Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1900-02-23

1
farm, worth q trip any time to see. "A
days trip takes you through the orange
groves and the orange belt cities of
the San Gabriel ard San B~ernardino
valleys. Then there is San Diego, Santa
Catalina, Santa Monica, Mount Love,
and q score Of other places. Mount
Lowe lisa bold peak of the Sierra Madre
range, 5000 feet high, and climbed by the
Mt. Lowe railway. Looking down from
almost any eminence, there are stretched
out before you the fertile valleys and
beautiful cities. The scene includes
Los Angeles, twenty miles distant, Pasa-
dena, six miles away, and a score of
smaller villages and towns, with thous-
ands of acres Of orange groves, vineyards.
while beyond you at one side are ranges
Of rugged mountains and on another the
broad Pacific studded with innumerable
ocean islands.
Pasadena isa city Of 1900 people. It
has grown from a sheep pasture to a
winter resort, world wide in fame, ia
fifteen years. Eastern travellers reside
during the winter in modest homes or in
palatial residences. Every fruit and
flower, shrub or treee known to the most
luxuriant forest or flower growth Of Cali
fornia is represented within the limits Of
the city. There are ~commodious
churches, public and private school
buildings. free library, elegant private
homes, and architecturally beautiful
buildings and public institutions.
The ostrich farm &C South Pasadena is
worth visiting. There are upwards of
300 birds, the offspring of some ffty-two
that were brought from South Africa in
1885. The Matching Of eggs and pulling
Of feathers are interesting events of
which due notice is always given in the
local papers that travellers may see if
they choose. The missions are another
feature of the sights of the locality. In
the middle of the century the Spanish
government, desiring to encourage the
colonization of the territory, then I'M
peopled save by the tribes of Indians,
entered into an arrangement with the
Order of st. Francis for the establish
ment Of missions which were to be the
future nuclei of cities and villages. The
Franciscans we're practically left in pos
session of the country for half a century.
Seven years before the declaration Of in
dependence the first monks entered the
bay Of San Diego and founded the first
mission near the city Of that name,
Others we're established as far north
as the present site of San Fran
cisco. They we're built Of stone and
hard burned brick, and the labor Incl
dent to their construction was vast.
Brick had to be burnt, stone quarried
and heavy timbers felled and carried
down from the mountains on mems
shoulders. The Indians performed most
of the labor, under the direction Of the
monks. Primitive factories we're estab-
lished and the missions soon became
enormously valuable, their yearly rev
enues sometimes amounting to $4,000
600. The missions have stood for gener-
atoms and generators. Earthquakes at
times destroyed some Of them, and on
one occasion an earthquake toppled over
a tower, sent it crashing through the
roof Of a mission and over forty people
persisted. So long as the missions stand
there will be an air of historic romance
connected with them-the faint atmos-
phere of a time and condition that is for
ever past, and yet will live forever in the
minds Of Thoughtful people who see the
ruins Of these temples erected by the
first monks of the western coast.
OF the delights of California books
have been written and might be again
and something still be left untold. To
appreciate California is to see it, and
to travel through its resorts. To asee
California and die" might be- an apt par
aphrase OF an old admonition, but there