Morning journal and courier., 1894-01-16
No. IA

charge. The tube is hfty-stx feet tn length and contains . thirty-six inch re- frsctor, the whole weighing one hundred and thirty tons, and yet 1t is ss esstly handled e toy. Such is the inventive genius of msnl Unfortunately the reyel- wing turret was not in working order ths night vs were there, and 60 we could only sss Saturn. which happened to be in the line of vision. But the sight of thts one planet we'll repaid us for our trip, ss clearly was 1t seen. Before leaving the dome we descended to the bottom of the dome and saw the immense brick pier on which the telescope rests, and beneath which Hes the body of James Lack, who in making this magnificent donation to sci- enee raised the most fllustrious msusolsuu the hand of man has ever constructed. It might be well to say few words here about this curious old man. James Lick was born in Pennsylvania in the year 17s6, and coming to California early in life, he man aged by dint of hard work and great coon omy to amass an immense fortune. He intended to erect magnificent statues of himself along the coast of California ss constant reminders to the people of Cali- fornis what pluck and perseverance, could do to make fortune; but being dis. usdsd from this queer idea, he finally decided to establish the finest and most completely equipped observatory in the world. And he succeeded in doing 60. He chose Mt. Hamilton, an isolated peak of the Coast range, forty-two hundred fest above the ssa-level, ss the site for the observatory because of the remarkable steedluess of the air and the large number of clear nishts to be found on its summit. He erected the buildings and equipped them at . cost ot seven hundred and fifty thousand dol 1ara and lSft Hharo1 ard4--& k. sides. Some of the finest work in as- tronomy has been done here in the last few years. The county assisted him in his work by constructing e magnificent road from San Jose to the summit of Mount Hamilton ct a cost of seventy thousand dollsrs.
 But to return to our visit. After lesv- Ing the large dome we returned to the main hall, and while waiting for our driver to harness up his team We busied ourselves tn looking st the natuasl history specimens which were arranged along the vslls. Here were found preserved In alcohol tar antulss, csntipedes, lizards sud rattle snakes, all of which had been caught on the mountain. One rsttIesnake was shown us which was taken alive inside the large dome, and which, as soon as 1t was put into the alcohol, bit Itself and committed suicide, From this we inferred that the life of the people at the observatory is not as uneventful e 1t might at frst thought seemi At eight o'clock, after bidding our courteous entertainers good bye, we started on our ride down the mountain. And such a ridti The horses went along st break neck speed and we were tossed from one.sids of the wagon 10 the other, and ex- pectsd at every sharp turn to be pitched out into the darkness down some precipi- tous cliff. Half way down we were stopped by hail, which, coming ss 1t did from the roadside, made us believe at first that we were to be held up in true western style, and VIC immediately began to stow away our money and watches under the seats and in every conceivable outlsndish cor ner, but we were relieved presently by the driver announcing that 1t was only two Stanford students who had started to walk down the mountain by Light, and having already several times lost their way and regained the road with great difficulty, de- cided to wait for the stsge spd ride the rect of the way. We took them in and then continued on our lively ride, reaching San Jose without accident at midnight where We found hot supper awaiting us.
 The pext dsy being Sunday, we srote late in the morning, and after breakfast took a drive through the streets of San Jose. which we found to be 6 charming city. It is the fifth city in siEs in the state, and contains the State Normal school, a oity hall costing one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the finest court house h California outside of San Fran cisco, several private schools, and many fne public buildings and butiness blocks. Its streets are we'll paved, broad and shady; there is an excellent system of eIec- tric cars and street lighting, and being sit- usted, as it Is, on the Southern Pacific rail road, on'y fifty miles from San Francisco, San Jose Is surely the Athens of the Pa cific coast. After enjoying the sights of the city we had another good dinner at the hotel and left at three o'clock for San Francisco, arriving there at five o'clock in the afternoon. We had enjoyed the trip exceedingly and felt we'll paid for our journey. will tell you in my next letter something about Southern California at this time of the year, as expect to spend Christmss at Los Angeles, the garden spot of southern California. T. G. ADAMS