The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-01-23
SHOWED IN.
The Deep-snow Regions Of Californ-
ia-Mountain Sights-Towns and
Houses Obliterated.
From the New York Evening Post.

The popular impression of California is
a region of perennial summer, where the
orange, fig, lemon and pomegranate flourish
and flowers bloom the year around; but this
is true only of the lowland counties. Cali
fornia is remarkable State. Some Of its
counties are as large as many States and
as barren as some very poor ones.
While California is famous as being the
land of flowers and for its mild winters, it
is also the land of extraordinary snow
storms, which may be seen under many
and varying conditions Perhaps the most
attractive exhibitions are seen in Southern
California, where from the San Gabriel
Valley one can watch the snow falling in
the mountains while standing in the orange
groves, surrounded by flowers and all the
conditions of summer The mountains
are then covered with snow down to the
3500-foot level, and the dwellers in the
valley go up the trails and the mountain
railroad and, bringing down huge snowballs
and now-men, deposit them in the fields
of wild flowers, effecting the change in fit
teen or twenty minutes, to the wonder Of
the tourists.
One of the sentinels of Southern Cali
fornia is Mount San Antonia, fine peak
rising II, 900 or II, 900 feet into the air,
capped with snow often long into the sum
mer During winter blizzards marvellous
snow phenomena can be seen on this peak
from the valley with the naked eye. The
blizzard sweeps down from the north and
blows the snow fanks off this lofty peak.
1t begins as snow furry, gradually in
creasing until huge cloud is seen from the
point of vantage forty miles away, rolling
over and over until it finally reaches the
summit, when it rises like smoke from a
volcano, and is waited away, hanging over
the semi-tropic valleys high in air, then
gradually sinking to become lost in the
warmer currents below.
This is the snow which is enjoyed from
a distance. but in the counties of Sierra
and Plumas, in the northern part of the
State. are seen some of the heaviest falls
of snow in any region outside of the Arctic
circle in America inhabited by man. I'm
der the deep shadows of the Sierras, in the
counties mentioned, are many little settle
ments of miners and others who, during
the winter months, might be said to hiber-
nate, as they are certainly in burrows be-
meath the surface often for several months
in the year.
The winter of 1890 was one that will
long be remembered in Plumas county.
In the town of Quincy the snow was nine
feet deep on the level without drifting, and
where it drifted it was heaped up in literal
snow mountains 1t so happened that a
man from the East was obliged to go to a
town named Eureka Mills on some bust
ness of importance, and after some diff
Guilty obtained guide who would take
him over the mountains. Their horse
wore snoyshoes as well as the man, and
some of the snow they passed over, judg-
ing from the trees, must have been forty
or more feet deep. The supposed locality
of the Mills was finally reached. The
range of hills near which the town stood
was there, but the town was, to all intents
and purposes, wiped out. Finally smoke
was seen rising from the snow, which,
when approached, was found to come from
spliced chimney, far below which was a
house; as the snow had fallen the occupants