The Somerset reporter., 1902-02-06

| from Mt. Lowe it IL indeed DAZZLING. and
the whole c0uptry tor over sixty milr4
J lies at your feef ~ -.Hffli.l disfIuc'n -.
! Thousands Of feel b. nth AID zen rai .,
away Is Pasadena With rs Efrses and
avenues Intervening each pthff 90 Ter
/ feet angles, and from iherc L. IA e..
| the whole oan T. ibiiel valley stretches
away; then the blue Pacific, and on IL
! bosom thirty miles from shore lies the
island Of Santa Catalina, 26 mile- lofg
aud vide, With IL. three mountain
peaks distinctly outlined against the sky.
Aud there on Fancy's wing fy across
the mountains, the valleys, the Shore
and the ocean To this unique resort be-
| yond the reach of telephone and tele-
graph | always feel when there that
have passed beyond the bounds of civil
izatiou, IL seems as far remote and out Of
the world Ms the clouds that rest On rs
mountain tops. The island Is of volcanic
formation, and geologsts say is liable 10
disappear IN the same way that il came.
| hope | shall be some where else when
that happens. Imagine going down into
some subterranean fire with the waters
laundering and surglng about you, vo-
lent eruptions beneath you, and the
earth which had always seemed so Sc.
cure escaping from your delifious feet
into Pandemonium which would be as
much worse than Dante Iuferno as an
earthquake is worse than a church social.
| Prophesies OF tidal wave 10 engulf
large part OF the island made hundreds
! leave Que summer.
In the season thousands OF people go
there and tents lie as close together ~
keys on piano, almost, beside which
are many boarding houses, and nice
hotels, some of which are open all the
| year, as Catalina is a winter resort to
| Fasteners as well as a summer resort to
Westerners. Great bluff rise abruptly
from the water the whole length of the
island, save where a crescent beach
curves its sandy shore between them LAS
at Avalon, the largest,) or where pic
turesque canon cuts its sharp way with
wooded sides into their formidable
fronts.
Avalon, little town third of mile
long, and small resort at the isthmus.
near the end of the island, are the only
inhabited spots on its surface. There
are In its interior extinct silver mines
and many relics of Indians are exhumed
who danced on the shores several hun.
dred years ago when Caballero, the dis
coverer, first sailed into its tiny port.
At one end of the island is great COL
ony of mammoth sea lions which interest
visitors greatly. They founder clumsily
in aud and out of the waters and climb
upon the rocks, while the hills reverber-
ate with their loud, incessant barking.
Their eyes are wonderful and more in
telligent than those Of any other dumb
| I
thoughtful eyes-it seems AS If human
soul must he imprisoned behind them.
The Pacific is much clearer than the
Atlantic, has much less salt in it. far less
of that delicious briney odor, and is a
much more intense and brighter blue.
In the harbor at Avalon are glass bot
toned boats through which one may
look down 60 feet into the wonderful
life beneath the sea. Miniature forests
OF green and brown seaweed of every
form and shade shelter the strange lie
of many kinds. while red and gold fish
float about in this enchanting fairy land.
Beautiful Catalina! | have sailed in
your harbor al sunset, when all the
west was one great blaze of crimson,
from the low lying hills black against
your bosom, to where the first evening
star trembled family in your purpling
haze. Big black bluffs and mountain
tops looked sombre and pretentous in
its weird light. | floated in sea of
glory, every wave mammoth rose petal
in sea OF roses, that rolled away to
North, to South, to East as far as the
eye could reach. | could linger on your
shores in memory for long and tell my
winter-bound friends much more of your
charm-the charm OF perpetual summer,
the charm of your wonderful colOring in
the waters about your feet. How yellow
and brown and red they look IN the still
depths beneath the bluffs, and torture
the artist soul which can never reproduce
those tones and tints. But must away
to your rival in your affections, to beauti-
full Santa Barbara by the sea.
Lest | get too infatuated with its
beauties, and forgot to speak OF its
detractions, | will mention them first.
Few OF the streets are graded rs are
our broad Pasadena avenues, nor are
they lined with elegant homes which
present such a look of harmony and
symmetry to the eve. 1t is nuc h
smaller too, has only 5000 inhabitants,
and is over hundred miles from Los
Angeles, the metropolis of Southern
California, while we can go in in half
an hour or so, and see everything from
the latest New York styles, to the
latest opera. This remoteness from
any large place gives Santa Barbara
an out of the world, far away atmos-
, phere and it seems more like a New
England country town than any place
| | ever saw-whieh ACIDS to 1t certain
attractiVeness to me, though for that
very reason | prefer to live here, nearer
the centre OF things. They have not
our magnificent hotels nor anything
approaching to tn" Green, the Raymond,
or the La Guineralda. nor anything
, like our immense il fiux of tourists.
Till last spring they never had through
line to San Francisco. Ca great dsad-
vantage to travellers,) and though far
older than Pasaden and before the
boom great resort, it has since been
less visited, and it is exceedingly sore
about its neglect. But all these outs