Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-06

Natlonal Bank or
am often asked why Southern Cali
fornia I'm general and Los Angeles in
particular have grown so marvelously
during the past few years Many per-
sons seem to doubt that our prosperity
is real and i'm order to convince them
that it is, it will be necessary to give
q few figures.
In the first place, the income from the
products of Southern California is much
larger than is commonly supposed. In
the year 1905-06 the orange crop alone
yielded a net revenue to the growers Cf
over $4,000 600; add to this the returns
from English walnuts, olives and olive
oil, wine, dried and canned fruits, to-
gether with the aristocratic celery and
caulihower, as well as the onions and
Cabbages that are shipped to the east for
consumption during the winter months,
and the total returns received from the
products of the soil assume large pro-
portions.
Again, the discovery Of petroleum
twenty years ago in Southern California
with the subsequent development of the
product in paying quantities, has made
1t possible to build up our manuactur-
ing interests. Prior to the discovery Of
petroleum, our fuel was imported coal
and it was so expensive that it was i'm
possible for our manufacturers to COM
pete; now our crude oil has entirely
supplanted coal, and at the prevailing
price of from 40 to 70 cents per barrel,
we are placed almost on an equality
with Pittsburg and with cities located
in the natural gas area In the cheap
ness of our fuel. Cheap fuel has given
wonderful impetus to the growth of
manufacturing interests in Los An
geles and Southern California, afford
ing employment to an ever increasing
army of workers until now the number
of our factories exceeds even our own
comprehension, and the end is not yet
Business men from the east who visit
us take advantage of the opportunities
offered to establish new lines of in
dustry and remain to give the members
of their families and themselves the
benefit of a more genial cline than they
have been accustomed to.
Growth of Angel City
Thirty-sX years ago Los Angeles city
had about 1900 American inhabitants
and the remainder of its 5000 was made
up of native Californians and others
from every nation under the sun. In
1880 there were 1900 persons here,
largely American; in 1890, $4,000; in 1900,
100000; and now, estimating from cur
school census and the present number
of water consumers in the city, we
must have at least 100000 inhabitants.
We acknowledge, with many thanks,
that we are indebted for the energy dis
played by our people and to the pros
porous and successful men who have
come to us not only from the middle
west but from all over the country.
Each one of these men brought some
good idea of his own with him,
and coming in contact with men
of like caliber from other parts Of
the country, blended into a com"
munity which works harmoniously
as a whole for the benefit of the whole.
This is somewhat evidenced by the fact
that our chamber of commerce, which
has 22O0 active members, is an institu-
ton which is certainly not equaled in
any city of the country of more than
twice the size of Los Angeles.
A great project is sometimes a vast
benefit to a city even if it costs a large
amount of money Up to the present
time we have depended upon the valley
to the north and west of us for the sup
ply of water for Los Angeles city, and
so far without being bountiful it has
been sufficient, though to say the truth.
we use more water per capita than any
large city in the United States, prin-
cipally because we have so many lawns
and produce so many flowers. With the
growth of the city, however, and the in
crease of population in the surrounding
country has come the necessity for a
larger supply, and project that we
have for bringing this water some 200
miles is now being examined by some
of the most prominent water engineers
in the United States. We believe that
they will advise us that this project is
entirely feasible and will approve the
plans laid down by our own engineers.
The city has expended a good deal Of
money so far toward this end, having
purchased 100000 acres of land in val
ley Immediately east of Mount Whitney
in the Sierra Nevadas, the highest
water shed i'm the United States. Rights
of way have been secured from the
United States government and from pri-
vate parties so that if the undertaking
is approved all will be in readiness to
go into the project at once. The cost
will probably approximate S20,00O0 900,