Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-04

ington has Ss1 miles of trackage stretch
ing In every direction from the city. He
hauls an average Of 1900 people a day,
with fares ranging from cents to 70 cents
each On the Fourth of July last he han
died 1900 people. His lines run chiefly to
the neighboring towns south OF the city, the
longest being thirty-four miles. He has
made greater Los Angeles possible. has
started a dozen or more thriving towns and
has made dozen or more old towns Access
sible. Altogether he has invested about
ST., 100000 In trolley roads and lands. He
has erected the largest office building on
the coast and uses 1t as headquarters
and terminus of his railways The accom-
modations for handling passengers are ad-
mirable and the building itself is a novelty
In several respects. The grounds Moor Is
given up to the raflways-all cars of the
huntington system running In and out
In several respects. The ground floor is
to the top and roof garden, altogether
about six acres. are leased by the Jonathan
Club, social organization of which Mr..
Huntington is president, and no club In
existence has more spacious or elegant
accommodations The remainder Of the
building is leased to tenants for offices.
1t Is as nearly fire-proof possible. the
doors, door frame and other woodwork be-
ing sheathed with copper. Mr.. Huntington
Is the most public-spirited man in Los An
geles and one might say in California. 9th
er cities can envy Los Angeles the posses
sion of such a citizen with such a fortune
and disposition.
There are two other street railway sys-
tens. One of them is under the direction
of Mr.. Clark, formerly of Iowa, and takes
In the towns to the westward 1t has about
two hundred miles of track, and gives ac-
cess to a dozen or more seaside resorts and
suburban towns
A third system, which Is also controlled
by Mr.. Huntington. is furnishing transpor-
tation to every section within the city linn
its.
Etrn inn will
which began about 1867. brought in labor
ers by the thousands and stimulated trade
more than any other thing that has ever
happened in this section. 1t made addi-
uonal industries and mercantile establish
ments necessary to supply the wants of
the new population, and pIsl@a advanced in
every way. The development of the sub
urban towns contributed to the general
prosperity, for so many wealthy people
erected expensive homes and created de-
man for every kind of merchandise. The
large sales of property at good prices to
newcomers brought fresh money into circu-
lation and everybody has prospered. Cheap
fuel, however, is the basis of the entire i'm
provement, for neither Mr.. Huntington nor
the other railway builders could have ac-
complished what they have done without it.
Expansion of Los Angeles.
Real estate prices are very high in the
speculative districts and the advances have
been astonishing. One hears sensational
stories wherever he goes of enormous for
tunes made in real estate speculation and
OF the advances In prices. But, at the same
time, residence property is comparatively
low and lots in the business district except
In special cases, are not held at exorbitant
figures. Lots in the residence districts fifty
feet wide and $50 deep in the most fash
ionable quarters can be bought for 1928
a foot; in very good sections they bring
from $50 to SIS a foot, and in respectable
but not fashionable streets from S25
to to IT., $50 a foot Building is very
fringe of new houses surrounds Los Angeles
like circle. Most of them are inexpen-
sive, wooden cottages and bungalows of
artistic design almost always detached
and surrounded by gardens. Speculation is
chiefly confined to outlying additions, ten,
fifteen and twenty miles from the court
house. There lots of corresponding size
are being bought and sold daily for prices
just as high as would have to be paid for
property on the best streets of the city.
Sites have been laid out for many ex-
elusive parks like those In St. Louis, In
which buyers are required to erect resi-
dences of a certain style and cost, and to
beautify their grounds in a certain manner.
There are already several of them in the
exclusive portion of the city, where the
lawns, foliage and flowers add greatly to
the beauty of the scene. 1t will not be
many years before Los Angeles can take
rank among the most beautiful cities of the
world. The mldness of the climate and
the richness of the soil permit semi-tropi-
cal plants to thrive luxuriously; hedges of
Gala lilies. fuchsias and geraniums. ten feet
and more In height, are found everywhere.
Jasmine, tuberoses, heliotrope and other
fragrant plants grow Into large trees;
palms, bananas, fig trees. pepper trees,
lemon, orange, oleanders and magnolias and
other trees of their nature thrive. The peo-
pie here do not have to wait eight or ten
years. as we do in the east, for their shrub
berry and shade trees to reach maturity.
Everything springs up like magic and
many trees and vines grow while the houses
are being built under them.
The architecture of Los Angeles-espe-
cially in the residence portion Of the city
is picturesque but, with a few exceptions,
not ostentatous. The Moorish, or mission,
style. with tiled court yards rooted with
glass; Is the favorite, and some of II is fan
tastic. The most beautiful house / have
seen belongs to Paul De Longpre the king
Of flower painters, as he has often been
called. He has a Moorish villa at Holly
wood, one of the suburbs of Los Angeles,
which is more beautiful than anything in
Morocco or among the Moorish cities of
Spain. 1t Is surrounded by a garden such
as you will not see anywhere elsa per-
feet jungle of flowers.
The greater number of the residences
upon the more fashionable streets have not
cost more than $4,000 or $25, / have
been told by good authority that not more
than dozen houses in this city exceed
that figure. The great majority Of those
upon the fashionable streets represent an
investment of only ten, twelve or fifteen
thousand dollars each.
There are dozen parks within the city
limits, covering COO acres all told, and two
outside the city limits. in the foothills of
the mountains, of 500 and 5000 acres, re-
spectively.