The Detroit times., 1915-04-15
SEEING AMERICA FIRST.
Yanked trom diary-ln California
- er FRED c. KELLY
Copyright. 1915. by Fred c. Kelly)

Yanked from diary-in California.
Every state In the union 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 80 complete
ly. Regardless OF what state a man comes
from to California. there Is something In the
atmosphere here that makes him yearn TO get
up on top OF dry goods box and boiler: Home
amt nothin' like this
Usually when a man goes from one place TO
another, he takes great pride in telling every
body he sees how much better and pleasanter
things are back where he came from. and what
pinhead he was for leaving there. This Is
all reversed In California. II matters not wheth-
er man has been here day a decade. he
loves to brag about the inferiority OF the eli
mate and general conditions back home.
DO you think you'll ever return TO your ma
tive state7" you ask almost any man. AZ ran
dom, out here. and he looks insulted- 2
who. Me- Go back there. should say not.
I've never had any desire 20 return since the
first day struck California"
You hear that kind OF talk here all day long
until you feel as IL IL would be pleasure -
find somebody who Is homesick
One OF the first indications that visitor Is
catching the California fever Is when he begins
to argue with himself and those about him that
ne would like TO live here. II the germ were not
the proposition one way or the other. Nine
visitors out Of ten become analytical and begin
to make mental lists Of the attractions and dis
advantages Of southern California in parallel
columns
To start with there are ten months OF sun
shine. Against that Ia lack of variety. Mightnt
IL be as monotonous as eating quail day for
30 daysy And there Is no autumn Who wants
about with lavish hand when she paints east
ern autumR2 And during the Ions dry summer,
the green Of the hills turns to dull brown. In
the east after 30 days without rain the weather
gets on peoples nerves and all they talk about
Is the drought. Does anybody care 10 put IN
nine months without rain? On the other hand
southern California is prepared for that sort
Of thing IL has its irrigation bitches its asphalt
and oiled roads, and-most OF the tme-its lack
Of high winds 10 stir up the dust And II II
great sport TO get up every morning knowing
what the weather Is going 10 be. II f. q salts
faction TO be able 10 say three months In ad-
vance that one can go TO a picnic on a certain
date without risk of having ones nice. new
white duck pants all mussed up by thunder
shower.
Then one thinks OF the lack of snow and won
ders II he can reconcile himself not to seeing
that form Of phenomena again Whereupon
southern Cahfornians remind one that IL II pos
sibie TO 20 from the seashore up into the snow
on top of the mountains by automobile on q hot
day In q couple OF hours
The visitor thinks OF all these things, In paral-
lei columns. and tries to convince himself that
the advantages lie back home. Put rule,
II he Ii entirely honest with himself. he reasons
something like this:
Tt's too dry and too monotonous-not enough
variety OF trees or climate. Living in warm
weather the year around would make a man
lazy | would miss the snow and the autumn
leaves. There II Just as pretty country and =
more interesting climate back home STILL
kind Of believe would like 70 live in California
al that"
Southern CaIifornians insist that their death
rate r. the lowest In the world. And this they
say. IL true despite the fact, that the invalids
from the east come here TO do their share
toward boosting the mortality
We fool you. though" Californian said TO
me. you ship your inyalids to ia. but they are
not inyalids 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. I know OF dozen cases IN my own I'm
mediate neighborhood where men who came
here twenty years ago in advanced years are
younger now than they were then. You see the
Lord hesitates 10 let a person die In California
for fear the person will be dissatisfied with
heaven and make trouble"