Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-06-29
SAN DIEGO, CAL.

ED. CLAR1oN:-My trip to California
was very pleasant one. I give you a
brief account of several trips after ar
riying at San Diego, the first Of which
was to
We left home at $50 O'Clock in a
double seated surrey, taking a west
erly direction following the shore OF
the bay. Drove along the hills and
looked down on the bay which stretch
ed out like great mirror. Two miles
oct we passed old San Diego on our
right. This town is one of the oldest
in the State and contains the site of the
first mission established by the Fran
c,scan Fathers. Then we drove mile
across the dixie and many culverts
where the tide came washing in and
covered the alkali marshes stretching
to either side of us. Following the
shore line we came to the little
fishing village of Roseville. Here we
turned abruptly to the right and wound
around and through canyon till we
came out on top Of Iona Land.
Iona Land is situated on top of Pt.
Iona and is the worlds headquarters of
the society of Universal Brotherhood.
This society owns many acres OF land,
all of which is under high state Of
cultivation. Mrs. Katherine Tingey
is the head manager. The buildings
consist of the hotel, built around a
court which is sutmounted by glass
dome; the temple of music with its pur-
pie dome of glass; its homes for the Ia
ia go-ga school and bungalows for stu
dents. We drove past groves Of lemon
trees and mulberry orchards, (the latter
trees are raised for the silk worm cul-
ture) and out on the ridge where we
saw what Charles Dudley Warner calls
one of the three grandest views of the
world. To the left lay the bay. Coro-
nado and San Diego; to the right the
Pacific ocean stretched for miles to the
horizon. After driving along the ridge
for mile or two, the road led US down
through canyon to the ocean, and af-
ter driving along the ocean edge We ar
rived at our destination, the lighthouse.
After putting up the tired horse we
climbed down the cliff to the beach
where we found clean shady spot for
our lunch. After lunch we watched
the breakers roll in, the tide was soon
low enough and we all gathered shells
till 1t was time to start home. We
found star fish, shark eggs and shells,
olive shells and one abalone she'll. We
then said good bye and returned home.
TRIP TO MISSION CLIFF.
About twenty minutes ride on the
sire ct car In the northern part Of the
city lies deep valley through the cen
ter of which runs tho San Diego river.
On the edge of the south cliff over look
ing the valley is small pleasure park
and in the center Of the grounds on
the very edge of the cliff is a pavilion.
This little place is the terminus of the
street car line and Is called Mission
Cliff Pavilion. The valley is called
Mission Valley; so named because the
valley was selected by the Mission
Fathers as the site for the first Calfor-
MIA mission. San Diego mission (St.
James, established in 1869. AS one
sits on the veranda of the pavilion they
caA look down on the valley which is
entirely occupied by the vegetable gar.
dens of the Chinaman. The land is
extremely fertile and the different
shades of green look very pretty. The
river winds down through the valley
and empties into the Pacific ocean that
lies glittering in the west. This river
is only distingulshable by its sand bed
as it, like manv others in this country,
runs up side down with the sand on top
and the water underneath. Looking
up the valley toward the east we can
see what remains of the San Diego
Mission surrounded by olive trees, very
old ones planted by the Mission Faith
ers. The day we were at Mission Cliff
we were able by gong out on the
lookout platform, to see the mountains
sixty five miles away covered with
snow, while surrounding us everything
was green, even the roofs on houses
1t was hard to realize that both could
be in the same picture. Connected
with this little park is an Ostrich farm.
There are about fifty live ostriches
here, and are considered one of the
homeliest and sturidest of birds. The
male birds are quite vicious; the kick
of one of these birds is quite fatal
They haYe no feathers On their legs or
under their wings. When they wish to
challenge another bird to a fight they
drop on their knees and wave their
wings in the air. The feathers of the
wings and tail are used for commerce
When the birds are through melting
and the new feathers grow out, before
they become soiled the birds are pluck
ed. This is very dangerous and many
times the birds seriously iDjure the
FUCKERS. The eggs are Matched in ar
incubator as the female bird does MOI
get in captivity.
CORONADO.
This trip across the Bay of Coronado
was made several times. First, in the
automobile up in front of the hotel anc
down toward Tent city. The second
TIP we went over and walked along
the beach and enjoyed the surf and the
third was made at night to attend the
Naval Officers ball. The trip to Car
onado takes twenty minutes on the cars
to the terry, ten minutes on the ferry tc