The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1907-08-07

the pleasure seeker may find every
charm which nature can bestow, for
she has been most prodigal OF her
gifts to this southern land. Mountain
peaks, wooded valleys, flower-sprink-
led meadows, seaside resorts-all these
variations are at hand. 1t seems as
il nature has We'd with art in per-
fecting this beautiful land. Truly, If
there is an earthly Eden anywhere,
it is in Southern California.
Closely connected by railway and
street car lines with Los Angeles is
Pasadena, the garden spot of the
lovely San Gabriel Valley. Pasadena
is surrounded by orange, fig and lem
on orchards that blossom and ripen
in wide-spreading luxuriance. The
drives about Pasadena are world fa-
nous, and here many eastern people
of wealth make their winter homes.
Every fruit, flower, ornamental tree,
and shrub known to Southern Cali
fornia is represented in the elaborate
grounds of this beauteous realm. 1t
is difficult to believe that less than
thirty years ago the site of this
charming city of about fifteen thous-
and people, was sold to an eastern
colony at five dollars per acre.
The great beach resorts in the vicin.
ity of Los Angeles are thronged with
pleasure seekers throughout the year,
but the real California season when
most tourists visit the coast, opens in
November and closes In May, although
summer reigns perpetually in this
enchanted land
Redondo, Long Beach, Venice, Ocean
Park and Santa Monica are some of
the most popular seaside resorts; while
Santa Catalina Island rising from the
sea some thirty miles away, is per-
haps most frequented by tourists at
this time. This romantic little island
is an ideal resort. The harbor is fill
ed with row boats and yachts, and
hundreds of bathers disport In the
placid blue waters of the ocean.
Through glass-bottomed skiffs con-
structed for that purpose, one may
view the beautiful submarine gardens
of the ocean, gazing down through
"a hundred feet of water to where en-
erald weeds wave and myriad fishes,
blue, brown and flaming red, glide
over shells and pebbles in the briny
deep.
The fishing here is excellent, but
the most popular fishing at Catalina
is for the leaping tuna, and visitors
come from all over the world to fish
for tuna.
Last week we visited San Diego,
the most southwesterly city of
the Union. It's history is
most interesting, as 1t is the
site of the first of the
Franciscan missions established by
the old padres. Here came FIR. Sierra
in 1863 and founded the mission of
San Diego. A part of the old adobe
town of San Diego is still to be seen,
including the church, fort, prison and
the house where Ramona was mar
ried, the heroine of Helen Hunt Jack
SOS well known romance.
San Diego is situated in the great
lemon belt of America. More than
six thousand acres of land are set to
lemons, oranges and grape fruit in
this locality. There are also extern
siye olive orchards in this region,
started originally from cuttings
brought from Spain; and groves of
English walnuts abound, and extern
sive vineyards may be seen.
The completion of the Panama Ca
nal will doubtless make San Diego one
of the great harbors of the world.
The soft, caressing, balmly air of this
city creates a new sense of the joy
of mere existence.
Fourteen miles south of San Diego
is the little Mexican hamlet of Tia
Juna in old Mexico, which we also
visited, and partook of genuine
Mexican dinner. Then there Is Coro-
nado, connected by ferry with the
mainland. 1t bears the same relation
to San Diego that fashionable suburbs
bear to many eastern cities. On Cor
onado Island stands the most renown-
ed of Southern California's tourist
palaces, hotel whose magnificence
has given it leading rank among the
famous hostelries of the world. Time
will not permit description of this
beautiful structure, the most magnif-
T.