South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-04-08
Seeing America
First
BY Fred Kelly.

Yanked from diary-in California.
Every state in the UuiOn could bring
suit against California for alienation
of affections. California is a siren.
No other state can win people to it's
bosom so quickly and so completely.
Regardless of what state a man comes
from to California. there is something
in the atmosphere here that makes
him yearr to get up on top of a dry
goods box and hOller Home amt
nOthin' like this"
Usually when a man goes from one
place to another, ne takes great pride
in telling everybody he sees how much
better and pleasanter things are back
where he came from, and what a pin
head he was for leavine there. This
is all reversed in California. 1t mat
ters not whether man has been here
a day or a decade, he loves to bTag
about the inferiority of the climate
and general conditions back home.
DO you think you'll ever return to
your native state?" you ask almost
any man, at random, out here, and he
looks insulted.
who? Me? Go back there! Should
say not. I've never had any desire to
return since the first day L struck Cal
ifornia."
You hear that kind of talk here all
day long, until you feel as if it would
be a pleasure to lind somebody who is
homesick.
one of the hrst indications that
a visitor is catching the California
fever is when he begins to argue
with himself and those about him
that he would not like to live here.
II the germ were not already at
work, there would be no talk about
the proposition one way or the
ether. Nine visitors out of 10 be-
come analytical and begin to make
mental lists of the attractions and
disadvantages of southern Califor
MIA in parallel columns.
To start with, there are 10 months
of sunshine. Against that is lack of
variety. Mustn't it be as monotOnous
as eating a quail a day for 80 days?
And there is no autumn. Who wants
TO miss the gorgeous cOlOring that ma
ture throws about with lavish hand
when she paints an eatern autumn?
And during the long drysummer, the
green of the hills turns to dull brown.
In the east after 80 days without rain,
the weather gets on peoples nerves
and all they talk about is the drought.
Does anybody care to put in nine
months without rain? ON the other
hand southern California is prepared
for that sort of thing. 1t has its irrl-
cation bitches, it's asphalt and oiled
roads. and-most of the time-its lack
of high winds to stir up the dust. And
il is great sport to get up every
morning knowing what the weather is
going TO be. 1t is a satisfaction TO be
able 10 say three months In advance
that one can go to picnic on GER
tain date without risk of having ones
nice, new white duck pants all muSsed
up by a thunder shower.
Then one thinks of the lack of snow
and wonders if he can reconcile him
self not to seeing that form OF
phenomena again. WhereupOn south
rem Californians remind one that ii is
POSSIBLE to go from the seashore up
into the snow on top of the mountains
by automobile On a hot day in a
couple of hours.
The visitor thinks of all these
things. in parallel columns, and "ies
10 convince himself that the advan-
tages lie back home. But as rule,
if he is entirely honest with himself,
he reasons something like this:
Its too dry and too monotOnous-
not enough variety of trees or eli
mate. Living in warm weather the
year around would make a man lazy.
/ would miss the snow and the au-
tumn leaves. There is just as pretty
country and a more interesting eli
mate back home. Still kind of be-
lieve 1 would like to live in Califor-
MIA, at that"
Southern CalifOrnians insist that
their death rate is the lowest in the
world And this, they say, is true
despite the fact that the invalids from
the east come here TO do their sharS
toward boosting the mortality.
I'VE fool you. though. Cahtor-
Man said to me, you ship your IN
valids TO us but thew are not inValids
long. I've seen old men come out
here TO die who instead Of dying took
a new lease on life, married again and
raised a second family. L know of
dozen cases in my Cwn immediate
neighborhood where men who came
here 20 years ago in advanced years
are younger now than they were then.
You see the lord hesitates TO let
person die in California. for fear the
person will be dissatisfied with heaven
and make trouble"