THE “oy ws Mf ees : 4, DUS ij v2 Vue. | Yl B= VOLUME V. EDITORIAL OFFICE., ROCK ISLAND, ILL. AUGUST, 1904. PUBLICATION OFFICE, LINCOLN, NEB. " NUMBER 8. Teesssese ess Sess 8 s8S8F 883535833353 533 9393838853988 oss S83 Merts Members of Sixty Camps—Trabels 5,000 Miles—Attends Thirty Meetings boSssasasesessasasessssesereserstssssssessesesseestt resis iieeees et esseseaeetsses ese es eae tess tase ses t Sets At 4:10 on the evening of May 5 we|trees had blossoms, the fruit just left Omaha over the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, starting on our jour- ney to the western coast. At 6 p. m. passed through Lincoln, the capital city of Nebraska; and after leaving Lincoln we sped for many miles through the great corn-fields of west- ern Nebraska, down through Kansas by the way of Belleville and at 1 a. m. arrived at McFarland, Kan., and waited at this place some ten minutes for the through train from Kansas City. After boarding the same we retired for the night. After traveling all night, day- break found us in the vicinity of Buck-~- lin, Kan., our route taking us in a southwesterly direction through Okla- homa, Texas and New Mexico, and after traversing a portion of New Mexico we again entered the great Lone Star state; noted more for its immensity than for its productiveness.. At 8 a. m. we arrived at El Paso, the gateway to Old Mexico, and went direct to the Hotel Orndorff. El Paso is the terminal point of nine railway systems. A large smelter is located here which pays $1,000,000 monthly for ores. Old Mexico is reached by street ear across the Rio Grande river, and all tourists stopping in El Paso should visit Old Mexico and view the old church of Guadalupe, which is 350 years old and is still used as a place of worship. The Rio Grande here is a curiosity, as it sinks from sight at this point and leaves an en- tirely dry bed for some two miles or more and then appears again wending its way to the Gulf. This section of the country had had no rain for nine months; hence it was very dry and dusty. On the morning of May 8 we left El Paso for Los Angeles by way of the Southern Pacific, passing again into New Mexico and into Arizona. I believe no person can form an idea of the barrenness of this immense coun- try. Hundreds, yes, thousands of acres are just covered with sand with an buneh of sage brush, a stalk of cactus, or short, stubby palms. At daybreak the following morning we arrived at Yuma on the Colorado river and crossed the river into southern California, and from Yuma to Reeds Junction we traveled in a sand desert and salt beds. These salt beds are 276 feet below the level of the sea. The bottom of the salt beds has never been reached. Salt works are located here and they plow and scrape up the salt the same as if grading for a road or excavating for a cellar. The appearance of the land is like a lake bed and evidently at one time this entire section was covered by the ocean. Reeds Junction is a health resort for consumptives. Soon after leaving Reeds Junction we entered the orange grove belt. Here we saw many acres covered with orange and lemon trees. The orange river occasional forming, the green, the partially ripe, and the matured fruit all on the same tree, and great quantities lying on the ground going to waste. At Colton ‘the train stopped for a few minutes and nearly every one rushed out and bought oranges. From this on to the city of Los Angeles the ground was fertile and TestHy Supreme Oracle in the Mest grandeur of this view. In going to the beach we passed through some very beautiful farming country. The weath- California is a mystery. We naturally weather with this part of the country; but after 5 p. m. heavy wraps are nec- essary for comfort. 1a @ associate warm During our stay in Los Angeles we visited Long Beach, which is twenty- eight miles away ard is reached by an electric car. It is quite a metropol- itan city and has a large population. Since our return Mrs. Anna Gorham, district deputy in Los Angeles, has in- stituted a good camp there. Mrs. Gor- ham is an enthusiastic worker and is a good assistant to Mrs. McElliott. In the evening a public meeting of the M. W. of A. and the R. N. of A. was amt RSA [A ESC I INT I I ES SO CE | _ i _ MRS. H. D. WATT, beautiful with flowers and verdure. Arrived at Los Angeles about 1 p. m. and stopped at the Angelus. Here we were met by Mr. and Mrs. McEliliott, who made our stay in the city very pleasant. On May 10 they took us for a pleasant drive through the beautiful streets of the city. Flowers, flowers, everywhere; especially roses. My pen fails me when I attempt to describe their beauty. The eucalyptus is the largest tree and lines many of the streets. It is used for fuel. Then there are the date, fig, orange, lemon, apri- cot, peach, plum, English walnut, nec- tarine and loquet. The loquet is a Japanese fruit and is very delicious. We also went by electric car to Santa Monica beach, and here I had my first view of the Pacific and it is impossible for me to descfibe the SUPREME ORACLE. held in Los Angeles and I there made my first public talk in the interest of the society in California. There was a good attendance and we had an in- teresting meeting. Early in the morning of Thursday, May 12, a few of the Neighbors of the Royal Neighbor camps in the city ealled for us to go on a tally-ho ride. We drove out through the city and along beautiful streets to the city of Pasadena, “The Crown of the Valley,” I thought I had seen flowers in pro- fusion, but nothing compared to what was seen in Pasadena. There were climbing roses, one vine of which would completely cover a large dwell- ing-house and even climb to the tops of trees. A large number of lots are enclosed by hedges of rose bushes. It is impossible te give you any descrip- tion of them. They must be seen to be appreciated. We were driven into the country past hundreds of orange orchards, meeting wagon after wagon loaded with oranges; for in California they haul oranges to market as people in Iowa or Nebraska would haul potatoes. We visited the old mission church at San Miguel, which is 360 years old—a relic of early days. We ate our lunch under the magnifi- cent “live oaks.” We also visited an ostrich farm near Pasadena, which was very interesting. Our tally-ho was decorated with the colors of our society and attracted much attention and was the means of bringing our society prominently before the people along the route traveled. In the evening a closed meeting of the camps in that vicinity was held — at Garvanza, a suburb of Los An- geles. This camp was the newest in the city, having buf recently been organized. There were about 200 pres- ent. Sunny South Camp, of Los An- geles, exemplified the work. The nine camps represented were: Lordsburg; by four members, Whittier, by fifteen; Westminster, five; Alhambra, five; Garvanza, fifty; Sunny South, forty; Pacific, thirty-one; Poinsetta, nine; South Los Angeles, fifteen. The meet- ing was very interesting and two can- didates were made members of Pacific. Camp. We found the camps of Los Angeles and vicinity in a prosperous condition. Los Angeles is the home of Mrs. Me- Elliott, our supervising deputy, who is bringing the work in this state up to a better standard; and the Neighbors are certainly genial and enthusiastic. Los Angeles is one of California’s oldest as well as most famous cities and has now a popula- tion of over 102,000. Saturday, Angeles by’ Pacific, May 14, we left Los of the Southern through a_ beau- tiful farming country, and along the banks of the until we reached San Luis Obispo, where we made quite a stop, and preparations were here made for going over the range. A second engine was added and the lamps were lighted and we began to climb the mountain; winding around and climbing farther up; passing through several tunnels until we reached the summit. Descending the other side of the range, we entered the Salinas valley. At Santa way going out ocean Margarita we entered the first wheat farming country on our travel and the valley gradually widened in extent from mountain to mountain on either side of the Salinas river. In the upper portion of the valley rain was badly needed, but as we neared the towns of Salinas and Castroville the many miles in extent of wheat fields were beautiful to behold. Soon we arrived at Santa Cruz and went to the Sea Beach hotel for the night and were lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves of the mighty Pacific. This town has about 10,000 inhabitants and is quite a noted resort for tourists and the baths are excellent for in- valids. The flowers are magnificent. Here we saw fuchsias ten feet high and the sweet scented heliotrope climbing everywhere. opportunity to view the famous Santa We also had an _ are