The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-10-14
nv GEORGE II. WHITE.


We'll hare we are: back in the land
Of plenty from the land of opportunity
from the land Of new things ana OF
very old things. the land everyone
wants to know more about-the golo-
en- state OF California .,.4
California. What memories that
word brings 10 travellers or vacation
ISIS. what expectations to prospective
visitors or investors And TO thliA
that this pleasant place ever was
named a fiery furnace! res as
brakeman convincingly declared en-
roure while explaining the sense OF
-r,,c,,r,cari every Indian and Spanish
word has a meaning -and Calltornla'
being a Spanish word, means purh-
ing furnace
But this appreciation by some ear
IL Spanlard has been modihed by mou-
ern conqUistadores to the sunny CaH-
fornia u song and story ana railway
advertising, semi-tropical fiora, mil
uonaire production, yellow metal anu
some yellow peril.
So IL is of sunny California, partc-
ularly the sunniest, and yet the odltil-
lest. part of it that 1 would gossip
While all the world hungers and some
uarts thirst after California, accord
ing TO my premise, kansans ought 10
b,. especially interested at the mo-
rnent for the seeds of prohibition I'M
planted BY dry invaders have sprung
up into a mighty vote that threatens
TO smother out the vineyards De
tenders cry from billboards ana print
ed ana csrtooned pages ana the at
tackers are nOt lacking OF any answer
Verify. It il merry argument
season in California just now. and not
a few loint back to Kansas as the
fountain spring whence comes the wa
ter wagon that looms up on the horl-
zon In ching forward with the 1or-
nidabi ity of British tank and likely
10 ride yer -.enbottIements" Novem-
Der :.
People of Plains.
Nor is the prohibition scare the only
welfare for which the old guard
thanks the people Of the plains In
deed. the people OF the plains are
gradually dominating the proud, old
state Of California. rolling over the
sferras and down to the sea. sweep
ing all before them Cosmopolitanlsn
and personal liberty, as so many in
the last line lament, are being crushed
into 'fviou as the invading hOrdes
make their electoral registration. Dear
Old Los Angeles. for instance, hardest
hit Of all. perhaps. is no longer called
the city of angels. but the chemicall:
pure The Native Sons and Daughters
Of the Golden West. unable to stem
the tide have been forced to take their
Despite the preparation. the plains
ra.n and women still coming to Cali
foruia- whether to see or settle. find it
much rs a strange and foreign countrJ
beyond a vast desert waste which they
cannot help but feel required more
courage of the mad forty-niners than
ever moved old man Columbus
Surely. as they roll over the noun
tains in their Pullman palace cars
or their rapid gasoline prairie schOOn-
ers the new terrain, although part
of California. presents perfectly i'm
possible aspect. Barren foothills and
mesas no doubt cause them to pine
for the broad flat agricultural lands
Of home where human habitation is
not only possible but profitable.
But soon they look down upon a
vale. a most beautifully green vale in
deep rim of brown and maybe
there's \ river in il. and. if there isn't
its a cinch there are pumping plants
fumes or irrigation bitches. To be
sure. they have sometime read
Ramona. Here. then. is a familiar
story book scene which helps AnG
coming closer. perhaps running dowr
into it. they find that an orange tree
is not larger than a wild geranium
they bite on the innocent looking olive
they learn among a lot Of other things
that fig leaf is not nearly so large as
they had supposed, and they hav.
taken the first degree into the order OF
California
And the Ocean.
Yet there are greater and greenel
fields beyond. Wonderment increase.
with the miles and they journey on tC
come finally to what. the interstate
commerce commission. railway tariff
experts and chambers of commerce q
often refer TO as tidewater and they