The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-02-24
End OF CONIfsI[A BREEZY LETTER
J. 4. Cauehren Writes OF His
Western Trip
TIE PACIFIC COAST
Tells of Spokane Boosters and OF
the Salt Sea Breezes at Ocean
Park, California

Shortly before j. A. Caughren left
Sank Centre for his trip to the Pacific
coast, The Herald asked him to write,
! for publication, some letters relating
his experiences. Under date of Feb.
II Mr.. Caughren, who at that time
was at Ocean Park, Cal, writes the
following breezy letter.
will attempt to give you little
account of my trip. | left st. Paul
on the evening of the Goth. of January
over the N. P. ,for Spokane. We had a
delightful trip; it was Burlington
train solid right through from Chica-
60. A good many had asked US why
we didn't take the Southern route,
but ours turned out much better
than any Southern route. We had no
trouble with snow, the weather being
very fine all the way. We pulled in
to Spokane 10 minutes ahead of time.
After 1900 mile run / thought that
was very good.
spent two days in Spokane; it had
been four months since l was there,
consequently there came many who
wanted to see me, and many that l
wanted to see. l was therefore very
busy for the few days that l was
there, very tired when left and glad
to get away. Wherever 1 60 there
are lot of promoters around who
think l have money, and that is just
as bad as though / had. 1t is quite
healthful to stop in a town like Spo-
kane where every one from the oldest
to the Youngest is a booster for the
town.
From Spokane to Portland j came
over the S. p. & S. what is called the
North Bank road, down the Columbia.
had not. been over it since had
helped build It; it is one of the finest
road beds in the United States. The
Northern Pacific spent carload of
money in building it but they have
something to show for it. We spent
one day in Portland, which is a very
prosperous city with steady growth,
building on its own resources, not
like some of the western cities that
are being built up with Eastern CAPT
tai.
From Portland to Frisco we took
the Southern Pacific. They run a
beautiful train called the Shasta
Limited. A portion of our trip was
through the mountains, after leaving
the Klamath Valley. We saw a
good deal of snow all the way along
until we struck the California line,
which is about 60 miles from San
Francisco. Things begin to kind of
look warm after that. In crossing
the Martineana Straits, which is a
mile and quarter wide, it was quite
interesting to me. The boat our
train crossed on is called the biggest
of that kind in the world. 1t took
our train on very nicely and there
was room for another one or two. 1t
being dark We couldn't tell whether
we were on land or sea as far as the
motion of the boat was concerned.
There is quite city on each side of
the river. One is called Port Costa,
the other Wanna: We arrived at
Oakland Dock at 1913 that same eve
ming. We crossed on the big ferry
that took our trainload of passengers,
of which. you wouldn't scarcely notice
after they got on.
We stopped at; the palace Hotel in
FRISCO which is sky-scraper and the
finest in the city. Ifyoud don't realize
that it is fine, you will when you
come to settle your bill On every
sign board and everything you see in
California, is written ''The State OF
Wonders. One of the greatest won
der to me is where they got all the
moneytp build all these sky scrapers
right after the quake. In Frisco the
ground. lis scarce, therefore they went
straight ;up. Many of those buildings
cost millions. > They are allysteel and
concrete, nothing can interfere with
them NOW unless the earth turns: over
The majority Of them are IA stories
high high, m $50 ai.so 81
|, sWe got, aimotof and did the town.
We .went'out1to1 the government fort,
saw. the soldiefss quarters and their
grounds, which asmlost beautiful park
IN ITSELF. The government owns 1900
acres and 1T is kept up in beautiful
|'shapeswith nice oiEdHves. was very
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