Los Angeles herald., 1893-01-01


per portion was called Alta or Uppe
California, while the peninsula becam
known as Baja or Lower California. Il
1848 Upper California was purchased O
the Mexican republic by the Unite'
States, and two years afterwards was ad
mitted as a state.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The topography of Southern Californi'
is divided by the Sierra Madre, mount
ain range with an average altitude o
5000 feet, into two great plains. Thes'
mountains, beginning in Ventura coun
ty, run southeasterly into San Rernar
dino county. There they eliminate il
three grand piles, Mount San Bernar
dino, 10, 100 feet high, from whose sum
NIT point all base lines and meridiani
are run in this section of the state
Mount Gray back, 11.725 feet high, anc
Mount San Jacinto, over 5000 feet high
Turning round to the south, they rur
750 miles. terminating in the headland
of Cape st. Lucas, at the southern end
OF the peninsula of Lower California.
On their eastern side is portion oil
the great plain or basin of the Colorado
valley, whose river drains large part
of the territory between the Rocky
mountains and the Sierra Nevada. A
large portion OF this basin within the
limits of Southern California is unin-
habitable. except along the valleys oi
Colorado river and Antelope valley.
West of the Sierra Madre is crescent
shaped territory lying between the
mountains ard the sea, including about
5000, 900 acres of the finest land and
climate on the face of the globe. The
horns OF this crescent have their tips at
Point Conception on the north and
Point Iona on the south. These are
about 2l5 miles apart in straight line
from point to point. The bow of the
crescent-ehsped land is about so miles
wide at its thickest part, from San Pedro
to Banning, on the summit of the Sierra
Madre. 1t is in this narrow strip of ter
ritory that very dense population will
be found within few years. The prin-
cipal attractions are, first, an equable
climate, and second, a rich soil.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Southern California in
cludes all kinds, from the burning sands
of the Colorado desert to the snow
crowned SUBMITS of its sierras. In the
habitable portions the climate is mild
and equable. The greatest extremes
ever noted were minimum of IL de-
grees and maximum of 1876 degrees.
The first occurred many years ago at
Keller, Inyo county on the occasion of
very cold wind off the summits of the
Sierra Nevada in mid-winter. The Sec
ond happened at Santa Barbara several
years since during hot wind from the
Mojave desert. These were the lowest
and highest points that the ther-
mometer wac ever known to
touch in Southern California
where any body lives. Their dura-
ton was very short. The extreme
cold at Keeler lasted only one night.
only for few minutes while the wind
was at its strongest. The record of
temperature in Southern California
shows that nowhere "a the mercury be-
low 80 degrees on more than eight days
in the year. nor above 80 degrees more
than any 16 days, the average lowest
extreme cold being 26 degrees and the
highest 10 degrees. These extremes OF
cold last for only about an hour in the
early dawn, sometimes just long enough
to form a coating of ice quarter or half
an inch thick, never more than an inch
in the coldest spots, or a sprinkle of
hoar frost on the lowlands. The great
eet extremes of heat last only about an
hour along about l or O'Clock in the
afternoon, and that in the interior val
levs only.
The effect of the heat is modified by
the exceeding dryness of the atmos-
phere during the day, the percentage of
moisture sometimes falling as low as q
degrees. Dry heat hurts nobody, as the
French philosopher proved long ago.
Farmers and laborers here work in the
summers sun with the mercury at so
and upwards, and experience no incon-
venience whatever, the perspiration
evaporating Immediately and the body
keeping cool. The variation in some
places between day and night tempera-
ture is as much as 80 or 40 degrees. But
this is not inconvenient, when it is re-
membered that at the same place the
mercury goes no higher than so degrees
in the day, and falls to 50 degrees in the
night, making a blanket comfortable
covering. But these variations are sci:
dom, and in few places.
The daily average of the winds is from
nothing to 20 miles. The severest winds
have seldom been over 26 miles an hour.
Sometimes poorly constructed frame
buildings ON slight foundations have
been blown down. Only twice, since
records have been kept, has the wind
been sufficiently strong to blow down a
fa,~ Il oOAI Tho la OF fit,on ho
wind in some portions probably attained
a rate of 30 miles an hour, and that in
places exposed to the "suck" of big
caflons. Sometimes a sand storm comes
off the Colorado desert, inconvenient at
the time, and blows for day or two,
but leaves the air fresh and pure. DC.
casionally in the summer there is dry
north wind that does slight damage fol
a day or 30, and they are soon gone and
forgotten.
There are only two seasons-the wet
and the dry. Spring, summer, fall and
winter, as known on the Atlantic coast
are unknown here. Sleigh riding and
other snow sports are known only in the
traditions of the fathers. Billiards., cy.
clones, tornadoes and hurricanes are
alike unknown or forgotten phenomena,
During the summer thunder storm
occasionally comes up across the Col
orado desert, along the summit of the
Sierra Madre, and once in long while
gets down into the valleys. They
are mild storms when compared with
the electrical disturbances in the east
ern states. Such a climate, of course
renders agriculture capable of the high
est degree of development. Crop fol
lows crop without failure. alWavs insured