Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1914-02-18
Interesting Letter from c. II. Root.

Mr.. Editor:
We think some of our many friends
1000 miles away might be glad to know
what is going on this side Of the con-
tinent. Los Angeles is, indeed, a city
of beautiful homes. The progress of
the city in the past few years is won
derful. The buildings erected in the
past year would, if placed side by side,
reach from Craftsbury to St. Johns
bury and back or 65 miles of build
lngs. Every year increases the num-
ber. The climate could hardly be
improved. At 10 O'Clock today the
thermometer stands at IS in the
coolest place. A light frost last night.
which seldom occurs SO this is colder
than the average. Have hunted up
George Davis and Will Jacobs and find
them contentment personifed
The dry goods stores are interesting
to visit. Hamburger's one of the lar
gest, is seven stories high and covers a
whole block with roof garden on top.
where one can go up and look down on
the city Of 100000. It employs 1900
clerks in the busy season The Cham
Der of Commerce is one of the most
| interesting places I have seen. I wish
we might make a few selections for
our Barton fair. To give you some
idea of what I saw for fruit and
vegetables, a pear, q pounds, grape
fruit. 81 pounds, good smooth Bur-
bank potato, 81 pounds. bean pod, IL
inches long and II wide, several pods
Of string beans each over yard long,
a pumpkin Of 140 pounds grown in one
year: sometimes they are grown for
two years or more and reach 800 lbs. two
sweet potatoes, one weighed 28 pounds,
the other one 26 lbs. -eighty-fo -four
pounds in the hill the rs FOUNDER grew
in-cucumbers "a inches long,-grapes
6 or pounds in a cluster. At Car
pinteria they tell me there is grape
vine eight feet in circumference which
has produced ten tons of grapes in a
single season.
The last day of January by courtesy
of Remission & Root. wife and made
the beautiful trip to Catilina Island.
Taking the trolley cars for 20 mile
ride to San Pedro, we took the steamer
HermOsa for 80 mile trip on the
Pacific Ocean. This is not the busy
season SO we did not have the big boat
and there were only 1877 passengers or
board. Reaching the island about noon,
after big dinner, we took trip or
one of the glass boats over
the Marine gardens. Looking doWr
through the water nearly SIS clear az
air, we could see beautiful plants
growing in the ocean weighing hun
dreds of pounds and sometimes reaching
height of 200 feet. beautiful color'
and forms. Millions of fish small ant
large, a great many goldfish, some
weighing i pounds. The diver wen
down in 20 feet of water. we could se
him swimming like great frog. H
picked up a dozen Abalone shell
which he sold to the people on th
boat for twenty-five cents each. FL
= was down nearly minute and a half
AS our steamer approached the landing
several boys came out in rowboat
with bathing suits and the passenger
would throw coins in the sea and tn
boys would dive for them, usual
catching them before they went dow
over four to ten feet in water. Th
Cawston Ostrich farm was interesting
They have about $50 birds now whic
weigh from 200 to 300 pounds thei
eggs weigh from three to five pound
: each. How many could you eat at
meal? The feathers of the femal
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