Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1900-02-02
THE PACIFIC COAST.
A VeRMoNTER WRITES IMPRESSIONS
OF THE LAND.

Naples-views of Mountain and Sea
The "Land of Flowers" "A Paradise for
Rest and Recreation.
SEA BRIGHT, CALF, Jan. II, 1900.
EDITOR REGIsTER-I have passed a
year now here In Sea Bright, suburb
of the old city of Santa Cruz, California,
coming from Vermont, leaving a section
famed for its fine scenery and fine eli
mate for brief portions of the year-for
its summers are acknowledged to be
charming, so also the winters, after the
earth has become fairly overspread with
its snow-mantle and the roads are made
good by excavating through the snow
banks.
Here at Santa Cruz snow is seldom
seen, and winter is time when stock
feeds out and finds abundance. Flowers
bloom perennially, although in July,
August and September very little or no
rain falls, and many kinds cease their
bloom unless water is artifcially applied.
Grass becomes sere and brown, and then
is the time stock must be fed; and that
which is used for hay is grain-princi-
pally wheat, oats and barley. Alfalfa is
a wonderfully fine hay, but it does not
thrive well in this county. The grain
is cut while yet green, and baled and left
In the field to dry, then removed to shell.
ter before the rainy season sets in, which
is usually not before October.
If, on arriving here in December of
1898, had been asked to write out on
paper the kind of weather and scenery
which would suit me best, | could not
have made a more perfect list of desir-
able things in nature and climate than
have found. We have the majestc Mon
terey bay, which some declare rivals the
bay of Naples, twenty-eight miles wide
at its junction with the ocean and eX-
tending ten miles inland. into which
ships and steamers come to Monterey on
the south shore and to Santa Cruz on
north shore. Then the ocean, the noun
tains and the never failing mountain
streams and skies that Guido Italy's best
! in clearness and beauty-all these are
ever-enduring attractions. Many DAYS
during winter The fire may be allowed to
90 out in the afternoon, if the sun is
shining, until evening, when a little is
needed. Thermometers seldom 90 above
75 degrees in summer or below p degrees
| in winter.
A trip to Ben Lomond, mountain
camp six miles northeast of Santa Cruz,
is lovely drive, and one can see a land
scape as extended, perhaps, as Moses
saw from Pisgah's heights. From this
lookout one sees the great Pacific stretch
ing out into infinity, and to the south the
Monterey bay, while across the bay
skirting the shore is visible a line of
mountains. A dense growth of trees of
many kinds are found upon the noun
tans, but the stately sequoia (red-wood)
prsdominates. At big Tree" grove in
FELTON,, on the narrow gauge railroad six
miles to the north of Santa Cruz, are
some of these trees, fenced in for their
preservation, and a fee of ten cents is
charged for visiting them. Many of
these trees are over 300 feet in height,
and a few giants are over $50 feet in
height. Many are named for our noted
men of the army and the state. The
name Is painted in black letters on a
white painted board and fastened con-
spicuously on the tree. There are Gen,
Grant, Gen. Sherman, Gel. Sheridan
Gen. Logan, Abe Lincoln and others
The most perfect In proportion and out
line is the Gen. Grant. 1t is a beauty
1t is enclosed by fence just large
enough to prevent visitors from reach
ing to the tree to chip of souvenirs
Robert G. lngersoll and family visited
this grove several years ago, and he gave
his name to one of the largest, calling !,
"Ingersoll's Cathedral" ABE Lincoln
has a somewhat striking appearance
rather gnarled with great, brawny arm:
striking out over large circle. The tree
named Gen. Fremont is somewhat burnt
out, so that by STOPPING one can enter
the large cavity which is like a room.
was told by the attendant that when this
noted pathfinder" came to California
somewhere about 1918, he and his mer
made this tree their headquarters while
they were surveying in sthe vicinity, i
being the only shelter available. Many
years later, when he was a grey haireC