Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1921-04-07


presume by the laborers of that
locality. In the country around
Tehachapi the scenery is very 6ne.
At one place the train makes a
loop in order to get over the great
elevation at this place which is
over four thousand feet. Through
the country from Mojave to Ba-
kersfeld you pass through twenty
seven tunnels. On the way north
| was sitting on the east side of the
car and two or three times along
toward sunset the sun shone di-
rectly in at my window. We were
gong back toward Long Beach.
The country was so rough and
mountainous that the railroad had
to wind Its way through as best it
could. Far below in the little
stream the frogs were croaking,
and with beautiful mountains a.
bove, the view was picturesque.
At Caliente l took notice of little
country postof6ce, with hitchposts
out in front and an old western
pony tied there. 1t looked like
Ross did back in the eighties. In
only a few minutes time we were
out Of the mountains and into the
plains, devoted to sheep-raising
| should Judge by the corrals. At
Bakersfield l counted thirty-four
tents, these from the car window
and on one side of the train only.
1t goes to show how people can
live out there. In fact, a good
many towns have municipal
camp ground and some make a
charge of twenty-five cents per day
and thus the camps are afforded
some protection and also the use
of city water. At one place a gar
age was the only building there
abouts No town OF settlement
close by, but it was on fine road
and many autoists were doubtless
thankful that it was there as kind
Of a half way station. The train
rolled on through miles and miles
of grass. Like many other places
in the west-good soil but short on
water. One thing common to
California was little odd, and
that was this: through long stretch
es Of country, almost uninhabited,
/ noticed there were the finest kind
of paved roads. However, these
were built by state tax and they
went from one town to another re-
CARELESS of distance or the kind of
country they traverse. In that
way the valuable land bears the
main tax. Arriving at Tulare we
visited relatives for time and had
a good look at the country there.
Tulare lake, which is the largest in
the state, is said to be decreasing
in size, and is in somewhat
swampy region. Tulare county is
between the Coast Range and the
Sierra Nevada mountains, in the
famous San Joaquin valley and is
about the size Of the state of Con-
necticut. Old timers tell me they
used to kill wild turkeys by get
ting them in range between you
and the full moon and in that way
they can be seen very plainly. So
l told q cousin Of mine I would try
this on the Coast Range mountains
only l would use the sun instead of
the moon. The evening was hazy
about like our Indian summer, and
little while before shutdown l be-
gan to watch. Sure enough, while
the sun was apparently up quite a
little distance yet, mountain
peak appeared in the lower part
and soon the sun was set. So l
saw the Coast Range mountains
that evening just as long as it took
the sun to set. Such little Incl
dents are quite unimportant in a
way, yet dare say that not one
of my readers ever saw the Coast
Range mountains by means of the
setting sun. Mt. Whitney, the
highest mountain in the U S., is in