Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-11-03

To the Editor OF The Herald,
Lancaster, Wisconsin.
Dear sir =.
In my last letter / did not get
through telling you about the interest
ing features of San Diego. where We
spent a little more than. a month in
most delightful manner. !,
San Diego is the southernmost OF
all the California coast cities, and is
also smaller than either Of its compel
itors-Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Oakland-being yet below the 100 900
mark in population; but It has much
of interest and beauty to show to the
stranger within it's. gates, besides
climate, and of that it has not superior
on the continent -. i';e~
The San Diego Fair.
Naturally your readers may. wonder
delightful city, have not yet touched
upon the subject of San Diego's Pan
anna California exposition. While,
personally, / have been more interest
ed in other things upon the COAST than
in either Of the expositiQns,, 1 have
found this show to be a perfect gem,
4 in. most unique setting, and was
charmed in i,seeing the wonderful
things. that have been accomplished
/ by those in charge of it, fci5 be it re-
membered, while the SAN Diego fair is
planned upon a -mucha smaller scale
/ than the big show at San. Francisco,
1 its products and it's. characteristics,
and especially to the southern. counties
of the state,it is fully as perfect in its.
way as its more ambitious neighbOr
up the coast a rare assembling of the
wonders offered by the mountains and
valleys, the coast and the hinterland
| of the American West.
-. Site Previously Desert. ~.
It's site is composed of a tract Of
land 1,4OO acres in extent located
right in the heart of the city, which
had been reserved for city park, bur
owing to the seamy character of the
land, rugged and severed by.aalternat-
ing canyons and .meSas, ~Qnl%.a small
/ portion upon the western side Of the
| tract had been developed and.imp-Oyed
IS park, the remainder, devoid Of
I water, bridges and streets, being still
in its natural desert condition, sub
I stantially as it had been for centur-
les past, with the city growing and ex-
! tending in the most modern and pro-
1 gessive manner upon all four sides OF
it,
+ After it was decided, four years ago
/ to hold this fair, the work of making
this desert over into paradise Of
i beauty was begun and carried TO q
most successful elimination
- In Pleasant Gardens.
It is different in all of it's character
/ istics from any other exposition that
has. preceded it, and the most charming
effects imaginable in. landscape gar
dening, cloaked in the rich green OF
the semi-tropics, from which flashes
/ the crimson and scarlet Of the pOin-
setta, the gold of the poppyand acacia
the blazing purple Of the .fOuga ,nvilliay
and the myriad hues of the other SUI
perb plants, have been obtained.
Spanish Architecture PredOminateS.
In architecture the Spanish and col
onial styles are blended with the Moor
ish, but the Spanish predominatesy
many of the buildings being the exact
replica of some historic palace OF
/ Spain or Spanish America. This
seems especially fitting when it is re-
membered that San Diego and South
ern California trace their histories
back to the days Of the Conquistadores
and the Padres. The New Mexico
building, for example, is the replica OF
the ancient Mission on the Rock Of
Aconia in New Mexico, one of the
famous missions along the Santa Fe
trail From every section. Of the ex-
position is the commanding view of the
Pacifice, over which came the discov-
erers in 1912, and to the north and
east and south are seen the peaks OF
the Sierras of California and Mexico
The Great PuentO CabrillO.
One of the prettiest and most inter
esting features of architecture upon
the grounds is the great Puenta CAB
rillo, which is the approach from the
west main entrance to the grounds
This is a masterpiece of engineering
which bridges the Canon CabrlliO-
This structure is 1,O1O feet long, ris-
ing from a pool in the canyon, $50
feet below, and is the first reinforced
concrete viaduct of the cantilever unit
type which has been built. From the
parapets can be obtained good idea
of the extraordinary planting which
constitutes one of the most important
features of the eXpOsitions. Ell Prado-
the main street of the exposition, Is
a continuation OF the Puenta Cabrillo-
and leads almost due east through the
Plaza de California and into the Plaza
de Panama.
Exhibits In the Open.
The exhibits are all splendid in their
character, and many of the industries
are represented Gin the making rath-
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