The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-10-08

plums, prunes and grapes were there. all
of great size and crowding each other upon
the branches. so thick they grew. 1t was
the same way with the wheat. The stub
BILE stood so close together as to hide the
ground. and the stacks were enormous.
How In the world they can ever cut so
much alfalfa off the fields a. appears in
the stacks. is incompreheaSibe. There
seemed to be enough alfalfa hay there in
the stacks TO cover the fields yard deep.
The cattle and pigs could not have been
in better condition. A lean or sc:awny
animal was nowhere to be seen. All their
hides were as full as they could hold. and
apparently Straining to hold more. The
rose trees are as big as apple trees in the
East. and the geraniumS almost as large,
and all of them glorious burst of bril-
liant color. Not the least astonishing were
the fuchsias. We are accustomed to these
plants growing in pots or beds. so that it
was startling TO see masses of the bril-
liant purple and red blossoms reaching up
to the second story windows, or covering
the whole side of a house.
Now we are coming TO Los Angeles"
said the Californian. after he had ex-
hausted the fields and orchards. I'VE are
coming to the greatest city on the Pacific
Coast. A city that is going to be the
metropolis of this whole region. San Fran
cisco is old fosy. slow. Her folks have
made money and they want to keep it.
They have enough and don't want any
more. Here in Los Angeles we are all
alive. You would think you were in
Chicago if you walked around our streets
and saw our people. San Francisco is
hampered by her bay, which cuts her off
from the interior and makes her difficult
of access. Los Angeles has none of her
disadvantages. and has advantages of her
own. The bigger part of the wealth of
the State lies in the 13 Counties around
Los Angeles. and which are tributary to
her. No town in the country has grown so
rapidly. In 1850 our population was only
11,311. in 1890 it was 1885, or more than
four times as large. To-day we have Ger
tainly 125.0OO people,
The San Francisco man muttercd some
thing about it being a boom town." bur
this did not stay for n minute the tide OF
the Los Angeles mans oratory.
mo: no more boom about us. We are
through with that. and begun solid growth
Why. in 1901. we erected over S3.000.O0O
worth of buildings. and last year it ran up
to S9.OeO.0GO. Just think of that. We are
going to become the great manufacturing
center of this whole country, supplying
everything from New Mexico way down
into old Mexico. We produce all Of the pc
troleum in California, and there are 90 oil
districts which center in Los Angeles. and
al
month. We have the cheapest fuel in
the whole country. and can manufacture
cheaper here than any place else. We
lead the country in beet sugar. / think
the product this year will run over 81. co.,
coo. and our beets are richer than any
thing they can raise in Germany or
France. Last year they averaged over
% per cent. of sugar. Something I'M
heard of in Europe. We have u railroads
running into the town. of which three are
transcontinental. and there are two more
building as hard as they can to reach the
city. We had SO transcontinental trains
n day last year. Our harbor at San
Pedro will. when the Government finishes
spending SJ,OOOO00 on it. be the best deep
water harbor on the Western coast of the
United States. We ara II hours nearer
by rail to Chicago. New York and the East
than either Seattle, San Francisco or any
other Pacific Coast city. and this must be
of immense Importance in the develop
ment of trade with China and Japan. If
the water commerce by the way of San
Pedro increases as it has done in the last
two years it will not be 10 years until we
are ahead of San Francisco
The San Francisco man. who had been
unable to get a word in edgewise, seemed
now to be in n state of collapse.
''The main fault with Los Angeles he
managed to gasp. sis that she is 600 miles
from San Francisco" MCELROY.