South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-04-27
Seeing America
First
BY Fred Kelly.

From Diary:
When headed toward San Francis
co. it is we'll to remember that it is
San Francisco you are approaching
not Frisco. Even as far away as Los
Angeles you will be warned not to
call the town Frisco. There was a
time when San Franciscans them
selves gayly termed their city Frisco,
but that time is past, and natives re-
sent any nicknaming. Also, in this
same connection, il is a good plan to
bear in mind that the first part of Los
Angeles is pronounced not Loss but
LOce. The pronunciation of Angeles
itself is not so important. There is
a right way, of course, but compare
lively few of the people who live there
are certain just what that right way
is Some make il An-ge-lus, with the
as in band and the as in George;
others say it An-ge-leez with the
as in bar-rOOm and the & as in goat.
Still others pronounce the second
syllable as if it were An-ZHU-leez.
And so on. But it does not matter
Just start out with LOCE, and re-
gardless of the way you do the rest
of the name. you will have no diff
Guilty in keeping out of trouble.
California is bursting with neat
little surprises. Trick stuff, you know
For example, let us say you are going
from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
An hour or SO out Of Los Angeles you
come 20 "a tunnel that runs through a
high mountain. That mountain is
wall between two entirely different
kinds of climate. The tunnel is the
doorway. or rather il is a hallway,
separating two great outdoor rooms
where things are altogether different.
When You start into the tunnel you
are in a land that has only three
months of rainfall. Two or three
minutes later and YOU come out at
the other end of the tunnel in coun-
try where there is almost twice as
much annual rainfall. And when you
come out YOU blink 10 make sure you
have not just awakened from long
dream. For the orange groves seem
TO have entirely disappeared, and the
shade trees are altogether different
bigger trees and OF a greater variety
Possibly, too, you have passed sud
denly from sunshine TO clouds. or
rain.
For a complete change of scene
within few moments. il is about as
clever as anything nature can show
anywhere David Belasco alone could
beat it,
You keep on going and shortly you
are in a bit OF desert. But il doesn't
last. Then you find yourself in a
vast grazing country, mountains in the
distance but the land in between as
fat as a billiard table. 10 use a brand
new comparison. You come closer TO
the mountains and they seem to have
grass and cattle on them clear to the
top. They are the grassiest slopes.
considering their height that YOU ever
saw. Here and there are perhaps
a few COW persons or mustangs. Take
good look at these. for they are
scarce in the wild west. leaving out of
consideration the picturesque motion
picture cowboys. About the only
thing you see less OF than real cow
boys in the west is the Frederic Rem
ingtOn style OF Indian standing erect
on a high cliff shading his eyes with
his palm.
Presently there is another radical
change OF scene. In place OF the
grazing country is the small fruit belt
cherries. peaches and the like.
And another important feature ~