The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-03-02
THE OWOSSO TIMES
OwOSsO. MICH. MARCH 2. 1917.
In the Land Of Sunshine.
CONTINUED from page one.)

city Of the valley being Bakersfield
A new road has been opened the past
year, known as the Ridge Route. In
stead of using pass, the road tray
erses the ridges.
Leaving Los Angeles we rode ur
the broad and fertile San Fernando
valley with the San Gabriel noun
tains to the east. In passing up the
valley we had risen from an altitude
Of 800 feet lat Los Angeles to an alti-
tude Of ITO feet at Sangus near the
lower or foothills. Our road over
the range was ffty-four miles in
length before we reached the north
side valley. When we reached the
summit of the range, we were at an
altitude Of 1928 feet. 1t was beau
tiful day, the air was clear and the
eye could take in range beyond
range, many miles distant, or survey
the many mountain peaks that lifted
their heads in all directions. For a
change we could look down the steep
mountain sides far into the valleys
lying below. The road wound in and
out around the sides of the ranges,
ever climbing higher until the sum-
NIT was reached. Often we could see
our road some distance in advance
winding around the base of some vast
rocky mass, with deep valleys lying
some hundreds of feet below, and fire.
quently we would remark that such
a place must be the summit, and
when reached only to see our road
still going up and up. There is a
fascination in travelling in this way
as a new Scene comes into view nearS
ly every minute of the time. And
what a scene lies before, yoH .wheH
you reacRsthe summit !e1t is beyond
words to picture and can be realized
only when you have had experiences
with which to compare.
You may ask if it were dangerous.
l would say yes and no. If your ma
chine is in perfect order and the
driver attends to business there is
little to fear, although a miscalcula-
ton might send all down a rugged
mountain side hundreds or even
thousands of feet below. This range
was small factor as compared with
some traversed farther in our jour
ney. Yet, during the entire trip,
there was not a single time when l
felt the least uneasy about the route
before us.
A side trip was taken at Bakers
field into the oil fields, where we saw
thousands Of wells pumping up the
black molasses-like oils from 900 feet
below. Huge reservoirs containing
thousands Of barrels stretched far
away upon the landscape, and hun
drcds oil acres we're covered With I'M
mense tanks. The supply Of crude
oil was beyond comprehension and
yet the ceaseless pumping at the wells
went OH.
1t would probably tire your read
ers if we were to attempt to describe
the San Joaquin valley in much de-
tail, so we will speak of it generally.
The valley extends from Bakersfield
to Stockton, distance of $50 miles
and in width it is from so to $50
miles. 1t is mostly level and is
rich soil, though in places it is quite
alkaline. Grains and fruits are to be
estimated by the thousands of acres.
The fruits are the peaches, apricots,
plums, grapes, prunes, almond, oil
ives, walnuts, with oranges near theI
foothills. The latter pertains more
to the southern portion. The vine
yards of wine grapes are to be count
ed in thousands of acres. We saw
many train loads Of wine grapes be-
ing loaded or on their way to the
wineries. The cars were mostly fiat
cars with high side and end boards
and the grapes were in bulk and piled
up high. North of Stockton we saw
the vineyards of Tokay grapes ex-
tending as far as the eye could reach
in all directions. The Tokays are a
large purple grape with firm skin
making them good for stripping. / |
saw punches fifteen inches in length !
and six to eight inches in diameter.
Some grapes, you will say.
At Selma, in Fresno county, we Wis
tied a canning factory. They employ
ed 200 men and 300 women and were
putting up daily 100000 cans of
peaches. /
Harvesting in the San Joaquin val
ley is not to be compared with the
gathering of grains in Michigan. Here
The grain is cut, thrcshed and sacked :.