The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-01-13
IN OLD MEXICO.
Gen. Baker and His Wife Visit Old
Friends, and Also Visit Old Mexico.
NO. III.

we would be 1neXcuSaDle indeed, II
we failed to note the hospitality we re-
ceived at the hands of some of our Man
katonian friends ofrthe olden time while
at San Diego. Mrs. Henry Shaubut, of
National City, which is only four miles
down the bay from San Diego, kindly
invited us to her home for the day
The delightful ride she gave us in her
carriage will long be remembered. The
drive through Paradise Valley was
charming The orange and lemon
ranches, the long rows of pepper and
rubber trees, the elegant villas and
plentiful flowers of all kinds, gave
beauty and charm to the landscape
Long shall we remember the enchant
ment of that drive through this most
beautiful valley. Then turning south
to the hills We got noble view of the
Bay Of San Diego, Point Lama, the
light house, the great hotel at Corona
do Beach, and of the great ocean,
which spread limitless beyond, to Ha
waii and on to Asia. In that vision of
endless water I seemed to see the count
less hulls of that mighty commerce,
which is soon to enrich the nation, I'M
der the law of expansion, which marks
the memorable era of this year of grace,
1898. Mrs. Shaubut has a lovely home.
which has been recently reftted, and
which is EMPOWERED among flowers
and orange trees. Her orange ranch
has a fine crop of Valencia navals; and
with these are deciduous fruits, such as
peach trees, appricots, olives and Eng
lish walnuts There were fine rows of
blackberries, which had been in bear
ing since June, and from which l
picked few remaining berries in good
condition, for, Mrs. Baker, on. the 14th
of December. When we returned
home, we were loaded with oranges
and flowers. The dinner table was or
namented with mammoth carnation
pinks in reckless prodigality. In fact,
flowers are so abundant in this region
that no one would think of stealing the
loveliest of roses from the open lawns
and paths
We found Mrs Shaubut in the best
of health, and all her surroundings are
not only comfortable, but elegant. With
her daughters. Lu and Grace, and
their children her home is lively and
cheerful
Her other daughter, Mrs. Samborn,
lives here, and has pretty cottage
home. She has world of superb
flowers around it, and claims to have
seventy-ive varieties of roses. She
says she sent four hundred Gala lilies
to the church on an Easter festival. I
don't doubt it, for Gala lilies are gen.
orally planted here in hedge rows We
have fifty plants in our yard.
1 know Mrs. Shaubut's numerous
friends in Mankato, will be glad to hear
of her. Mrs. John Shaubut and two of
her daughters live not far from Los
Angeles. 1t is fact that the large
families of Henry and John Shaubut
have totally disappeared from Man
kato. They are scattered along the
Pacific coast from Seattle to the Mexi-
can line,
While in this region we made quite a
trip into Old Mexico, The railway
runs to the international line. We took
the round trip from San Diego to Tia
Juana, Mexico. 1t is only fifteen miles
distant from San Diego to the line.
Most of the valley through which we
passed is justly celebrated for it's lemon
ranches 1t was on this route that we
passed the lemon ranch of James
Sharp, formerly of Belgrade. He
married Miss Lizzie Faddis From the
cars they appeared to have very COM
Portable home and a fine ranch Ar
irving at the '1ine," under the direc-
ton of Reuben, the Guide, we took a
carriage over to the Mexican town. AS
we passed the granite monuments,
which defines the boundary of the two
nations, and we left the flag of our
country for that of Mexico-McKinley
for Diaz-we felt as though enterprise
and empire were behind us, for we
found dingy and shabby old Mexican
town, with dilapidated buildings and
fat and lazy ''greasers" lettering in the
doorways, killing time" There were
a few shops for the sale of cheap curios,
of which our ladies bought very spar
ingly. There was custom house and
drinking place. I wrote brief letter
to a friend. to show that we were &C
tually out of Uncle Sans dominion,
and to get the Mexican stamp on the
envelope After couple of hours in
the dingy old place, we were glad to
get back under the Stars and Stripes.
There were no ;nquisitorial customs
officers to investigate our baggage or
purchases, There are marked changed
conditions in the appearance OF the
countries. Ours was covered with
lemon ranches and nice cottages, quite
to the very line. On the Mexican side
there was not a single cultivated field,
ns,.1l