The herald., 1897-09-11
The West Virginia Visitors
Take a Long Ride
THEY LIKE LOS ANGELES
WHAT SOME OF THEM SAY OF
THE CITY AND ITS FUTURE
Today San Pedro Harbor Is to Be
Inspected by the Members Of
the Harbor Committee

1.-The longer we stay here the better
we like the place and the people, ana
already part of our crowd want to move
here" was the enthusiastic remark of
Congressman b. B. Dovener, the leader
Of the West Virginia party now doing
this section Of the state, as he stepped
from carriage in which he had been
viewing the beauties of the city yester-
day morning. 1t was not necessary to
ask the other members Of the party their
opinions Of what had been shown them
for they were as enthusiastic about the
matter as their leader and expressed
themselves as delighted without being
asked. The party had busy day yes
terday, and all of them seemed to enjoy
every minute Of it. The night before
their arrival here had been spent on their
special Pullman cars, and their first
night in Los Angeles, with its cool
bre'ezes, was all the more enjoyed be-
cause of the contrast with the night be-
fore Some of them showed how well
they liked the rest and the soft beds of
the Van Nuys by sleeping late, and they
had to make hurried preparation for
the entertainment which had been pro-
vded for them by the chamber of COM
merce The limited time which the party
had to spend in the city yesterday pre-
vented any other form Of entertainment
than a carriage ride over the city.
The representatives of the reception
committee of the chamber of commerce
Messrs. Griffith, Hughes, Slauson and
Foster, arrived at the hotel promptly at
9:3O o'clock with five carriages ard in ten
minutes all of the visiting West Virgin
ians and those who accompanied them
started, to see Los Angeles. They went
first to East Side park, thence through
the other parks, the oil fields, and. lastly
through the residence portion of the city
in the West End. The gentlemen were
greatly interested in the oil wells, for
they came from a country where such
wells are numerous, and they freely
compared those here with their own at
home. Mr.. Griffith explained that the
industry was comparatively new here
and that it had reduced the price of fuel
one-half. The ladies liked the palm
lined avenues and the handsome resi-
dences best, and spent their time in
choosing the houses they wanted "wher'
they moved to Los Angeles" They
asked numerous questions and fortu-
nately were in the hands of committee
which was able 10 point out all there was
of interest and to answer all of their
questions about the city. The ride con-
sumed nearly three hours. and at 1920
the party returned to the hotel.
Hon. Roswell P. Bishop, member of
congress from Ludington. Mich, was as
enthusiastic in his praise of what he had
been shown as was Mr.. Dovener. "This
is by far the finest city we have seen
on the coast" said he. II was amazed al
the evidence of prosperity and of rapid,
substantial growth. The homes here look
like homes in all that that term implies
and many Of them are palatial. pre-
dict great future for Los Angeles"
]. T. Koen, one of the wealthiest oil
operators in West Virginia, speaking of
the oil district here, said: "The oil
fields cannot but bring prosperity to this
city. The fields are much more ex-
tensive than I had supposed, and I can
see that they have not all been devel-
oped. I know nothing of the quality of
the product, but such natural source of
revenue will, think, bring lots of
me. l came here expecting to fird that
much Of the praise 1 had heard of the
city was exaggerated, but I find that it
was only half true. The people here
have happy way of making visitor
feel at home. All of us greatly enjoyed
our ride. this morning. We saw more
than we had expected to see, and we
shall have only praise for Los Angeles in
our descriptions of our trip to the West
Virginia people"
While the party was preparing for
luncheon the following telegram was
received by G. H. Ballou Of San Diego,
who is guest at the hotel:
SAN DIEGO, Cal, Sept. 10-On behalf
Of San Diego chamber Of commerce,
extend cordial invitation to Con-
gressman Dovener and party to visit
San Diego. Wire me result.
PHILIP MORSE,
President
This telegram was shown to Mr. Dove
ner by Mr.. Ballou. The acceptance OF
the invitation was impOaSihle as the