Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-19

u le
4 am afraid to go that far" pro-
tested, ut looks too much like rain
"Ohl Quit your fooling now, you
know 1t won't hurt us II 1t does rain
We're not back in Iowa" came the
chorus rejoinder and they were right
1t would not inconvenience anyone
beyond the slight chore Of raising the
top Of his car so the argument ended
by our going to the beach, rain OF
shine. I could not help, tho, thinking
Of 10000 automobile homes In Iowa
so per cent Of which were farm homes
and In which no one would dare motor
to town, to the ball game or even FOL
the doctor when the clouds hung dark
and heavy. l could recall so many In
stances Of families being caught out
for the night In strange places by sud
den showers that 1t was difficult FOL
me to realize that no weather, day OF
night would stop an automobile IN q
country OF paved roads. On my trip
to Riverside, fifty miles away, made
100 miles the next day thru Redlands
San Bernardino and home again thru
rain that never stopped for minute
and neither Grandma nor the baby
seemed to experience any discontinue
nor did l get wet In the driving.
lke's Ocean.
When we motored to the beach we
usually went out thru Glendale where
Archie Parker and wife, the Sails
burys, Leora Cammack and many other
familiar Marshalltown expatriates are
living, on past the home Of L. G. Nor
ris, formerly manager for Let's
Fletcher & Co.. but now living IN
beautiful Hollywood. which rivals Pas
adena for first place among all the res
idential towns, In southern California,
down thru the oil fields, past the Los
Angeles Country Club, thru the SOL
diers' home grounds where more than
twice as many veterans are watching
out the sunset Of life as are quartered
at Marshalltown, and thence to Santa
Monica which is easily the most at
tractive Of the beach resort towns altho
it's next door and near door neighbor,
Venice, gets the crowd because 1t has
the merry-go-round. roller coaster.
bathing pool and all around amuse-
ment pier built by an eastern man who
sold out to the tobacco trust for s10,-
100000, invested 1t In building an
amusement city where there was moth
ing but sand before and made big
money out of the enterprise. At Santa
Monica we always felt a breezy well
come because we gazed upon likes
ocean" as the boys persisted in calling
it. Ike Speers, formerly manager OF
the Odeon in Marshalltown, lives there.
He of the personal guarantee and lke's
invitation was to come over to my
ocean. I own the sky and the sea
and it is yours" He owns the bill
boards in Venice, too, and they are
profitable. What Is more he has passes
to every concession and II you are a
friend OF Ikes enjoyment In Venice
has no bounds. The policeman will tip
his hat to you. likewise the newsboys
as Ike fits about darting in here and
out there running the whole place.
Winter Bathing a Myth.
Bathing in the ocean in winter time
is reserved for tho guide books and
the indoor pools OF heated water.
saw rugged, athletic men OF football
age trying (. at San Diego in March
and they had to run up and down the
beaches to keep up circulation, but the
children did manage to find weather
after the first Of March at Santa Mon
lea which made wading In the surf
possible. Spring opens there March l
about as 1t does here April Is, the lati-
tude being about the same as In Ar.
kansas.
Returning we would usually swing
around over another paved road lead
ing thru the dairy farms, truck gard
ems and sugar beet fields into Los
Angeles and thence out to the east and
thru beautifully scenic drive between
the hills known as Coyote pass. Had
we gone to Long Beach it would have
taken US almost due south from Los
Angeles and farther by ten miles each
way, but Ikes ocean at Santa Monica
seemed more beautiful to us altho a
town as big as Waterloo has grown
up at Long Beach without any appar-
ent reason except that climate and sea-
shore meet. The place Is surrounded
by low lands for many miles and Los
Angeles twenty-five miles away can
do all the business. In fact all but a
mile or two Of the twenty-five are in
side the city limits OF Los Angeles for
1t is here that Los Angeles reached out
and annexed everything to the sea at
San Pedro SO as to have a sea port and
then the stupid interstate commerce
commission at Washington, when 1t re-
duced sea-tboard freight rates, could
not understand that Los Angeles was
seaport town but left 1t high and
dry, mostly high. in the interior town
classification.
A Country Of Inconsistencies.
This. Of course, was sweet morsel
for San Diego where nature had pro-
v;ded one Of the finest harbors In the
world which Is eloquently proclaimed
by salaried lecturers as the First port
Of call from the Panama canal" but
California is a country of inconsistent
cies., The sandy bottoms of it's rivers
are on top while the water courses
underneath the sand in hidden stream
except in time Of freshet. The produce
merchant must needs letter his show
windows 1.-THE Cow Butter Store" fol-
associating with goats and "Milch
own in the small ad section of the
nawsnaners Therefore nature built 8
perfect harbor at San Diego and mar
minal at Los Angeles 125 miles from
San Diego and almost twenty-five miles
inland from the sea.
San Diego 9ubsisting. on Clinats.
And this town of San Diego was {
Moines but has forty eight hotels. ont
costing 31,25O,000 and another $4,000
00O At least forty Of the forty-eigh
hotels are better, each one, than thu
best in Des Moines and then they hav'
thirty large apartment houses or more
! Getting ready for the exposition bull
all these things and climate will hav'
to keep them going. hereafter for 81 We
There IL no business for San Diego