The Newtown bee., 1904-06-24

sloping gently downwards in places and in others dashing over little falls and cascades, until from 50 to 75 feet deep. At the bottom the canyon wid- ems and in little rocky grotto the sulphur spring is found. Nature has added to it. Bananas grow thickly at the bottom of the gorge, sheltered
 from all save gentleSt breezes. Red and white lilies and.water flowers grow
 by the stream. Forget-me-nots and
 pinks and pansies and violets cling
 here and there to rocky hooks, and in
 the denser shade the ferns are thick.
 The sides are almost covered with half
 vine like plants, nasturtiums, ivy,
 geraniums, blue myrtle, and many others. One woman said that twas
 Garden of Eden to have been of any
 thing she ever saw. She said this
 while standing on tiny rustic bridge, flower draped, that arched the stream, and gazed upward toward the tops of a huge eucalyptus tree that shot straight up for 30 or 40 feet without a branch,
 as tall and straight as the mast of a, ship. Gazing in rapt contemplation upward, she put out her hand to the
 railing. There was piercing shrtek, swish of skirts, and all her visions of
 Eden vanished, unless she thought of Eden after the evil one had visited it. Without looking she had put her hand
 square on a huge snail, perhaps two and 8 half to three inches long, and
 bigger than my thumb. l heard no
 more about Eden, and I noticed she
 took no more interest ip "waving tree
 tops, :" "feathery.clouds" and sapphire
 skies" but she picked her way ginger
 ly up the trail, her skirts held exceed tngly high and her eyes never leaving
 the path where her feet were set.
 By the time we got back to Oakland again it was luncheon time, and after getting through with this we called
 five minutes at the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. Here we had a chance
 to look at samples of products from the country, and to get information. The country grows everything from oranges to English walnuts. By the
 way, there were some walnutS on eX- hibition that by actual measurement were six inches in circumference the
 smallest way round, and they told us they had them seven and three quarter inches. Raspberries and blackberries were there, and they have had them since Christmas time. A bunch of oats over six feet long hung in the window, and oh! yes, here is some thing to make father open his eyes. There were several eggs from
 White Leghorn hens raised in the county. The. largest egg weighed three ounces and was six and three quarter by seven and three-quarter inches. Later we took a thirty mile trolley ride to Hayward and return. It is beautiful country and we'll cul- is raised here than in any other coun- ty in the United States. The almonds are in full bloom, and everything look ing it's best. Among other curiosities we saw one tree bearing both oranges and lemons, and they showed us an other that they said bore apricots, plums and peaches, last year. There was one grapevine, which could not quite span with both hands, fingers extended, from which four tons of grapes were picked, last year. This does not equal the one at San Gabriel, which two people with arms extended an who hit the snail sat on the front platform and asked questions of the conductor. He answered all she asked and more too, but l should hate to vOuch for the truth of all he told her. One house we passed was brilliantly painted in red, white and blue, and the conductor told us that patriotic war veteran lived there, who had that house pained in honor of President Mckinley when he visited the coast. He also had the two-story cupola erect ed on top for the President to make a speech from. The President refused to go out and make the speech and the veteran was so angry that he refused to pay the bills to the painters and carpenters. They have sued him, and the case is still in'court to decide when man is employed to build a house to receive President and the Presi- dent does not arrive whether the con- tract holds good.
 As a mere place of residence think 1 should prefer to live in Southern California, but if l were to earn my living farming l am inclined to think that this section would suit me better. In the first place while considerable l irrigation is done it is not absolutely 1 necessary, there being much heavier rainfall. Secondly, the soil is some l what richer, so that small fruits, ber- cessfully raised between the rows of | orchard trees, and thirdly, the market | is close at hand, with little or no rail- l road shipping to pay for. As an illus tration of the other side it is said that | every large orange grower in Southern l California, this winter, has met with 6 | dead loss on his orange crop. The or anges have been plentiful enough to l make the local priceexceptionally low, and the cold. weather East has been ruinOus. For weeks nearly all | the oranges were frozen before reach l ing New York, in some cases not a | single box in an entire carload escap- | ing.