The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-03-21
CALIFORNIA; Gem City.
A Visit to Redlands and What was Seen
There.

A Visit to Redlands and What was Seer
There.
Correspondence of The Journal
Los ANGELES, CALF, March 5, 1907.
Saturday, March End, we left tn" Arcade
Depot" Los Angeles, at sos a. m. for
Redlands. on the Southern Pacific r.
R., over what is called the "Inside
Track" and it is rightly named, for
it takes one right through the greatest
orange growing section of the State.
For mile after mile nothing can be
seen on either side of the track but
'Orange Orchards as they are called
in Redlands, and in places the trees
grow so near the track that one can
readily see that they are ''inside" the
orchard. Redlands is beautiful city,
66 miles east of Los Angeles. under
stand it is called the "Orange City" by
many and by others the "Gem City"
so while know it is an Orange City,
all right, will call it the Gem City here
and later will tell you my reasons. We
arrived in Redlands at 1856 a. M, and
wee met there by Mr.. and Mrs.
VIII lam T. Bill whom we had been in
Allied to visit. Mrs. Bill will be
pleasantly remembered by her many
friends in Bel East, where she was born
and went to 4hool, as Cora Frye. They
drove us to their beautiful home on
West Olive avenue and after lunch
took us sightseeing in the ''Gem City,
1 can only tell you just bit of what
we saw, as you could not spare the
space for me to tell you all. Redlands
has population of 10000 and an as
sessel valuation of $6,14s,0 S9. The
property valuation is SIS, 100000. There
are two National banks, two daily pa
pers and two weekly newspapers, a
Board of Trade, two telephone systems,
electric light and gas throughout the
city, trolley cars. up-to-date schools
employing SO teachers with l, $50 pupils
enrolled, Free Library, a gift to the
city by A. K. Smiley, eleven modern
churches, 25 fraternal organizations, all
of which have elegant lodge rooms,
some dozen clubs, social, literary and
musical, a first class theatre, erected
in 1904, with seating capacity of 1920
and one of the best stages in the West,
new modern hospital owned by an as
sociation of local physicians and strictly
up-to-date, and one of the most popular
of tourist hotels, the Hotel Casa
Iona.
Now l want to tell you about the
places we saw and what impressed me
most, and why. We drove to Smiley
Heights" which is the principal place
of interest to tourists. Redlands itself
is on an elevation of about 200 feet
l have not the exact figures so will not
give tbem-and the Heights are about
200 feet higher; and the sight that came
to us as we got to the top once seen can
never be forgotten. The "Gem City"
was below us, nesting among the Or
ange, palm and pepper trees. Now Red
lands was socalled from the color of
its soil, which is dull brick red. I
thought as looked at the soil for the
first time it might be called ruby
gem; but looking down on it from the
Heights I thought of diamond, the
purest and best of gems, and last, but
not least, of the tourmaline, which is
found in great quantities in San Diego.
They are found in. nearly all the colors
of the rainbow, and each color, like the
diamond, draws it's brilliancy from sur
colors. So that is what l have
named Redlands, a California tourma-
line, California's purest gem. OF course
the beauty ola gem is its setting, and l
want to tell you of that. First of all
the orange setting. Redlands' total
orange shipments for 1906 were 800
cars. Next, the roses. There are
miles of roses in hedges that are
at least 20 feet high, all of the most
beautiful colors. And last, but not
least, are the grand Old Sierra Madre
Mts. At this season of the year the
foot hills are green while the highest
peaks are snow capped, and owing to the
look no farther away than
our hills across the river. Is not that a
setting fit for the purest of gems? AS
1 looked to the mountains it occurred
to me that the men who first came to
Redlands must have thoughtas did that
great man of old when he said: Il lift
up my eyes unto the hills from whence
cometh my helps" for here, indeed, in
these mountains was all that Redlands
needed to make her what she is today;
pure water, that quenched the thirst of
the prospector and has made Redlands
true Californian tourmaline.
We left this little Gem City Monday,
Mar. 4th, and as 1 stood on the observa-
ton end'of the car and watched it fast
disappear from my view 1 could but
think of the old familiar poem Sweet
loveliest village of the
plain" We arrived in Los Angeles at