The herald., 1897-01-26
THE SIERRA CLUB AND OUR
TOURISTS

TOURISTS
The Sierra Club bulletins continue ur
to the high standard which its first publ
cations set. The maps of Sierra dis
tricts by club members are of value an6
the papers are interesting. All the bull
letins are handsomely illustrated. Few
of our own people know the life-givine
air, the charms, the romance and the
grandeur of the heart of the Sierra
where Whitney's peak towers fourteen
thousand feet above the sea. Trout and
game abound where the sheep and
sheepmen's fires have been prevented
from their forest destruction by the for
est patrol The last publication of the
Sierra Club Is No. IA, Vol H.. No. l. 1t
is beautifully illustrated and contains
a number of papers interesting to
mountaineers and lovers of nature. One
of the most absorbing of these Is the
account of the tragic death of Philip
Stanley Abbot. This young and public
spirited American lost his life in the at
tempted ascent of the ice clad Mt. Le-
troy. In this lovable and brave man who
had made his mark already in society
our foresters and mountaineers lost
one of their most accomplished
climbers and an enthusiastic seek
l,n
publications of the Sierra Club can be
had by applying to the secretary, Aca-
DENY of Science building, San Francisco.
We would suggest to Mr.. H. L. Mcneil,
who is our fish and game commissioner
and a prominent member of the Sierra
Club. that a chapter of that club might
be organized here with reference to our
local forest and mountain studies. We
dislike to mix business into everything,
but live material interest does add to
the support of most causes. In this
Sierra Club work there is business for
the community as we'll as health, pleas
ure and education for it's adventurous
members. The tourist crop deserves our
constant study. 1t is strictly business
to attract them. The world moves now
adays and If our attractions are to sue
cessfully compete with mobiles and kings,
old churches, picture galleries, museums
and the scenery of Europe they must
be known. We cannot expect to have
travellers come here to see things they
have never heard about. We must ad
vertise. To advertise intelligently we
must keep up our knowledge of our own
stock, and if necessary add to it. We
have the best all-the-year climate in the
world for a foundation as starter.
Our sea coast and our mountains in
summer can be exceeded nowhere.
of this should be kept before
the eastern public. We forget how
good our climate is This we can afford
to do, but we can not afford to let others
do this. The Landmarks Club is doing
great and a very valuable work in the
preservation of our historic monuments.
missions, etc, and in calling attention to
the wonderful prehistoric ruins of Ari-
zona. Now comes the Sierra Club call
ing attention to and advertising the
unique beauties and the grandeur of
our Sierra scenery. Our winter tourists
hardly know there are such Won
ders, such forests, such canyons
wildness and beauty in California. Our
own people do not know it, Even the
Yosemite through neglect in a long era
of political mismanagement and a pro-
longed period of vandalism has fallen
in tourist regard. 1t has been more of
a robbers roost than an asset of beauty
for our people. Twenty years ago the
Yosemite was world wonder that alone
brought people to California. Today
the curse of politics has marred it's
beauty. Half forgotten it has become
a mere side show. To keep up our tour
list trade we must know our resources,
we must keep them up in good condi-
ton and we must make them known to
others. Those who have done most in
this line recently are the Merchants
Association, the Landmarks Club and
the Sierra Club. Our citizens should
remember and support them.