Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-02-22
FORMER MANCHESTER RESIDENT
WRITES OF CALIFORNIA.
425 Battery st.
San Francisco 2.14-11

425 Battery st.
San Francisco, PHIL.
Editors Democrat,
Manchester, Iowa.
AS promised before leaving Man
chester to write you upon arriva
here, will do SO now although
haven't become thoroughly enough
acquainted with the country yet t.
write very intelligently.
This was my first trip ITO the ex
IRENE west or as T. R. expresses it
west Of the west and what impress
ed me the most at first was tn,
sudden change of climate one passe.
through in getting here. We EN-
eonntered twelve feet of snow OF
top OF the Sierra Nevadas and with
i'm two hours after leaving Summit
were in the midst of orange groves
and green vegetation dn abundance
1t is possible by riding three hour.
from Sam Francisco to find almosr
any sort Of climate one may desire
from deep snow to green pastures.
Both the city and country are ex
termely cosmopolitan. every nation
ABILITY on earth being well represented,
Although gathered from the foul
corners of the earth they soon be
come thoroughly americanized ana
no attention whatever is, given tt
ones original nationality. All mi,
together, except the Asiatics, ant
some Of the large business concern.
here are composed OF men represent
ing seven or eight nations.
The means of transportation ar
as varied as the nationality Of tn,
people. During the short time
have been here / have found it ne
cessary to travel on steamships, fer
ry boats, row boats, gasoline railroad
cars, marrow gauge steam roads, al
sorts of electric roads and stage
coaches. The horse car, cable ca
and modern trolley car may all bt
seen going down market street side
by side.
The manner of dressing here i.
equally as varied. One man will
have on an overcoat, while another
will be wearing a light summer suit
Some of the women are bundled u1
with furs and others wear thin sum
mer waists. What is considered q
cold day here reminds me of a beau
dful spring May day in Iowa. was
under the impression that the cost
OF living out here was great deal
higher, which is not the case. This,
| think, is a mistaken idea that ex
lists pretty generally throughout the
middle west. The necessities cost
no more, If as much as they do there
while wages are considerably higher.
The city is built up wonderfully
considering that it was completely
destroyed only five years ago. II
is hard to realize that all the i'm.
mense concrete structures that line
the streets, from five to twenty stor
les i'm height have all been built
witlrin SO short space of time, but
the occasional ruins of what once
was a big building are constant re.
minders of the terrible earthquake
and fire. The rebuilding of practical
iy the entire city has resulted in Il
being the most modern city in the
world today.
The whole state undoubtedly has
a wonderful future before it on ac
count of the delightful climate and
rich soil. Anything that will grow
anywhere will grow here from corn
wheat and oats to oranges, lemons
and olives. Vegetables and flowers
flourish the year around.
The country is new and not devel
oped although it is filling up rapid.
ly. The opportunities for profitable
investment of capital are practically
unlimited, specially just at this time
on account Of the approach of the
completion of the Panama canal and
the worlds fair celebration of the
event, which it is claimed means a
population of one million for San
St.o y, M ono haPo.z 1n1r
Diversified farming is practically
unknown in this country. They all
specialize and ON large scale. Some
OF the big ranches are devoted en-.
tirely to raising grain, others fruit,
poultry, dairying, etc. An idea Oh
the extent to which their industries
are carried ON may be gained by the
faet that great many of the dairy
ranchers milk as many as 400 cows,
while 5000 chickens is not an un-
common to find on poultry ranch.
Near Petaluma, which is the great
est poultry producing section in the
world. i looked for miles in all d.
rectionsi from the top of a mountain
and could see nothing but poultry
ranches.
One could spend several weeks to
good advantage merely visiting points
OF interest in and around San Fran
cisco, most of which you have probab.
y seem Even Chinatown has its
'ahrm for those who enjoy witnessing
tong" war occasionally.
My best regards to yourselves and
NY friends at Manchester.
Yours respectfully,
A. Griffiths.
Law of the Household.