The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1896-06-12
LAND Of sun AND FLOWERS.
The 'Parson" Writes Of San Bsrnadino and
It's Environments.
The Gorgeous mi-TropicsI Flora a Never
Ending Delight to the Tourist
from the East.

AS We wrote in our former article to
The REPUBLIC about our trip to south
ern California, the descent of the
Sierra Madre mountains down, down,
down, TO the San Bernardino valley is
an experience to be remembered life
time.
We had crossed 800 miles of desert,
bat now we descend into one of the
most beautiful and fertile valleys in
the world. The whole valley is dotted
with towns, villas and suburban ham,
lets nesting among the foliage Of trop-
ical and semi-tropical trees; and the
panorama presented to the eye is a
checker board of vineyards, orchards
and wheat fields.
The Southern California and the
Santa Fe roads ramify in every direc-
ton, branching off at this point to San
Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Besides this the Santa Fe system has a
kite shaped road in the form Of figure
eight, and encircling the valley reaches
the following towns starting from San
Bernardino: Highlands, Redlands,
Riverside, Orange, Santa Anna, Los
Angeles, Pasadena, Monrovia, Ontario,
North Ontario and Cucaruouga.
On every hand you pass through
orange and lemon groves, vineyards,
Oliveyards, orchards of prunes, april
cots and peaches. Besides the fruit
growing industry you see extensive
fields of wheat and barley and meadows
Of alfalfa, 1t is harvest here and the
grain is all cut and stacked or mOwn as
hay and lying in tumbles awaiting the
hay press, as the bulk of hay in south
ern California is wheat and barley hay.
Stock raising is an extensive indus
try and horse, cattle and sheep ranches
abound, but are being more aud more
confined to the rough and billy land,
as the valley lands are put into or
chsrds and brought under irrigation.
There is a large beet sugar industry at
Chino, and the largest beet sugar mill
in the United States is located there.
Rain seldom falls here from the mid
die of May to the middle of October,
the principal crops are already made
and the pastures are brown and scar
like the Kansas plains in the later sum-
mer. Aside from the orchards, which
are irrigated, the only green area is the
alfalfa, which yields seven crops a year
but requires irrigation each crop.
The fora here is all new to one from
Kansas, and is on the semi. tropical
order. Palmettos, date palms, Gu
ealyptus, umbrella trees, pepper trees,
cypress and other new and strange va
rieties. The Oleander and pomgranite,
Gala lily and cactus, geranium and
other Towering species of trees and
shrubs are only sheltered by italian
skies,
The people take great pride in adorn-
ing their yards according to individual
taste, and parterre lawn and arbors
abound; besides verandas are profuse-
ly shaded, and rose trees frequently
climb clear over the house tops, and
hedges Of cedar, or cypress are pinned
in many fantastic shapes,
We took q run to Los Angeles and
the sea coast at Santa Monica. Los
Angeles is a city of 100000 and is grow
ing rapidly, Besides the regular rail
ways, there is an electric car line from
Los Angeles running every half hour.
It is 60 miles from San Bernar-
dino to Los Angeles and 20 miles
from Los Angeles to Santa Monica
Santa Monica is a sea.eoast town and
a bathing resort, and some distance up
the coast is Port Los Angeles. Here
roll in the long surges of the Pacific
ocean.
The coast range abuts the sea but
here and there is bay of land, table
of rolling hills waving with grain, put
ting in between them and running to
the very beach, ending abruptly like
the PERPENDICULAR walls of a Kansas
canon, and below the beach and the
rolling sea, and beyond the blue of the
vastly deep.
The Pacific coast differs from both
the Gulf and Atlantic coast in these
respects: It is bold scenic, romantic,
beautiful and grand in its different
features, and the effect is pleasing to
the eye and mind.
The National Soldiers home is near
Santa Monica where we made a short
call. Like all the national homes it is
on large and liberal scale, with this
added beauty and luxury. The veterans
from shaded verands, or from settee
beneath palms, look out on the aplacid
sea" on rich harvest fields, on bold
hills and lofty mountains; and at the
same time listens to the locomotives
Shrek, the steamers whistle, the head
ers click snd the song Of birds; and
anon the beating of sheen and the