A TRIP TO 'FRISCO FAIR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 96, 15 October 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

A TRIP TO 'FRISCO FAIR.

AND ELSEWHERE.

By "TE WHARE"

A trip round " Los Angejes" by rightseeing automobile, proved a very nice afternoon at the cost of 50c, and the trip was through the chief business and residential parte of the City. There are 37 Banks—three of which are open day and night. Noted Bunker Hill - where the Stars and Stripes were first hoisted; were shown the fine new " Times'' building, re-erected since the dynamiting on the part of the Labour Union, and for which the leaders are now undergoing imprisonment for life. A model of the old building in stone was shown us in the grounds of the present editor, and by the way, several editors homes shown us here are virtual , palaces. We noticed on visiting many ', parks of great beauty, and of which Los Angeles is well supplied that there are no notices "Keep off the Grass"—they contend here that no amount of walking will spoil Californian grass. The more you walk on it the better it is! Magnificent apartment houses, great departmental stores, huge Banks and Government buildings must be seen to , be appreciated. The congestion of traffic is so huge and increasing so rapidly, that underground subways must be the result in the very near future. There is no less than 1 automobile to every eight electors, and in the Orang County there is 1 to every six voters. The longest and straightest avenue in the world they say is in Los Angeles. It extends from the Foot hills to the sea and is paved the whole distance. We passed up and down some 26 miles of avenues lined with the most beautiful bungalows one could imagine, for Southern California is renowned for that style of building, and the conductor pointed us out one that had no less than SEVEN KITCHENS-Mr. and , Mrs. Kitchen and their five children! Within the past 3 years, no less than 7000 of these buildings have been erected at a cost of 7,000,000 dols. A power, ful wireless station is here that receives direct messages from as far away as Japan. Fruit is in great luxuriance, but not a great variety of flowers. They , say here that there are really more flowers in the winter than in mid-sum-mer. One very fine mansion was built after a copy of York Castle. Many of the biggest men in Les Angeles to-day, started a very few years ago in the . simplest manner. One big furniture man still keeps to hie old motto. You , find the girl and Til furnish the home.' Outside the big hospital we noted big signs on both sides of the road "Run Quietly." There are no less than 2500 factories in the City and it ranks as a d : 6tributing centre 7th in United . States business. W r e took on the " Old Mission Trips" advertised as 100 MILES FOR 100 CENTS. As a matter of fact the cost is li dollars, but well worth it. The extra 50 cents being for an extra touring-car trip through the millionaire district of Passidena and to the Busch Sunken Gardens. One of the sights in the old Mission garden is a grape vine planted in 1771 and still in good bearing. It covers 9000 square feet and its trunk is 8 feet round at the base. We had 52 passengers in our car and the guide informed us that no less than 2750 regular electric trams leave for spots in City and suburbs daily. On our way we were told that there were 250 wholesale businesses in Los Angeles Street and that the old Bell of Carmel was always (w)ringing on wet days! Los Angeles means the • CITY OF THE ANGELS."

and ju6t like your two hands is bounded by palms and supported by two wrists (tourists)! We passed a huge gasometer that holds 2,600,000 feet of ga6! they have seven sports grounds and 42 parks. The guides are never tired of pointing out the eucalyptus trees. Roads are lined with pepper, camphor, acacia trees and it is very funny to hear guides informing the people that the gums shed their bark regularly, but not their leaves. The Crown City Passedena has a population of 40,000 and is a city of modern homes, hotels, and churches. Great as the throng is now, in winter it must be still greater, for three of the largest hotels costing 100,000 dollars to build, are open only in the winter season. None of the pepper or palm trees are of commercial value, as the nights are too cold for them to mature their fruit and 6eeds. One very fine church the first Methodist Episcopal) costing 150, 000 dollars has in its architecture a fac simile of nine different missions. Busch's Sunken Garden is a show place and employs 42 gardeners to keep up. many quaint groups of figures are met with, representing characters in Fairy. land, for the benefit of the children. Numbers of beautiful plants and trees are to be seen here. Was again shown a willow tree the slip of which was brought from Napoleon's grave! Along what they call Millionaire's road, there are no less than 140 beautiful bronze street lamps on each side, each pillar costing 170 dollars. The Cafeterias they say originated in Los Angeles, and now are to be met with everywhere, and are a great joke. You arm yourself with a tray, serviette, knife, fork and spoon, and then follow in line and help yourself as you go along to what dainties you desire, receiving check at end of line that you pay when leaving the room. As a man said to-day, you do everything but wash the dishes! A beautiful Polytechnic High School at Passedena cost 400,000 dollars. We went through miles of orange, lemon, walnut, and olive groves, mo6t of which were unfenced and no one thinks or walking through them without permi6ision. One great ranch owned by one man covers 63,000 acres, and they say that orange trees begin to fruit at 2 years of age and are at maturity at 5 years, and keep on bearing for a life time and longer. In the bearing season they are irrigated twice a week. They fertilise them with bone manure once a year and fumigate them once in two years. Although they have snow on the very highest hills for 3 months in winter only, yet they have oil stoves going through the lemon groves every night in winter to ward off stray frosts. This is called "smudging". We were the only New Zealanders on the car. In fact, Australians or British we very rarely meet, 95 per cent, of the visitors Iteing from the Eastern and Central States. On this trip we visited the OSTRICH FARM'S feather shop and made acquaintance with the herd and also with 6uch exalt. Ed stud birds as Mr. aid Mrs. Taft, President and Mrs. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Rooseveldt, and even with King George and Queen Mary! They commence to pull feathers from these birds twice a year after they are six months old. Father and mother take turns to sit. on eggs at night time, but during the day they allow the sunshine to do the work. "They don't believe in working more than eight hours a day," said the Guide! At 5 years old they commence to mate, and never choose but the one. They stick together for their life-time, often as long as 80 or 90 joars, a good object lesson for some

of the human race. We were told as a joke that "the reason an ostrich has such a long neck is that the head is such a long way from the body!" and also having such a long neck he enjoy*, his food for about 4 feet of taste! In the plucking season they get a-, many as 180 feathers from one bird. The ?ggs take 8 weeks to hatch, but the last 2 weeks are finished off in the incubator and the young brought up by hand. The temperature in the 6un to-day was 106 degrees. I note that the speed of cars is limited to 12 miles in tk„ City and 10 miles at the crossings. The competition of electric cars is so great that automobiles cater for lonyi distances at the low rate of sc. round the city. Every theatre, cafe and hoiel is crowded with people and everything is prosperous and crops a record. It seems to me that if America is lucky enough to keep out of this war, she is bound to be the greatest country in the world after all—when Europe and ourselves are bankrupt in money and in men! Whilst the care are in the City limits they uze the gong as we do, but as soon a 6 they get upon their enclosed railway track, a powerful whistle comes into operation. The line is signalled by semaphores, as are those for locomotives. The 5 cent continuous picture and vaudeville people are making fortunes here and the office people tell me that an average of 3,500 people get their meals at our hotel daily. The huge cemetery here has no lavish display of monuments, and no fences round graves. The great majority are satisfied with a very small head and foot stone or plain wooden cross. We had an enjoyable day at Mount Lowe (2 dollars each return). The mountain is first climbed by trolly car and then a direct ascent of 3000 FEET BY CABLE CAR

the steepest grade being 62 per cent., then 5 miles by trolly cars to Alpine Tavern that is 5000 feet above sea level! In one case we rise by this means 700 feet in 7 minutes, so don't tell me in future that tram cars (as we call them) won't climb hills! The longest straight track on the mountain trail is but 185 feet. One can go the balance of the journey to the top by mule or burrs (donkey) ride tut we didn't take this on. The mommg papers here started a new idea this week. In future the " Times" and " Express" are to be 2 cents before 10 o'clock and after that time 1 cent. Exchange is still dropping. Bank gave me 2£ per cent, less for my cirjivjr note "this week —only 4.72J now, and likely to further drop. The clerk told me he had grave doubts that if i-, had been an Austrian or German note, they would have cashed it at all! Tie Mexican troubles are still vexing the States and lots of soldiers are being hurried away south as I write. This 16 a great place for white-grained marble. Nearly all the stairs and lobbies in hotels and Banks are lovely because of it. We went to their very fine Zoo, and also paid a visit to the Alligator farm where they breed these animals in large numbers, using the hide for commercial purposes; also I visited the oldest Roman Catholic church in Los Angeles, built in 1840. Fire plugs of heavy brass and pointing in three directions are met with, beautifully poushed and kept in order by the fire police, in various parts of the City. This is much better than, in case of fire, to find a plug covered up with road metal, or in some corner where the fire brigade cannot unearth them when wanted in a hurry as we have known to occur in our country ! The GRANDEST TRIP OF ALL that we took is what is known as the " Orange Empire Trolly Trip" on one m the finest cars known —being supplied with lavatories, electric fans, and at 6ome parts of the trip doing no less than 58 miles per hour. The trip one way is about 70 miles, and the round journey costs 3dol. 50c, with cost of Hunch (1 dollar) to be added to this. Our conductor told us that there are no less than 50,000 car loads of oranges alone sent away during the season, and that 394 cases go to a load. We went through miles of walnuts, oranges, lemons, olives and other groves, as well as lots of agricultural country. They have as much as from 6 to 8 different cuttings of alfala a year, and having three months without any rain at all, their harvests are never interfered with in that way. Their famous Navie oranges are picked in November and shipped away ready for the Christmas trade. We were shown a tree wnose slips were taken from the original tree that supplied the whole of California with this world-renowned orange, first imported from Brazil. We passed a ranch of 18,000 acres of grapes and many of these are of the seedless variety. The main thing here is, of course irrigation, and an inch of water is given these trees twice a week during the time of the forming of the fruit. An inch means as much water as you can pass through an inch pipe per minute, and that i 6 how charge is made to consumers. We were shown an immense tract of country known as Baldwin's ranch. This man made his fortune one time at a race meeting by taking up a wonderful horse he had bred and keeping the matter dark, and getting as much has 100 to 1 on him in bits on every race. The result was that this horse won 6 of the 8 races down for the meeting! It may interest you to know that the longest car trip for 5 cent fare is 15 miles in the direct line, but by a system of transfer, one may easily double this distance, which is NOT BAD FOR TUPPENCE HA'PENNY, is it? We passed the Riverside Port land Cement works on our way. They have a capacity of 6000 barrels per day. The irrigation ditch brings the water down from a mile up the hills. We went through miles of avenues lined with magnolia, pepper, and other fine trees and called in at the Sherman Indian Institute at Redlands. We saw the boys and girls sititng down to dinner in a room .50x25. There are 600 of Indian blood at this college, where they are taught all manner of trades and farming, and then sent out into the world to i-ui'vc tb-ir own destiny. Redlands is a line suburb of 11,000 people with a fine park and band rotunda seated with chairs for 2000 patrons. The roads are made of crude oil and sand, and the result is splendid. The main object of our trip, however, was to the justly famous Mission Inn at Riverside, a great show place, built on an entire block, and built in the style ot the various JVTissione. It is one of which makes the chain between San Diego and San Franscisco. One would gladly spend days here. All the rooms and furniture are in keeping with the Spanish style of mission buildings, and many of the" paintings are relics from various sanctuary's, gathered from far and near and are wonderfully fine works of art. In the rooms of the tower we find crowds of all descriptions of old bells. Then there is the cloister music room with its fine organ played on three times daily. The Refectory, the Oratory, and all these are lit with small electric lights formed to resemble candies—all this and many other features make this famous hotel worthy of many visits. It canot possibly be described in litUe notes such as these. I attended a

NEGRO CONVENTION . one Sunday and had the privilege of hearing Dr. Walker (a famous black orator) preach. By the way, they believe in making their churches comfortable and their services attractive, the result being that huge crowds attend them. All the churches are carpeted with velvet pile all over, and seated with cosy chairs upholstered and spring cushioned very often, and cosy parlors and retiring rooms are often in the lobby and approaches; also the very best talent is engaged in the vocal and instrumental line, and every preacher I heard was an orator of great merit and of the reasoning quality rather than the sentimental and never above the heads of the people. For instance, an offshoot of the Baptist Temple church is fetnd in the Auditorium that seats 3000 people, 2000 of these being fall seats. The Sunday evening service starts at 7.30 and one must be there an hour before that time to obtain a seat. At 7.15 an organ recital by a big man takes place and htilf-a-dozen classical items, chimes, and hymns are played. Then a choir of 250 picked voices leads the congregation in a wellknown hymn; then the prayer followed by a beautiful bass solo and a chapter from the New Testament from which the preacher takes his text. Next a fine anthem from the choir, then the collection whilst the organist plays an Offertory, then a tenor solo, and last but not least comes a beautiful sermon of twenty minutes, followed by the Benediction, which closes the services about 9 o'clock. I had to change another £2O circular note here and found that with the past 2 days, exchanges had dropped still another 2£ per cent., only now getting 4.70 to the sovereign, which makes me think that I may have to look for an old men's home somewhere in the States yet, instead of getting safely home again to look after the garden and to be content to live peacefully with my friends till the end of the chapter! We had the privilege of visiting BOSTOCKS FAMOUS ANIMAL ARENA to witness the taking of moving pictures with lions and elephants forming the piece de resistance; also of seeing some very fine performances of trained lions, elephants, and other animals, not, forgetting a fighting kangaroo from Australia. Every animal in th's vas+. arena is trained to something and on« of the biggest items was with fne ieopards and another of a lion and lioness, each put through a splendid performance by a lady trainer. The fashionable colour here for ladies is black and white stripes, and this colour is often carried out from the hat right down to the boots, and I even saw a motor car that looked like a Zebra! In a lecture we heard, putting forth the district of San Diego (pronounced Sandeago) as a wealth producing district for young men, we were told that there are 40 sections of splendid fruit producing country to be taken up and that the opening of the Panama canal means that any part of the adjoining states is bound to go ahead with feverish activity. There is a good rainfall there, and districts may be found to suit all tastes, and the irrigating problem does not enter into t-he matter as it does higher up the coast. I forgot to mention earlier that with all the big Church services that we attended, in not one of them did we hear a single prayer for the war, or for the cause of the widows and orphans, the sick, the wounded and the dying caused by these awful times! On the morning of the 17th -August we left for the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and during tne whole day passed through the most desolate desert. However, the Santa Fe train is well found and smooth running. Carpeted floors and upholstered seats and gauze blinds etc., and at the same t'me, to let in what air there was, and to keep out the dust were electric fans in every car. We took on a Pullman Sleeper, which has the advantage of being a through car that is pushed off at a siding and lands us at our destination at 7.30 the next morning. We had to put on our watch, es one hour at Seligman to change from Western to Eastern time, and whilst on the train had a problem solved for us that had exercised our minds very considerably at various points of the city's visit. In various 6pots w>; had seen signs on which was pa into! the sign NO PARKING HERE! and this we found alluded only to tlie fact that automobiles and other vehicles were not allowed to draw up at that particular point. The ride across the desert was very stuffy and the sleeping car like the "black :<,'« of Calcutta," and we resolved on no worn Pullman Sleepers if we came across others, and to do a 6 much travelling in the daytime as possible. The morning we arrived at the GRAND CANYON we went to an illustrated lecture by one of the Robb brothers, the other being at the machine. They ore two educated and adventurous young men who came to the canyon nine years ago and elected to tackle Mayor Powell's disastrous trip, and to be guided by experience and try to go one better. So after taking camera pictures of various points of the district by means of daring deeds in being lowered down crevasses by ropes and scaling heights in great danger, they had two strong life boats built, decked fore and aft, with two pairs of oars each, a tent, and plenty of provisions. Inducing one Indian to go with them, they in 101 days traversed the Colorado river and the whole length of the canyon for 1300 m*es and had many hair-breadth escapes in shooting rapids (300 of them), scaling immense rocks dragging their boats with them, and taking cinematograph and other pictures under awful difficulties. The lecture, which was the result of all th's, was splendidly interesing. This immense Canyon was found by tne Spaniards in 1540, but it is only of recent years that the Santa Fe Railway and the Harvey system of hotels has made this greatest wonder of the world easily accessible to tourists; now it is always thronged. It is 217 miles long, has an average width of 13 mm* down the tracks by easy grades to the river. This latter is undertaken on mules and with guides, but as the thermometer on Oiiir visit was 100 degrees on the top and 120 at the bottom of the Canyon, we did not take it on. The accommodation ie excellent. Harvey's El Tover Hotel or life in the cottages or tents is very pleasant, having all the attendance and luxuries of a city hotel, with even ice and unlimited baths, although all the water used is brought in tanks from the San Franscisco Hills 125 miles away. We drove through the Pine forest eastward 13 miles to the Grand View Hotel from "Bright Angel" (this latter being about the centre of the canyon) and stood on a point where there is a direct drop of 1756 feet, and where the distance from rim to rim is 18 miles. Here we could distinctly see Navagos mountain 132 miles distant, and a surveyor's peg tells us wo are 7450 feet above sea level. Here, as elsewhere, we met with Americans deeply interested in New Zealand, having ho.ird somewhere and pre-

sumably through their papers that we have model laws and a model Government. I had to tell all these that one lias to go away from home to hear news, for in our own country we just swear at our Government as loudly and just as sincerely as they do in any other portion of this globe of ours. After dinner at the hotel we motored li miles to Grand View point to witness the sunset, and it was well worth going hundreds of miles to see, the varying effects being nothing less than sublime. The drive home in the moonlight through the 13 miles of Pine forest was delightful. The next morning we dwadled about to various view points on the rim and in the afternoon drove 7 miles along the rim westwards and were well repayed for the trip, mat same evening we left by train and got down the 66 miles to the main line and put in the night at Harveys up-to-date Hotel at Villacines. The next morning we left through beautiful farming country for Alberquerque where we again put up at one of Harveys splendid Hotels and are now out of Arizona and

IN NEW MEXICO. There are plenty of Indians and Mexicans met with and some few oi the houses are still bmit in the old way with wet mud (called adobe.) I will close my notes of Grand Canyon by a comment by Jacquin Miller in the " Overland Monthly" :—"Looking down for over a mile into this fifteen-by-two-hiindred-and-eighteen-mile paint pot, I continually ask—'ls any fifty miles or Mother Earth that I have known as fearful or any part as wonderful, as full of glory, as full of God?' Colour is King here. Take the grandest, sublimest thing the world has ever seen, fashion it as if the master minds from the beginning had wrought here, paint it as only the old masters could paint, and you have El Canon Grande del Colorado!" Arizona is a "Dry" State, but in the "wet" ones no barma ; ds are ever encountered, nor is any drunkenness in evidence. Although mid-sum-mer and very hot weather, we have been pestered by no mosquitoes, very few flies, no fleas, and no B flats! Passing by train into New Mexico and stay. ing the night at Alburquerque, we found it a splendid town, mightily improved since our previous visit of 11 years ago. Many of the buildings a'*c one the Mission principle and the old town is still swarming with Ind-ans and their dwellings still of backed mud and mud bricks, with flat roofs and of tiie old Spanish style. Sometimes they are two or three stories high, and access to the upper rooms is by means of outside ladders that are pulled up if found necessary, after the family is in occupation for the night. In the old days the owners never lived in war time in the lower rooms, and always pulled up the ladders as a precaution against surprise. Here, as it other cities, the iaws against pedestrians crossing streets at other than at street corners is very stringent, and indeed, here they go one better, for a broad white line' is painted at right angles to the street corners and these the wayfarer must stick to, and any automobile or other conveyance daring to cross the white line whilst the foot passenger is upon it, would be visited by the direst extremity of the law! Here is a good place to buy genuine Indian pottery, rugs, and other goods, as well as beautiful polished 6labs from the gigantic petrified forest in the vicinity, and which one can hardly realise was. once the trunk of a huge tree, for the finished article more resembles beautifutfy grained marble than anything else; but it is genuine enough, and very remark, able. Some very fine Ind ; an novelty shops are here. One of the best of these, a veritable museum, abuts on the station, and is run by the renowned Frank Harvey, a confrere of the Santa Fe Railway Coy. Instead of the engine giving a long whistle on leafing the station, the attendants from all over the vicinity sing out "All aboard" at the top of their voices, and after a grace of a minute or so, the huge train steals noiselessly out of the station. Leaving for La Junta (this is pronounced Yunta and Navajo Navaho) next morning we travel through magnificent cattle and sheep land the whole day a Q d have our first shower of rain in two months —typical showers being prevalent round the hills. In fact, severe wash-outs had occurred the day before two or three hundred miles north of us—and we passed the night in still another state that of Colorado. We have had our first glimpse of the Southern star of the Rocky Mountains, and passed over the hugest point on the Santa Fe line at Raton, the elevation being 7548 feet above sea level,