Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1900-02-28
MANY DEBORAH PEOPLE
IN THE LAND OF FRUIT AND
FLOWERS.
Mr.. Bigelow Calls Upon Several OLD
Residents Of Decorah, Climbs to
the Mountain Top, and vis'
its Beautiful Parks.

the Mountain Top, ana WIS.,
its Beautiful Parks.
Pasadena, CAL, Feb "A, 1900
Special to PUBLIC o, INHN:
I recently dined with gentleman
and lady with a very remarkable namev
especially in this country, as it does not
begin with Los nor San. Some Deco
rahians may have heard Of 1t, az II has
been yankeeaed from Schmidt toSmlth.
The dinner was good, although little
out of season for you poor mortals, who
live 80 near the north pole. The side
issues were lettuce, green peas, red
Praspberries and oranges; all gathered
from Smiths garden. But the visit
with Mr. and Mrs. Hammond Smith
was so enjoyable that II is liable to, be
frequently repeated. Two other items
had strong Decorah ring about Them
The Pasadena papers announced "~he
Old Homestead" at the Grand, with
Denman Thompson as Uncle Josh
Whitcomb. Tickets on sale at Leon
ards book store. The seats were all
sold two days in advance, and the house
was packed from cellar to garret. The
other was our old friend the Dutch
comedian, Charles Gardner, who played
in Los Angeles week. wanted to
take him by the. hand and say show
are you Dutehu? The great attraction
in the city now is the by preacher
who breaches every night at the M. f.
church to q crowded house. He is said
to be but thirteen years old, rather
small of his age, and wears knee pants>>
He appears-to have very old head ON
young shoulders. A revival is in pro-
gress and several preachers are In at
tendance, but the boy leads them all
J hey go from here to San Franchises
this week.
feel so sorry for Sile Irwin. + hear
Of him everywhere I go and until 1
appeared upon the scene he was con-
sidered the best musician in Iowa. But
after hearing me rlay they want TO,
know whether he played End Of Sd-7h
my orchestra. However he has fsets
of friends in California. andthey would
all be glad to see him again.
have lately made my first trip high
up in the mouDtaihs. We drove with
team az far asst could go aud sses
climbed to the top. aud such View
presented itself as will never be for
gotten, AS far rs the eye could reach
broad plains on one side and lofty
mountains on the other, with occasion
ally canyon SO marrow and deep that
it would make one's head swim 10 look
Into il. The air was so pure and bra
cling that il would make an ordinary
athlete, like myself, feel as though she
| wOldn't take anybOdy's Sass The
Devil wasn't ut home that day, 80 he
did not ''offer me any Of his possessions
! and / merely made II cali, but had bard
work to get our party to leave 80 en-
chanting q view. As usual with sight
seers we took a lunch along and dined
in the porch of little church among
| the foot hills, the men In their coat
| sleeves and the woman with fans near
| by. l noticed when we left that some
reckless individual Of our party had
| tied string to large sized bottle
| (which might have formerly had coffee
or tea in 1t although Los Angeles
! Brewing Co" was plain to he seen ON
il. \ and fastened il to li-ub of large
tree In front Of the chr.cE; and have
come to the conclusion that these pic
mic parties will bear watching, whether
in Iowa or California. On our way we,
passed little ranch right under the
u mountains, where John Browns two
sons settled several years ago, with the,
apparent desire to live where they
could breathe the pure and invigorating
air, waited to them from the free and
eternal hills that no nnhOiy rebellion
|, could ever disturb One of the sons is
buried ON the ranch aid q modest stone
: marks his resting place. The other
, son has left this vicinity and no one
, knows where he is.
Last week took In the parks around
Las Angeles, or rather, they took me
\ in. Az a matter of fact the flowers,
orange, lemon, banana. shade and fruit
r trees in blossom are so universal and
!. of such magnitude that II Is hard to
: designate between the beauty of the or
! narneu,als surrounding the rich and
J. the poor. or public and private property
4 Rut what took my eye the most was a
little lake of three or four acres. fun OF
fish, mostly gold fish. The city au-
thorities consider the gold standard''
of SO little consequence that they allow
' boys TO sit upon the bank and catch
II gold fish with hook and line. All
r Bryan's chances grow brighter every
o day Now, if Geo. Adams, Gibson,
Holway, Dick Bucknell and several
others would quit fishing for minnows
< down in Trout Run and come TO Cali
Y iornia and catch gold fish. they would
! be right in line with prosperity. Yester.
day we visited Monrovla, and called
q upon Mr., and Mrs. Uhi, the latter form
erly Anna Gjems. Also called at ths
Craudall mansion and found pnndms
D McMurtra, ms lively as girl, notwith
q standing her So years. We drove
\. through the Baldwin ranch, consisting
:, of 80, 900 acres, and saw over 5000 aere'
= of wheat showing that this country
OF raises something besides fruit and
flowers IL. A. BIGELow.