Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1908-06-18
A LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA,

eightS uiies nofuncaSU Oh san francisco.
Some of the letters were written by the sister
while Visiting in Sawtellc and Norwalk, towns
near Los Angeles.
Sawtelle, Cal, April 2l.-I would like
it here except for the chill, fog and
wind. The folks that live here don't
mind it; they say it is just like this all
the year around, except that it rains
more in the winter. and gets dry in the
summer, and very little warmer, but
the warmest day in summer person
would get chilled thru to sit before an
open window and let the west wind
blow in. The fog lasts until about 10
o'clock, then it is very nice until about
noon Wien the west wind begins to
blow from the ocean, and it gradually
gets colder until in the night, when the
the west wind begins to blow from the
ocean, and it gradually gets colder un-
til in the night, when the wind goes
down. The evenings are chilly enough
to need a fire. 1t never frosts or SHOWS
or freezes simply varied, with more or
less fog or rain. But, it is a beautiful
country, everything grows to pertec
ton. Land is about thousand per
acre. The soil is very rich,-land is
slightly rolling.
The fleet is off the coast here. Grace
and | went on board the new Maine,
rHhora ara IA 0O0 man On tho civtaap
battleships. Such lot OF blue jackets,
such monster fighting machines, such a
crow and jam. The vessels are anchor
ed out about mile off shore and the
west wind blowing hard. We went out
in small boat and it wasn't an easy
matter to get on and off the battleships
in that rough sea. Some got seasick
and the rest would cheer. The battle
ships are painted white, the overs and
smokestacks a dali yellow. Everything
is very clean, but there isn't great
deal of spare room anywhere. The
great guns use SEQ pounds of powder
for one steel bullet. The bluejackets
lay around on deck asleep or playing at
cards. Some explained things to the
people.
Gala lilies, geraniums and roses
blossom in the door yards throughout
the year Troy haven't many oleand-
ers here, for they harbor the scale that
affects the oranges and lemons.
rNbaro ave Hiac ham. no ~, ocr,,itnac
Norwalk, Cal, May 3.-We saw the
last of the fleet sail away. Sixteen
large war vessels was quite sight
steaming away like great white
swans. Thousands of people lined the
shore for miles to see the last of them.
Grace is ill of cold. Do not recon-
mend this country to anyone with lung
trouble. Tell them to stay as far from
the ocean as possible, to either go on
the desert or among the pines in the
mountains.
The orange trees are nearly through
blooming. 1t looks strange torsee the
ripe oranges and blossoms both on the
trees. They say oranges are better for
home use if left on till midsummer,
but for shipping they were picked three
months ago. These blossoms will be
ripe oranges next spring or to ship
sooner. Lemons ripen and blossom all
the time 80 there are all stages Of
growth on lemon tree.
Lockeford, Cal, May 10, 1908.
came back from Los Angeles last Fri
day. The soil here is a heavy reddish
brown. Around Sawtelle, four miles
from the beach, the soil is heavy
black; around Norwalk, twelve miles
from the ocean it is very sandy.
visited the McNally fruit ranch OF
several hundred acres east of Norwalk.
They have olive trees and make their
own oil. They also make wine out OF
grape fruits. He is dead and his daugh.
ter sold the ranch short time ago.
One thing we have is good soft water
i say good, mean healthful, for no
where in California does one get good
cool water to drink, except in the
mountains. However, water pumped
out the night before will cool off, SO we
get a cool drink in the morning
Strawberries and cherries are on the
market; apricots ond logan berries will
come soon; then peaches, figs and
prunes.
The packing houses will open next
month and continue until November.
Then in the orange district they will be
gin about Christmas and continue an
til March. The main crop around here
is grapes, but there are some large
peach and almond orchards, also olives
and figs.
l went two miles to an orange or
chard and bought box of nice oranges
for Is cents. A~neighbor bought 8
boxes of smaller ones for 40 cents per
box, so you see oranges are not very
paying crop. Grapes are the most
profitable since the people have learned
how 70 handle them.
Unimproyed land here is worth from
oEn RI GfEn NOR aox<~ xrh;Io Land opoo