Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1921-03-31

surely would be Living in Lone
somehurst." A freight train pass
ing to the southeast was made up of
sixty-five cars and of these l took
notice that twenty-three were oil
tanks, which told the story that it
wa an oil country. We reached
Mojave a little after noon and the
reader will remember that the des-
olate region of which / have spoken
is the Mojave desert, an almost bar
rem basin. The Mojave river flows
out of the San Bernardino range of
mountains and finally disappears
from view in the Mojave sink. The
boys who went across in the recent
war often speak of mo Mans
Land" / said if there was such a
place in this country, we had surely
passed through it. This country
was in marked contrast to one OF
flowers and natural beauty which
we had left only a few hours be-
fore. There are many industries
out there which Iowa will never
have, for ours is largely an agricul-
tural state. For instance, giant
cement plant came into view when
we were Just getting away from the
desert, and much labor is involved
from the rock to the finished pro-
duct. A change in scenery was well
come and the snow in the noun
tains and a lake by the right of way
looked good. We passed through
one town composed almost entirely
OF shacks, occupied I presume by
the laborers of that locality. In the
country around Tehachapi the seem
cry is very fine. AT one place the
train makes a loop in order to get
over the great elevation at that place
which is over four thousand feet.
Through the country from Mojave
to Bakersfield you pass through 81
tunnels. On the way north I was
sitting on the east side of the car
and two or three times along toward
sunset the sun shone directly in at
my window. We were going 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 noun
tains above, the view was pictur-
esque. At Caliente ] took notice of
little country postoffice, with hitch
posts out in front and an old western
pony tied there. It looked like Ross
did back in the eighties. In only
few minutes time we were out of
the mountains and onto the plains,
devoted to sheep raising I should
Judge by the corrals. At Bakers
field counted thirty-four tents, from
the car window and on one side of
the train only. 1t goes to show how
people can live out here. In fact,
a good many towns have a munich
pal camp ground and some make a
charge of twenty-five cents a day,
and thus the camps are afforded
some protection and also the use of
city water. At one place a garage
was the only building whereabouts.
No town or settlement close by, but
it was on a fine road and many
autoists were doubtless thankful it
was there as a kind OF halfway
house. 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 a little
odd, and that was this: Through
long stretches of country almost UNI
inhabited, I noticed there were the
finest kind of paved roads. How
ever. these were built by state tax
and they were from one town to an
other, regardless of the 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 a time and
had a good look at the country
there. Tulare lake, which is the
largest in the state. and is said to
be decreasing in size and is in a
somewhat swampy region. Tulare
county is between the Coast range
and 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 turkey by getting
them in range between you and the
full moon and in that way they can
be seen very plainly. So / told a
cousin of mine I would try this on
the Coast range, only I would use
the sun instead of the moon. The
evening was hazy, about like our
Indian summer, and a little while
before shutdown ] began to watch.
Sure enough, while the sun was APP
parently up quite a little distance
yet, a mountain peak appeared in
the lower part and soon the sun was
set. So saw the Coast range that
evening just as long as 1t took the
sun to set. Such little incidents are
quite unimportant in a way, yet
dare say that not one or my readers
ever saw the Coast range mountains
by means of the setting sun. Mt.
Whitney, the highest montain in the
u. S., is in this county and while we
did not get to see it, we were not so
very far away from 1t at one time.
Land in Tulare county is WORTH
from $50 to $500 per acre. Seed
ing commences in September and
continues to March, and likewise
harvest lasts from June to Septem-
Der. During the summer there is
no wind or rain, and consequently
harvest continues for three months
at any time a particular field ripens
/ have it on good authority that ripe
grain has been known to stand for
ninety days. Almost equal to grain
in Canada, where John Lovelace
says It has stood over winter and
the binders started in again at
springtime as soon as the snow goes
off. Irrigation is necessary here,
as in many other parts of California.
Water is obtained from wells, being
pumped by electricity, and at the
particular farm we visited a nine
inch centrifugal pump was used,
which threw some stream. The
largest grove of big trees in the
world is in this county and they are
known as Sequoia Gigantea, located
in the Sequoia National Park, which
contains over 100000 acres. In this
mark thara are over $4,000 trees