Putnam patriot., 1925-03-13

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 service is American and it is appar
 ently entirely patronized by Ameri cans. That odd atmosphere foreig'
 to the rest of America of which on'
 is 90 freauently conscious in Cali
 fornia is missing in the U. s. Grant
 Here ia solid comfort. plain food aaiek service adequately and mex
 pensively furnished in the best Am erican manner.
 When we returned from Tia Juana
 this afternoon we found the streets of San Diego thronRed with sailors from the destroyer base which Is 10. rated here. while, as matter of fact the majority of the major ships of the Pacific Fleet are anchored in the harbor. In and out Of the moving picture houses. standing on street corners. in the lunchrooms and restau- rants or merely walking the streets these boys who are training by day fill their nights with desultory re- creation.
 A Great Hotel
 For dinner we crossed the bay to the Strand and by a trolley car went to the Coronado Beach Hotel. If you would do this when in San Diego we will tell you to take car marked "A" in front of the Grant Hotel and ride down to the ferry slip. Here we boarded little white ferry and passed through the two main lines of the fleet. Lights were flashing from all of the ships, launches were put putting busily about while overhead lighted airplane swung round and
 s4- 4 q and then and almost landing in spot of water made brilliant by the focus sed radiance of many searehiights.
 At Coronado we found more of these properties which Galifornians SO delight in describing as "the big rest in the world For instance the dining room of the great hotel is certainly one of the biggest and most overpowering rooms that ever was designed by man. One has the im- precision of eating table d'hote din- ner while seated in the center of the tanbark ring of Madison Square Gar den. Then after dinner. we wander cd through corridor many hundrQde of feet in length int5 q ballroom whose proportlsus were 30 vast that the trw scores of dancers on the polished floor looked like the last remnants of a charity ball in the early morning hours, Outside stretched n great white beach in the moonlight with palms waving in the | Pacific breeze almost to the waters edge and the glow of myriad lights from the shore caught on the edge of the incoming waves.
 Beautiful Balboa Park
 In spite of the fact that by word of mouth and naintcd sign We were as- sured that San Diego has the most equable climate of any city in tfe country. we needed overcoats when we started out this morning to mak , three hour motor ride about the city and out to where Point Loma thrusts itself into the sea. We drove | first up on the heights above the city and saw another of those magnificent schools of which California is SO just ly proud. The beautiful Norman buildings of the San Diego High ] School stand on the very edge of q canyon which Is now occupied by a huge Greek stadium and amphi- theatre. IL was in this canyon that over hundred thousand Californians gathered to hear one of the last speeches ever made in public by Woodrow Wilson. One stands at the end of the stadium now and looks between it's rows of banked seats through the open end out Co a beau tiful view of the city and the Pacific beyond
 The stadium is a part of Balboa Park. certainly the most beautiful public playground in America. This great stretch of land in the very heart of the ever growing city was left to San Diego as a beQuest by an early resident II was the scene some years ago of the San Diego Exposition. one of the best fairs that has ever been accomplished In the history of the country. San Diego had very deh- nite and sensible ideas about this fair. l Unlike those cities which raised structures Of wood and plaster to be | used only temporarily, San Diego visu- alixed it's fair in more permanent i terms The best architects of the country were engaged to erect perma- nent structures of steel and stucco ! to form nermanent part of the civic property. The result has been worthy l VI AtfA ttttA ANH kAHAf kHaH AftfAW Nthe- es in these beautiful Spanish build ings most of it's civic institutions. the l library the natural history museum. ! the botanical and horticultural collec- tions and a host of other city activi- ties. One of the huildings. surmount- i ed bv a high commanding tower In ] the Spanish style is public audi l torium capable of seating thousands of people To one side. at the end of flower decorated mall stands tho l largeS, outdoor organ in the world. the accompaniment of many brilliant concerts each year.
 Out 10 Point Loms
 From Balboa Park we rode out through the new residential section of the city, not unlike other Califor- mia cities in it's Spanish bungalows and it's variegsted eolors of stuceo and stone An this section stands on the end of desert section of sand hills and scrub brush. furnish | ing another of the contrasts made possible in this remarkable country by the benefits of irrigation. On the way Co Point Loma we rode down through the old section of the city. where the original Spanish residents ! first settled and where Helen Hunt Jackson found the scene of her novel Ramona The old house. knowa as "Ramoua's Wedding Place. Is still