that must have had 5000 or 1000 roses on.
San Francisco, April 20, ls90.-Here we are
at the Palace hotel. We came here yesterday
from Santa Barbara and found the hotel full
to overlooking. There are 900 people here.
Santa Barbara is on the seacoast and there
piazza of the hotel was a rose tree so large
that you could climb it and grape vine 81
inches around the trunk and bearing five tons
| of grapes per year. We cannot visit the Yos-
emite valley, as it is full of snow. So we shall
not see the big trees. We shall remain here
| about a week and then go to Monterey, Salt
Lake City, Denver. Colorado Springs, Chicago.
/ etc, then home.