Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-15
rp harvested

open, where harvested, headed
and threshed, for weeks with perfec
safety. En- PEASANT, it is a sight to bt
remembered to witness the 36-mul.
teams navigating a header" in the
prodigiOus wheat fields.
But to return to the mountain:-I
has been the rare good fortune OF
your correspondent to visit most Of
the mountain districts of the United
States, and he unhesitatingly comedies
that Shasta is great! sublime., and
| possesses a grandeur peculiarly its
own. Still, he is somewhat uncertain
whether it equals Tacoma These
| two mountains are of identically the
same altitude,-that is, until fresh
measurements are taken; but Tacoma
| (Rainier) has the great advantage of
rearing its entire height almost from
! tide-level, while ShaSta'S foothills are
already excuse the Teutonicism) up
something like a half mile. In fact.
mountains do not impress one the
same after a trip through the Frazer
canon Canadian Pacific. 1 do not
equalled on this continent. Snow be-
comes twelve feet deep about this
caravanSary in winter and does not
disappear until about the kalends of
May. While we are on the subject of
winter, it appears somewhat incon-
gruOuS to think of RedOndC Beach.
of hedges Of Calais and tropical lux
uriance at Los Angeles and San
Diego in January and we begin to
realize that California is indeed a
great country" Still, of an immense
majority of it, one might quote the
Iowa farmers epitome of the holy
land: "Why, b gosh! there is more
good land in Hardin county than in
the hull O Pallystyne;;" but this is
only speaking relatively. AL ex-
quisite corner or triangle from Los
Angeles is that unique-conceptio of
the A, Z. & S. r. r. Co.-the '1oop."
which gives one a grand eX-parte view
of it's best side, and where, as 1 heard
an enthusiastic but irreverent skeptic
put it, Its about as near heaven as
were likely to get" Yes, but the /
dust! apd isn't it mainly for the very
rich? and is it not somewhat diff
cult to reconcile ones preconceived
notions of land values to speak o.
$500 @ $4,000 per acre? and are nol
the choice portions somewhat limited !
that is to say, that portion on which
a liberal supply of water can be
brought? For, be it understood that,
without sufficient water, these lands
are as the desert. In this connection,
there is a very singular and interesting
fact, viz they are tunneling and
mining these mountains about Pasa-
dena, Riverside, etc, for water, in
identically the same manner as for
minerals elseWhere; and. the writer
was assured, with marked success.
In fact, that in this manner the water
supply had been more than doubled
in certain localities.
San Francisco; it's winds are mighty
and hat-raising; it's push and all-per-
vading dust! the enthusiasm and san
guine expectations Of it's people; the
view from Sutro Heights, where the
for the rotundity Of the earth, ''see"
as that grand and original character
and philanthropist, Mayor Adolph
Sutro, said to the writer, 5000
miles, the Sutro baths, 4inest since
Rome was at its zenith); all these
things are great. Market street is a
picture Of bustle and brightness; its
shops are respondent and tempting.
San Francisco is all right! It's people
are mighty rich and mighty poor COR
are going to be the former; all have
a scheme or a mine. It is the place.
par excellence, where hopes and am
billions are able bodied facts!