Los Angeles herald., 1892-10-17
THE EAST SIDE PARK.
A SPOT AS YET BUT LITTLE VISITED
BY PLEASURE SEEKERS.
Semi-Tropical Shrubbery and Its Adop-
tion in Landscape Gardens.
A Pretty Little
Lake.

The average citizen who goes every
Sunday to the sea beaches of Redondo
and Santa Monica, will not be apt to do
go quite as much when the November
winds begin to whistle about the caves.
There are pretty places nearer home and
the work of the park commissioners has
has begun to turn more than waste OF
rocks and sage brush into beautifully
picturesque parks and gardens.
Located at the head of Alhambra
avenue and four blocks from Downey
avenue, is one of the incomplete lungs
of the city, and when it gets as many
years over its head as the Sixth street
park it will be long way ahead OF the
former in beauty.
The place was barren slope of rock
and adobe two years ago and now it is
fast becoming thing of beauty. Much
water at that place, as a springfield
ouagmire lies at the foot of it which has
been dredged out and excavated into a
Westlake park.
A pretty rustic bridge across the up
per end of it, where little brook pours
from haunt of coot and term" The fall
of this brook is sufficient to supply the
garden with all needed water and yet the
, lake is bank full. The serpentine walks
| through the park are faced with coat
| ing of decomposed granite, and when
! they are f1anked with beds where
1.-THE sward is seen in its emerald green
BY the bright spring tide renewed"
the place will be second to none in the
state for beauty. Even visitors from
San Francisco, full of conscious pride in
Golden Gate park, admit that when the
East Side park is completed nothing
will surpaes it.
The rapid growing trees of the south
continent have come splendidly into
play in this work. The eucalyptus has
not been overdone, as in Golden Gate
park, and most other botanical gardens
in this state. There is just enough
of it to relieve the eye, and yet
not enough to impress the casual
beholder, with the thought of funeral
sadness, as he beholds these trees hold
ing their leaves and shedding their
bark at the approach of winter. Beside
these are the camphor laurel and kur-
rajong, of New South Wales; the She
oak and verbena gum of Victoria; the
vast tree-ferns of the Dandenong noun
tains; and the ever-beautiful araucarias
of Norfolk island.
There are no boats on the lake as yet.
like those at Westlake park, but the
lover of nature can sit there at sundown
and watch the long phalanxes of chang
ing wild fowls, shooting like cannon
balls through the autumal cleaning.
In the botanical gardens, at Melbourne,
| can be seen hundreds of these birds, at
all seasons of the year, but more par
ticularly in midwinter, accompanied
here and there by black swans, whose
wings have been clipped to keep them
from flying away at the approach of the
season for mating. In year or two
more there will probably be such birds
seen in our parks, for there the crack
of the fowler's gun is never heard.
There are conservatories where there
may be seen the orchids of India, Aus
tralia and Central America in the great
est profusion. There is also the melon
tree of Nicaragua, which bears a fruit
| that resembles squash in appearance,
but tastes like rich canteloupe. Beside
it are tropical ferns of every description
from Australia, India and Egypt; leaf
plants from all parts of the world boro-
Mas from New Zealand, and cacti from
| Mexico. Near these are some boxes in
which the head gardener is sprouting
some Australian boxthorn seed, pre-
sented by the HERALD, in the hope that
the park would some day boast as
gorgeous hedge about it as the world
famous St. Albans farm, near Geelong.
There is no living hedge plant that
eouala If