The record-union., 1892-06-08
THEIR VERDICT.
First of the Expressions of the Late
Editorial Visitors.
An Indiana Paper On This State-Its
Impressions OF Fresuo-Gener-
Gus and Truthful Words.


from great number of letters and
editorials in Eastern journals. repre-
rented III the late editorial VISITATION. the
! RECoRD-UNIoN makes extracts As =
rule the letters are long and deal LARGELY
/ III details, statistics, descrintions of
scenery, farming, orchards, VINEYARDS.
soils, business, etc. OF necessity. there
/ fore, we omit those parts treating of facts
familiar to our people, and give nara
graphs mainly rejecting the verdict of
! the visitors.
LLaFayette qnd.) Evening Call
In looking back over the events of the
/ past week, We are at a loss for words in
which 10 do justice TO the generous hos
pItaiity which we have experienced since
the very day we entered California.
( The course of the Itinerary has been a
+ tnumphal progress, as it were-a regular
ovation; and the people OF each place
visited have We'd with every other in
thoughtful generosity.
At Fresno there seemed to be no lack
OF good hotels and restaurants, ready to
serve tirst-claSs meals at reasonable rates.
! 1he people placed conveyances at our
disposal for drive through the VINEYARDS
ana orchards surrounding the city, and
WHich occupied the time up TO noon very
delightfully."-.
AT FRESNO.
Fresno was to US wonderful surprise.
! Fifteen Years ago the vast expanse which
| is now converted into growing yineyard
was bare sheep ranch; the bare, dry land
! apparently valueless except for sheep pas
| turage, and not very good even for that
We drove through miles and miles of
bearing vineyards, which, eight years
ago, when we last passed through, was
pare sheep ranch. The transformation
wrought by the application of water to
the light and sandy California soil is
simply wonderful. Fresno itself has
grown, IN those eight years, from scat
terlng village to a beautiful city of 1000
people, with public buildings, stores
which would be creditable anywhere, and
an opera-house and banquet-hall which
are considerably ahead OF anything La
Eayette can afford. 1t is hard to make an
Eastern mind entirely understand the
lmmenSIty of some of these California
counties; this one Of Fresno, for instance.
IMMENSELY.
| 1t comprises S,093 square miles, or
nearly 5,2jO,000 acres of land, it's eastern
! boundary line being the summit of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and it's western
! the summit of the Coast Range of mount
aims. Its southern boundary is the Kings
| River, and thence it extends northward
about sixty miles, comprising within
| itself all the elements OF great State, not
!
resources. To comprehend the dimen-
sIOns of county in California one must
first get an idea of the magnitude of Cali
| iornla. The State stands next to Texas
IN superficial area, but ranges through
many more degrees of latitude, from the
Sd degree to the 42d, occupying on the
| Pacific relatively the same position that
the States do lying between the northern
| boundary of New York and the southern
boundary OF South Carolina.
LENGTH AND BREADTH.
The width of the State at the north is
2l6 miles, and the extreme width from
! east to west 235 miles. The extension
from north to south is $50 miles. A di-
rect line from the northwest corner of the
| State to Fort Yuma, being the longest
| line in the State, is $50 miles. a direct
line from San Francisco to San Diego
measures 45l miles. San Diego lies 25S
! miles south and 225 miles east Of San
| Francisco. Cape Mendocino, the most
westerly point in the State, is So miles
| west OF San Francisco and IS5 miles north.
! 1t will be seen by these figures that Cali
! fOrnia is considerable of a State, compris-
ing l64,9Sl square miles.
BIG STATE.
It will make four States as large as
! New York, which has a population of
nearly 100000. 1t will make five States
the size OF Kentucky, which has popuia-
! ton of 100000. 1t will make twenty
| four States the size of Massachusetts.
/ having population of 1905 900. 1t has
! an area of IA times as large as Rhode
! Island. 1t is nearly twice the size of
! Italy, is one and half times greater than
| Great Britain and Ireland, and but little
smaller than Austria. California com
| priSes almost exactly as much territory
as Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Island, New York, New Jersey, Dele
ware, Maryland, the District of Column
! bia and Virginia combined.
LARGE COUNTIES.
Fresno County is larger than the State
| OF Massachusetts or New jersey. four
times as large as Rhode Island. Califor-
| MA is indeed country of magnificent
! distance. The county is large enough
! to support population Of half a million
people. It has now about g, 600 popula-
| ton. The transformation which has been
wrought within the last decade suggests
! the infinite possibilities Of the next when
! the whole OF this vast empire shall be de-
| yeloped as is the little portion lying inn
mediately around the town. They are so
/ tremendous as to battle thought and
| bCggar description.
FRESNO INDUSTRIES
! The great industries of Fresno County
/ are the production of raisius and wine.
! although there is a great deal of wheat
| and other grain produced, and of fruits
I
| morning was through these VINEYARDS
with stops at three Of the best-Mr. But
/ ler's fruit farm, the Eggers and the Bar
! ton vineyards and wineries They were
/ all keeping open house." and we were
I received and entertained at Mr. Buffers
| place especially where we saw something
| of tho family life, IS we did not at the
| other places with courtIy hospitality
! which carried one back in mind to the
| Southern plantation life Of the slave
! period before the war, which in so many
other respects the life Of these fruit
| plantation owners resembles.
DRAWBACK.
This is the great drawback to all Cali
| fornia life-the lands are so largely in the
hands Of the few, capitalists or CORPORA
| tious, who hold them in great tracts. and
! the men who do the cultiyating have no
direct interest in the product. The be-
| ginning of the end Of this state OF affairs
! is at hand, however; the lands are being
divided up more and more into small
! holdings, and hOme-owners and fruit-
| farmers of twenty acres or so are becom-
/ ing more numerous. And So there ia
! good reason for the confidence, and more
than hope, with which the people of this
wonderful and undeveloped country look
forward to the opening future.
OFF AGAIN
! After the carriage drive the guasts ae
sembled in the handsome Barton Onera
! house TO cool of, ana here the formal re-
| ception took place, with a few short
| speeches from gentlemen representiup
/ the city and the association after which
an adjournment w&s taken to the Rartou
| Hall, adjoining, where tables were ar