The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1891-07-15
Letter From southern California.
SAN DIEGO, Cal. June 90.

sons in and around Paw Paw i'm regard
to Southern California in general and
the coast i'm particular, and as it would
be simply impossible To write To all, |
would like To use your columns to give
i'm brief some of my observations. Why
1 select the NORTHERNER as "A medium
i'm preference to any other paper there,
is because on that journal, under the
instruction of ). Il. Conway's force, l
received my first lessons in the ''art
preservative;" and as / stand at the case
here, where the breeze of the Pacific
fans my heated brow, my mind oft trav
els back to those days of old lang
syne."
Santa Barbara, where recently spent
about four months, is beautiful sea-
side resort of 5000 inhabitants, nestled
as it were I'm a cave, surrounded on all
sides by high elevation. AS you leave
the steamers deck and pass up State
street you are constantly ascending, and
at the end of four miles travel you will
have reached the summit of the Santa
Ynez mountains, 1000 feet above sea
level. 1t is quaint old Spanish town.
Side by side with the modern American
mansion can be seen here and there the
adobe of some Spanish cabalero, while
from the windows the black-eyed SEN
oritas gaze outward at the passer-by;
and should you deem it worth while to
say Bonita, senorita," you will be re-
warded at least with an enkindling of
the eye and a blush like unto that given
by an artist to an ocean scene at sunset,
described us the ''sun-kissed waves"
that will heighten their charms and
thus well repay your politeness. Flow
ers of every kind and hue adorn the
| l.. 6 Il BOB
roses being in bloom the year round.
Here you find the stately date palm,
the fig, banana, guava, apricot, prune
and other tropical fruits, including the
orange, lemon and even the pineapple,
(the latter growing under glass; along
side the cereals and fruits of the tenn
perate zone. Strawberries can be had
here every month in the year China
men come to your door every morning
with fresh vegetables-a great help and
convenience to housekeepers. There is
only about II degrees variation in tenn
perature here the year round, making
it the most equable of climates. The
scenery around Santa Barbara is grand
and varied-mountain canyon and dell.
A few hours ride brings one into a
sportsman's paradise, where the noun
tain lion revels in the caverns of the
lofty hills, or the speckled trout il; the
dancing waters of the mountain stream,
requiring only a sure shot on the one
hand and patience and good line with
its usual accessories to bag either game.
OF course there is intermediate game,
such as coyote, squirrel, rabbit, snipe,
duck, geese, turkey, etc. Then, too,
the antiquarian finds here vast field
for exploration. Here stands the old
| hill IN,
with its quaint tiled roof and its towers
originally secured i'm place by thongs of
rawhide, but which are now suspended
by bands of iron. Here is the mission
gardens, i'm which, with the exception
of the Princess Louise and the wife of
President Harrison, woman's foot has
never trod, and in each of these instan
ces special dispensatiOn had to be OBJ
tanned. This mission is brought forci
! bly, before the public in Ramona"
Around the mission are the remains of
what was once large adobe village,
over which the priests were wont to
rule with despotic sway, for in those
times their nod was law and none dared
to say them nay.
Lest be too lengthy, | will now pass
down to the wharf, step on board the
Pomona and embark for San Diego,
some 200 miles or more southeast from
Santa Barbara.
After leaving Santa Barbara you pass
along chain OF islands, one of which,
St.Nicholas, is noted as the place where
for twenty long years a woman was left,
with no other inhabitants but the sea
lions and other small animals of the
island, and who, when rescued, could
| ,l..,. h.,f 81
hallooed back to her as the ship in
which she came was driven to sea by a
furious gale. No one could be found
who could converse with her. She died
in Santa Barbara soon after being res
cued. Catalina is the only island in the
chain that is inhabited, and is reputed
to be the place where the early bucca-
neers buried their golden plumber.
An all-night ride and we were i'm San
Pedro, where those going to Los An
geles disembark, and here we had to
wait for flood tide SO as to get over
the bar and out to sea. All day long
we sailed far out of sight of land. DC.
casionally porpoise threw his huge
body out of the water near the steamer,
and now and then flying fish would
dart out of huge billow, relieving the
monotony which always prevails at sea
About p m. we rounded Point LOmer
and entered San Diego bay, the best
anchorage on this coast, excepting only
San Francisco. The bar is three miles
long and has % feet of water over it,
San Diego is a city of 10000 inhabit-
ants. The principal streets are wide
and paved with asphalt. Cable and
horse cars, with belt line running
around the peninsula to Coronado, give
cheap transit to all parts of the city and
to Coronado beach. Here is the famous
Coronado Hotel, TO cover the floors of
which took seven acres of carpeting
The city is lighted by electricity-in
fact it has all the ad iuncts of large
city, and if ii ever RECEIVERS from its re-
lapse as the effect of the boom imitation
the coming citizens will find all the
modern improvements awaiting them
AT present, however, whole business
blocks, three and four stories high,
monuments of architectural beauty, are
tenantless, and palatial hotels without