A TOUR IN THE WEST 11 II alvith ith the calculating and far aftel g f policy that has always govern arn the e management of the south pacific company they are ng a coast railroad within the cool 1 summer belt thus paralleling tle ft 6 interior road run running u 1 through ta ue torrid affey to the san joaquin v valley a 4 hern thern part of california at nt lt a gap of about one hundred MR 8 remains unfinished on the loftt ifert 14 c line 11 we are however prom that chis this will be completed next y year fao fe when this is an accomplished 10 t 1 the he traveler can go from san fancisco ran ciSco to los angeles without from dust ild B any annoyance beat eat in summer time ri at present we must either go by f mer er 3 or by rail on the road be 4 r jorj mentioned san francisco to thropa P thence via the mile ft attach oh 11 up th the valley climb the adert P P crow the mojave do noih aud through the san fernan eK tn riel 1161 to los angeles or if we bound for barbara leave tile tha auw santa ath t sarh ua e broi track 4 i at alt baugus saugus ot sa and i return i ae est towards the coast about fifty miles residents along the tawn ln line of the U UP P and C CP P have kou wandering ing where the teeming ziada went vent to when bound the curious will find them ere on the coast line A K few years ago the great valley of the san joaquin was sparsely populated egx only a few towns here and there but today that is all changed cities and towns occur every ten or fifteen miles away to the base of the mountains the grand streams pouring down their liquid wealth from the sierras are now being utilized a system of irrigation is being inaugurated and every foot of this wonderful alluvial tract is being claimed fenced and brought into line to help feed the far off countries of europe the greatest adepts in town building on paper reside in these parts A large tract of land is obtained artesian wells are bored or a bi big ditch is made the land is parcelled par celled ke i into tracts of suitable size a fancy 1 name given to it a special train is run from distant points a grand free lunch is spread the best writers have written up the land and all its virtues making it as much like what heaven is supposed to be as possible when the day of gathering comes the best auctioneer on earth gets get down to work and before night the tract is sold and everybody made happy men from all over the earth attend these sales ani purchase mostly for speculative purposes right bight or wrong the country is filling up the homeless from the overcrowded world outside can get themselves a place to call their own if they have the patience to wait and work for it from the mexican boundary to the english on the north this filling up process is going on by the same well organized methods and there is room for millions more on the mojave desert where a few years ago desolation reigned supreme a town is now built science has found water and if you have that necessity you can get everything else by means of labor As ali we cross the desert tb the e sierra madre mountains which lie to the east of san bernardino are in full sight their summits are covered with snow we leave them to the west as we descend to the coast chaat the streams that run from them out on the desert are being taken up and used for I 1 irrigating the land thus developing settlements in a locality where no one ever thought of living a few years agnand where the yuccas and desert growth were the only objects that covered up the thirsty soil at sangue we leave the main track and return northwest for santa barbara following down the santa clara valley to the ocean in the springtime a roaring stream fills the river bed the mountains are green to their summits and rank weeds reign supreme in the uncultivated spots to all appearances anything will grow here oran oranges aff es lemons walnuts olives and grapes and the whole catalogue or of fruit er growth howth seems to reach perfection tn this favored locality eight miles from San gusa is located camelous Cam ulous pro ka boolos this ranch is the famous locality where the imaginary scenes so ably depicted in mrs helen hunt jacksons jackson Is famous story of ramona occurred hundreds of merw persons ns who have read the delightful book have visited and eagerly examined every nook and corner and haye have imagined they could see the hero and heroine of the story among the residents now living there but I 1 could not find an alesandro in th the personnel of the male residents one or two of the charming young ladies might pass for the heroine I 1 I 1 was sorry that my companion and I 1 could not find shelter 6 the home of ramona they were too roll fall of visitors and too much bored before we arrived to welcome us even with a shakedown on the floor we therefore had to hunt the nearest section house where we managed to pass the night on a two and a half feet by six folding bed this hunting the picturesque has some features that cannot be written for this reason I 1 never weary readers of any of my epistles by eions of personal discomforts comforts dis that we are iksoon forgotten and which are a always poor reading the house Is a one story building erected on three sides of a square with porches on the inside where flowers bloom in wild profusion and the finest nest of oranges maybe may be plucked the porches are wide cool and extremely agreeable where wh ere the charming in g lady a dy occupants occur occupants ants help to make the t time me pleasant leasau numbers of halfbreed mexicans are working around and seem to be well cared for brandy and wine are made here in large quantities splendid orchards c extend two or three miles down the river almonds walnuts and olives reach perfection in this favored spot in the orange orchard you are invited to help yourself and a pretty fountain stands jm in the center mass maas is held regularly every morning in the little empel chapel three old bells hanging on a frame under an almond tree are sounded for the morning devotions devotions I 1 looked at these old relics and found one of them with the date 1790 upon it it pay may possibly have been used in some of the old missions that have crumbled away four or live five attractive young ladies were gathering flowers to ornament the altar no devotee at a religious shrine was more interested than these lovely girls nothing could be more picturesque than these earnest maidens with their veils around their headband head sand a semi castilian dress and as the father approached pro ached in his rich vestments we all alf gathered around the mistress of the house was a bustling bustness like lady of about 60 50 years of age and with her came the attaches odthe household the scene was im impressive and full of subjects for reflection this same service this same latin tongue had been heard by the original inhabitants that the brave fathers found when they first landed on the shores of california but alas for human hopes the th indians we a e nearly all gone and the missions with but few exceptions are crumbling to powder another race has overrun overran the country and all that is old and interesting are these same relics of the indomitable faith and perseverance of the catholic fathers so many will visit this place and so much will be said add about ramona bamona that in a few years nine out of every ten persons dersons will believe that the who whole le book is an actual fact we delight to realize the ideals that fiction creates lower down the valley valler immense q quantities banti eg of petroleum t role um a are 0 obtained and nd pi piped j d dorn down to ven ventura ra sometimes me called 11 ed san bu buenaventura en av t u ra no richer land or more fertile can be found anywhere than can be seen here the whole valley Is a repetition of camulos camblos in the matter of fruit ventura is an unimportant town it must have been very dull before the human tide set in that has hunted bunted out the locations highly favored as to climate there is an old mission here but it has been doctored with modern touches and is no longer on an object of interest A long pier into the ocean it is the embarking point for the coast steamers not a solitary vess vessel I 1 was in sight it was a harbor without shipping a seaport without sailors this city needs the magic pen of the boomer to invest it with elysian delights there are but few evidences of the mexican occupation of the place the pale faces are larg largely elyin in the ascendant prom from ventura the railroad follows the coast on our right are the sa santa n ynez mountains and on the left the grand old pacific ocean all the stations have bave spanish names some of the richest fruit gardens and best paying ranches are found along the western slopes of the santa ynez ynez the land had been plentifully watered by a heavy rainfall rain hill so that the rivers were full and everything lovely enough rain had fallen to insure the crops for 1889 farmers and rist correspondingly happy santa banta barbara the noted sanitarium of the pacific slope Is situated in a lovely valley and stretches out on each side to the hills h ills and mountains mou n very few buildings are now standing here that have the sta stamp m of age here and there an old red med tiled curiosity remains notably the building occupied by general fremont in 1847 there is the long pier with a solitary vessel moored alongside the shore is devoid of craggy rocks except in a few places the huge surf thunders away the temperature of the ocean ranges between 60 and 66 degrees during the entire year the highest marking of the mercury was 85 deg in august 1886 no frosts trouble the people bananas grow out in the open air the loquat a japanese fruit with a delicious acid taste ripens here if there is a heaven on earth in the matter of climatic convenience it is in santa barbara it is essentially a tourist town the influx of visitors forms the chief source of support for the residents there are no factories no evidences of that mercantile activity which are found farther north the boom has struck this place climate and soil bring fabulous prices there is no room for the poor here the ca capitalist i Ital lust is always welcome the toufy truly wicked can find a foretaste of heaven which no religionist will guarantee him in the life beyond unless he becomes a devoted adherent one of the grandest of the old missions is located about a mile from the town to my mind it is the handsomest I 1 have ever seen the surroundings are all that can be wished for it was founded in in 1782 by father Juni pera serra berra one of the noblest of the early fathers strange to say among all the monuments erected to the memory of the early explorers no bust commemorates the unselfish work of this bold and brave man within the sacred cou confines tines of the edifice is located the mission garden one of the choicest spots on earth small in size but filled with all kinds of rare and beautiful flowers and trees I 1 had hard work to get there but I 1 did and never regret it I 1 am told that no women can enter the sacred precincts of this garden of heaven father okeefe permitted me to catch the shadows that played from the attractions concentrated ther therein elu it seemed strange to man with etonian proclivities clivi ties to be where the gentler of the two sexes was forbidden to enter the garden of edep eden would have been a failure without our mother eve but no power of pope or priest could prevent the beautiful doves that swarmed around from billing and cooing proclaiming aloud the joys of associations without which our existence would have been miserable on the south front a long corridor extends nearly the whole length of the building pepper trees with their graceful waving foliage help the semitropical semi tropical effect while a long reservoir built of masonry co completes deteo the effect of happy surroundings the interior Is plain but in strict harmony with the exterior some old paintings fy by old masters depict the terrors of hell in bloodcurdling blood curdling cardlin style A few new pictures also len lend a charm to the general effect the thoughts sober down clown to reverence for the devotion and courage of men who planted the cross in this desolate region long before the energy of man had made the natural resources available A door from the centre leads into the graveyard where sleep many of 01 the fathers and mothers who landed upon the shores in the early e part of this century I 1 was also informed that the bones of hundreds of indians are buried in this little cemetery over the before mentioned door are three skulls and crossbones cross bones embedded in the plaster after abi style of the pirate nags of a century cen teffy ago I 1 imagine that the object was to show that outside of the 11 pale le of 0 the church all was desther death dest heV while ile inside was eternal life one will have to travel a long way to f find n d anything more quaint than this de deaths athO head doorway the fathers who reside in the mission are men of culture and re of manner they wi will never become emasculated on account of their luxurious abode one of them looked ready for an old folks excursion being over seventy sevens in appearance father okeefe was a jolly majolly easygoing easy going and refined 80 sort rt of man who in any other garb go would have passed for a well to do farmer another one yeas yas a tall austere german of commanding mien and the opposite of the genia gew father okeefe strangers are admitted into the church every day at one I 1 think the fathers are bored very much by the persistent tourists but all are not hunting the de picturesque esque they bear the trial tria with elegant composure and 0 VO doubt consider it one of thelex the dexa eions of life from a point near the mission plastered road a mile and a half bal of long runs through the town 01 santa barbara it cost to w construct and is a credit botn to the awakened enterprise enter prize of a slumbering city generally where nature a 0 has done everything to make td place attractive man does next nothing there is more brain worl done above the bath parallel than tb from there to the equatorial line W south Q As you look seaward from tale on shore three or four islands ward the heaviest effects of I 1 t the h e s they are called ban miguel san auts rosa the largest of them all santa 8 to cruz and anacapa anacaya Ana capa san ban call alg fornia the grave graveyard ard for the fire first at califern Cali forn pioneer buan juan Bod rodriquez cabri he having 81 sighted eted the these severY very islan of pos on the ath of october 1542 1512 but theo sibly others may have seen w and never lived to tell the tale As a seaport santa barbara w Is significant there esthe long pa few the solitary schooner and a yachts and the occasional visit of the coast steamers the shore is lot dot very rocky the weeds are few and far between A keen observer aay Mav maydoll doll do the marine attraction in a few hours not so the attractions tt land for the mountain canyons rud d the many nooks and corners are bristling rist ling with attractions that the wealthy pleasure seekers only can ferret arret out A dying sinner may well regret having to leave this earthly paradise for the slim chance of a better corli beyond so the real estate men say C R SAVAGE