The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-01-05
CHEERFUL LETTER FROM
HON. BENZ. YOUNG
WELL KNOWN ASTORIA EN-
JoYING A WINTER IN
THE SOUTH.
Los Angeles, Dec. 81, 1905.

I NNNS @AAtta NNNst eNNN% ~ N~NS"
"To the Editor of the Daily Astorian"
Dear SIR l promised you when |
LETT that | would let YOU know how |
was getting along, so here goes:
1--WE left Portland the 10Th OF Nov
ember by the Southern Pacific and
after a rather pleasant ride arrived IN
Frisco, The old city is certainly
changed and il made me feel a strang.
cr when ! failed to locate the old
land marks tha, | knew in younger
days, for l had seen the City grow Up
from 1868, The earthquake with It's
fire had changed it all, and TO realize
the great devastation SaddeneH me-
it was like losing old friends.
IN the rebuilding they are making
steady progress; everything is being
done so substantially and the people
are surely deserving OF great credit.
Their plans are big and several years
win elapse before they are carried
out. The business portion Is more
scattered, some Of ii being moved up
town 10 to 20 blocks. On Market
Street where the throng was once 50
dense one may now move With COM
parative ease.
"A-ride on the Sutter car to the
Cliff House gives one good idea Of
the burned district. The Cliff House
with its Sutro treasures was gone and
even the sea-lions on the rocks below
seemed badly depleted in numbers.
Poor San Francisco has certainly had
hard time Of ii and on top OF it all
had to come the grating" which has
taken thousands and viii take more.
"After a weeks stay we iourneyed
farther south to the old town of Santa
Barbara, a beautiful city OF 1900
people. 1t is a quiet place and where
rest is required it is an ideal spot.
There are many fine residences
castles one might say built by east
ern people.
"We spent ten days roaming arouni
and then left for Los Angeles. This
City is grand and we fell in love with
il at once. Parts OF it reminded me
of places we have seen in Europe
We make headquarters at the Lanker-
shin Hotel. Here one finds people
from every State in the Union and
many from abroad, There is so much
to the city that a stay Of six months
is really necessary 10 appreciate
everything However, we are due in
Arizona and after spending month
here we took the train for Bisbee, the
biggest mining camp in Arizona, n
fact in the southwest. 1t has about
1900 people,-built in a gulch
and so really has but one street The
elevation is about 5000 feet and the
winter climate much cooler than one
would expect for being so far south
Here my two sons. Siegfried and
Arthur joined Us, and after separa-
ton Of four years we indeed had a
glad reunion. They own a mine
about thirty miles from Bisbee and
have good values in gold, silver and
copper. From what / could learn
their property has much merit and |
only hope Dame Fortune smiles on
them for they are working like Tro'
jams and certainly deserve reward
They assured me, however, that
should they fail this time they
would keep a stiff upper lip and tackle
it again with renewed hope and en-
ergy. That in itself was worth the
trip to see them.
"We spent good old-fashioned
Christmas together. The day follow
ing we visited the surface workings
of the principal mines, all of them
right in town. The wealth some Of
them represent is tremendous, the
Copper Queen being estimated at
over slO0,O0oOOo00.
with one of the geologists Of the
Calumet & Arizona Mining Company,
the young folks went down the
Eoatston shaft, 1900 feet, and for two
hours roamed through drifts andcross
cuts, watching the miners at work.
From their description | almost wish
ed had accompanied them but it was