Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-02-26
DR.. Bentley Writes an Interesting
Letter Regarding His Trip to
Southern California.
He Describes the Country, Its Gus
toms, Its People and Its Pro-
: ducts.
While Reveling in the Luxuries OF
that Tropical Cline He Thinks
of Dakota.
From st. Paul to Los Angeles.

From st. Pau to Los Angeles.
Under date of the 4th inst. DR.. w.
A. Bentley writes from Los Angeles to
to his little daughter Miriam, who is
stopping with her sister, Mrs. Faunce,
during the absence of her parents. Por-
tions of the letter are intensely inter-
esting and will be read with Interest by
all friends of the doctor and others who
contemplate a trip to the modern Eden
southern California. The doctor and
his wife went via the Santa Fe road
which route is represented as the pleas
ATTEST of all routes to southern Califor-
MIA at this season of the year. 1t runs
through magnificent mountain scenery,
the service on the trains is all that
could be asked and every attention is
paid to the comfort of the tourist.
Robt. Macnider, DR.. Bentley's son-in-
law, now lives in Los Angeles and met
the doctor and his wife at the train. The
doctor says Mr.. Macnider owns a small
store and tin shop and is doing we'll.
Will White, an old friend of the doc
tors, is spoken Of. They had not seen
him yet as he lives on a ranch seven
miles from Los Angeles-a fruit ranch
on which he raised twenty-five tons of
apricots last year and cleared 5000 an
acre raising cucumbers for pickles. The
doctor goes on in his description of the
country and the trip as follows:
Everything grows here with tropical
luxuriance in the valley and along the
coast, at the same time snow is in plain
sight and lies deep on the mountain tops
to the north and west. Coming here in
winter seems like going to sleep in a
snowbank and waking in the land of
fruit and flowers. We left St. Paul
Wednesday January 27th-Kansas City
at 1855 Thursday forenoon. The day was
bright and warm. It WAS here we
changed to the sleeper that was to be
our home for almost four days. The after
noon of Thursday we passed out into
Kansas and over the beautiful fertile
prairies, which was the prize for which
, the border ruffains AID free state men
struggled in anti -bellun1 days. The his
tttoric towns of Lawrence, Topeka and
Lecompton, which were household
Names in the early days of
bleeding Kansas were passed during
5he afternoon. During the night and
Friday morning we we're passing down
the valley Of the Arkansas river.
aAfter leaving Kansas the Sante Fe
Route passes through southeastern
colorado, down into New Mexico. I'm
fortunately the places of the most inter-
est were passed in the night. Through
New Mexico, the little towns and
stations were composed mostly of adobe
and the people in sight were mostly
Pueblos, Mexicans and half-breeds.
Friday morning found the weather dark
and gloomy and it continued so until our
arrival in Los Angeles, raining and
sleeting much of the time. We saw
more snow in New Mexico than in st.
Paul when we left, Friday, all day long
the snow appeared to be six or eight
inches deep over the whole country.
Saturday we passed through Arizona,
the most God forsaken, utterly desolate
looking country I ever saw. The
dark, stormy day made it all the
more gloomy, it had been deserts, noun
tains and bad weather ever since we left
sthe Arkansas valley. We began to get
so near California that we thought we
ought to see something green, but the
desolate country was still about us when
we awoke Sunday morning, and the
dark clouds hanging as heavy over us as
on the previous day, weeping apparently
at our discomfort, all the way from drops
to a young deluge.
At 2:55 we we're due at Los Angeles
and the forenoon wss fast passing away.
About II o'clock we commenced seeing
the large tree cactus, or palm cactus
and the country seemed to improve
slightly. Soon we began to descend the
mountain. The country had been 80 DESC
late and the weather so gloomy that the
ladies of the party were quite disconso-
late, nothing green in sight but cactus
growing out of sand and they began to
intimate that California was pretty
much of a humbug. Inside Of three
hours we should be due at Los Angeles.
Down the mountain wego rapidly winding
about among the foot hills; and presto!
all at once we burst out of bondage, and
plunge into orange groves, beautiful
gardens filled with trees and flowers in
bloom, and fl Ids surrounded by hedges
of lovely evergreen cypress and trimmed
as even and smooth as a lawn. The
transition was 80 sudden and the con
trast 30 great that it was hard to realize
it. The ladies screamed with de.
iSht until they we're tired and then sat
with dilated eyes watching for new Wis.
ions of beauty AZ we passed the various