The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-04-03

''Hollenbeck Home" Is an elegant struc-
ture, home for aged people, In located
on Boyle Heights, an elevated residence
section of the city, on the east side of
the Los Angeles river. The home is
near the banks of q beautiful lake in
Hollenbeck park, tract of about 20
acres, donated to the city by a public
spirited lady whose name 1t bears. The
Los Angeles county court house Is an
imposing structure, built of granite and
red sandstone, at a cost of three-quar-
ters of a million dollars, and is located
on an eminence overlooking the busi-
ness portion of the city.
The Chamber of Commerce is q pri-
vate corporation, possessing a member
ship of business and professional men,
ranging from $50 to 1000 in number.
Each member contributes one dollar per
month toward the expense of maintain
ing the institution. Among several
features of the organization, 1t main
tains free exhibit of natural and
manufactured products. This exhibit
which occupies the greater portion of
the upper floor of a building on the
corner of Fourth street and Broadway,
specially erected for the purpose, is a
fine display and Is visited by thousands
of people yearly, from all parts of the
world. The average registration is
165,0OO
After all Is said, the chief attraction
of Los Angeles to new arrivals, lies in
its beautiful homes. The rare beauty
of the grounds surrounding the attrac-
tive homes of the city, is a constant
| theme8for admiration on the part of
.,it % N1,.
climate permits the most delicate plants
and trees to flourish in the open air
all through the winter; hence any time
during the winter may be seen hedges
of CALI lilies, geranium bushes, ten
| feet high and hellotrope covering the
| side of house while the Jasmine carna-
| ton, violet, tube-rose and orange make
the air heavy with their delicious per-
fume. Yes, when 1t comes to gardens,
| Los Angeles is faciel princeps. Giant
bananas wave their graceful leaves in
| the gentle breeze and often ripen their
fruit. The fan and date palm grow to
| mammoth proportions, and roses of a
| thousand varieties run riot. A majority
of the residences stand in spacious
grounds; a lot of so by $50 feet being the
| smallest occupied by house of any
| pretention, even within stones throw
of the business streets, and many have
from one to five acres of ground, all in
a high state of cultivation, with well
kept verdant lawns, upon which the fig,
orange, lemon, camphor, cinnamon and
palm cast q grateful shade, and along
the sides of the streets shade trees are
also the rule; the favorite varieties be-
ing the graceful pepper which grows
to a great size, the cypress, the eucaly-
putus and the grevlla. If space would
permit 1 would be pleased to speak of
many other matters of interest, such as
the old missions. some of which are
more than a century old: the varied
scenery; the long stretches Of valleys
and mesas, rolling foothills and higher
up the mountain ranges deep canyons,
precipitous cliffs and pine-clad sum-
mits; towns and cities that have sprung
up as IL by magic; the raising of sheep
and cattle: the bearing orchards and
vineyards; horticulture, farming; their
increase of water supply; their railroad
advantages; their commercial interests;
| their banks, with deposits aggregating
about $12,000,000; their many magnifi-
cent hotels; the poultry; Belgian hares
and ostrich industries, all of which are
said to be profitable; it's advantages for
recreation, such as bathing in the surf
fishing, hunting, &c; their seaside re-
sorts, Mount Lowe railroad; their an
nual tournament of Roses" in which
hundreds of vehicles of every descrip-
tion are smothered in fragrant BIOS
SONS; their mining and mineral pro-
ducts; their great petroleum interests
and developments; Los Angeles socially
and professionally considered; &c, &c;
but, time and space in this short letter
forbid a complete description of al
these things.
We left Los Angeles on March 1st fol
this city. On my way stopped off al
the little city of Fresno, the county seat
of Fresno county, a city of $4,000 in
habitants, to visit with a cousin and his
family whom had not seen for 80 years
Fresno county is situated about the
center of the state, and almost in the
center of the great San Joaquin valley
in about the same parallel of latitude
as North Carolina. There are in the
county over 100000 acres, of which
nearly a million are valleys and hill
lands adapted to agriculture and horti'
culture purposes. The San Joaquin val
ley is in itself a vast empire with 6
great future before it: 1t is famous fol
cereals as well as wheat.
In Fresno county the rain fall 1.
ordinarily sufficient for raising large
crops of grain, but for the growth Of the
vineyard and orchard. for which thu
county is justly famous, artificial irri
cation is resorted to. The irrigation
system has grown until today it |:
one of the best in the state, The WateI
is taken from Rings river through i'm
mense canals. of which there are ovel
300 miles, with over 1000 miles of branch
canals and about 5000 miles of distri
buting bitches, and 1t is very cheap, thu
average cost per acre is only 621s cent!
, per annum.
The raisin industry is the most i'm
!, portant in the county; it began to de-
/ velop in 1872, and has since grown unit
; now the shipments to the east amoun