The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 19, 1896, Page 24

24 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 19, 18Y6. Camp Life in the Galifornia Sierras CISCO, CAL., July 13, 1896, —We Califor- nians have not yet learned to take outings as a matter of course, every summer. Our bountiful climate, which permits of twelve months of work without a serious protest from abused nature, is to blamein pgr!; the rest of the trouble comes from the im- mense ignorance of thousands of people respecting the ease, comfért and profit of outdoor life in California. This brief article is not addressed to the comparatively few who go yearly to the admirably kept summer resorts of the mountain regions of tbe State; it isa plain, straightforward statement for the benefit of those who do mnot visic the mountains because they know nothing of the benefits thereto attached, or because they think it must necessarily cost a great | deal of money. There is yet time this season for a Sierra trip, and thousands of valley-dwellers should turn their faces to the snow peaks between now and the end of September. Some people camp in dirt and discom- fort, have poor food and worse cooking, drag themselves from place to place and vote camp-life a failure. There was such a party up here two years ago. They nearly ruined alovely camping-place by the South Yuba in a grove of tall pines, firs and tamaracks, cutting down yoang | trees and chopping into the larger ones | like the vandals and barbarians that they were. On the other hand the arts of comfort- able camp-life are not difficult to acquire. It is not necessary to take along servants and a cook. The actual work of a camp, | if well and properly distributed, will re- | quire very little time, especially in the | Sierras. Hundreds and thousands 'of | bard-working families living in the Sacra- mento and San Joaquin valleys would be | better off in pocket and in health if they | spent a month up here five or six thou- | sand feet above the sea among the snow | peaks, the lakes and the rushing rivers. Equally large numbers of the city dwellers, though more distant from the | camping ground, could reap as great re- sults at little more expense. Summer | camps should become as prominent & feature of California life as our flower | shows and carnivals. Thereis room aiong these wild Sierra streams for a thousand | times as many camps as one finds at the | present time. Our middle-class peopleare | working too hard and have not learned | that the vacation is cheap and easy as | weli as delightful. beside the rivers. chant of the Sacramento or San Joaquin valleys could take his family in a wagon and work back to these wild places to spend a month there. The cost need not be greater than the cost-of livingat home. It is more difficult to reach the Sierras from the bay counties, because the whole interior valley must be crossed, but people who have done 1t year after year find the whole journey a pleasant one. land,’” said one of these campers to me, ‘‘and we shipped our horse and wagon to Stockton by boat, going up ourselves by rail. Weleft Stock- ton early, by 6 A. ., and drove four hours. Sacramento City sends yearly to this place one or two families—no more—who drive over excellent roads in three days to | f camping sites, | the most "i““'esq‘j:n: '"m:, (;‘r mer. | San Francisco to Cisco and return is $38 40, *“We started from Then we rested in the shade, had lunch, and did not start again till 4 o’clock in the afternoon. time to pitch our camp before dark. Our entire trip, even across the Ban Joaquin, was a pleasure.” Bat even if railroad fare must be paid, people who know how to camp can pitch their tents among these granite crags and Three hours’ driving. left u: and that of the upper San Joaguin is in the Kern and Tulare Sierras, the people | of the central portions of the State can do i no better than to camp somewhere in the territory between Towles and Truckee, along the line of the Central Pacific. Cisco, the Summit, Tahoe, Donner, a mal- titude of Sierra lakes and trout-rivers, are accessible from one or another inexpensive camping grounds in this vast region. 1 have put the comfortable economy line for a party of three, buying all their supplios, at $45 (at present cost of gro- ceries): railroad fare for three persons from which makes the total cost of the camp $83 40, or $2780 per capita. Raisethis sum to $30 apiece and the party can easily lengthen their stay another week. Per- sons driving to the mountains with their own teams bringing barley and hobbling their horses in these Alpine valleys, rich with grass and living on plainer fare— more beans and bacon, less canned goods— can have their month or more in the Sierras for less than it costs to stay at home. Where we are camping this year the conditions are typical of a good Sierra camping-ground. We are in a grove of about fifty large pines and firs. inter- mingled with lesser trees, scattered over a small valley, walled in by great granite pinnacles. Firewood ¢ in abundance, ready- broken for use and piles of logs for the nightly campfire, are | fruit can be had at the railroad station. If doubt if there is a schoolteacher in Cali- | from three to four weeks each July. and we have lived well and comfortably. | than $10 per capita. | have no doubt that a party of three per- great coniferous forests, without incurring | within a stone'’s any prohibitQry expense. Baggage can be throw. reduced: to 100 pounds per individual; | The deep clear groceries can be shipped by freight; fresh the party inciudes any disciples of Izaak ‘Walton your breakfast can include trout nearly every morning of the vacation. fornia who could not manage to takea share in such a camping company. Our party of three has camped in the Sierras for three successive years, makingstays of Our total expenses, outside of railroad fare, have averaged less than $15 apiece One year we kept expenses down to less | It ome lives on a farm, and can start with a supply of beans, dried fruit and other ranch products, I | sons can make & three weeks’ camp at a| river is fifty feet from our smooth - rocks can dip bucketsfull I |of water. the campiung ground by the edge of & thicket pines extends a hol- low, wherein are ice- cold springs and here in sunken boxes the camp keeps its milk, butter, etc. camping ground is as “dry asa bone” un- derfoot, covered with needles of pine and ‘fir. and green with From one tents. Through of young fresh meat, The rest of the total cost (outside of railroad fare) of not | blossoming plants in more than $25. Such a camp includes n luxuries; but the bacon, coffee, tea fladi all other articles of food are the best to be variety and enough in quantity to quell the most bought, are in sufficient strenuous camp appetite. While the natural camping field of th lupper Bacramento 1s the Shasta region, | o | the open spaces. We have a rope across one of the calm reaches of the river and cross it with a | raft so as to climb e | the mountain sides beyond. On each side of the river, within easy walking distance, are more beautiful lakes, can- yons and waterfalls. Crarves H. SHINN. ——Er<y B niinen A WILD VIEW OF THE YUBA NEAR CISCO. San Diego'’s Irrigation Scheme San Diego is building one of the largest srrigation systems in the United States. | It is by far the largest in California. The | heart of the Southern California citrus country—Riverside, San Bernardino and Reclands—has 25,000 acres of trees. San | Diego’s new irrization system will cover | 100,000 acres. This is in addition to a complete water supply for the city ol\ San Diego. The city of San Diego possesses about a third the wealth of the entire county. On account of the lack of water and the neces- sity of building gigantic works to get it no system of irrigation couid be put in for the benefit of the fruit lands without the co-operation of the city. Capitalists could pot be found who would invest millions in an enterprise dependent upon the settling of thecountry to such an extent that in- terest would be returned upon the invest- ment. They knew that years woula be required to do this and they hesitated. To secure the building of the great sys- tem now under way: it was necessary to acquire a new city system. Many Ameri- can cities have been through the fight and know what it means. The company con- trolling the city’s water supply—the San Diego Water Company, allied with the S8an Diego Flume Company—is a power- fnl concern, owned by British capital. It realized that the city’s. efforts to secure a | new system, if successful, meant a death- blow to its business, and it expended money accordingly in the endeavor to de- feat the city’'s purpose. After a contest of four years’ standing, in which every possible expedient was re- sorted toin theeffortto thwart the city, the crisis came on June 27 last, when the voters were called upon 10 decide whether they wouid vote bonds in the sum of $1.500,000 for a new system. The result, was a safe majority over the mnecessary two-thirds vote, in favor of the new sys- tem. Work on the new system began im- mediately, and is now being pushed as rapidly as possible. The projector of the new system is E. 8. Baboock, builder of Hotel del Coronado. He is associated with John D. Spreckels in the Spreckels Bros. Commercial Company af this city, and with A. B. Spreckels in the San Diego Electric Railway. These corporations have the largest payroilsin San Diego. Granting that Mr. Babeock was working with a selfish motive, the beneficial results to San Diego are as great as if he had been working solely.for its in- terests. /The system- he is putting in will be owned absolutely by the city, and will Great supply 1000 miners’ inches, or 13,000,000 gallons daily. The source of the city’s supply is th Morena reservoir, fifty miles back in th mountains. by the city, as well as the conduit to th city. ing the city. The great irrigation system owned by Mr. Babcock’s company, the Southern California Mountain Water Company, was early recognized as immensely valuable. Several corporations were formed for the construction of the works, but no capital could be secured, or the projectors did not This reservoir will be owned Morena reservoir, however, is capa- able of impounding three times as much as the city has purchased, and in the con- tract between Mr. Babcock’s company and | the city it is specified that the company may go ahead and build the dam to a neight sufficient to impound ali the water the reservoir will bold, using the surplus for the irrigation of the fruit lands adjoin- been done at Lower Otay dam. e method of construc- tion is quite well | shown in the accom- panying ecut. The material is handled by a Ledgerwood {cable with aerial dumps. It isa mar- vel of mechanical | skill, handling . vast bodies of rock and dumping it where wanled with auto- matic accuracy, A 80 - horsepower en- gine drives the trol- ley along at the rate of 800 feet per minute, nandling 600 tons of rock per day witha small force of men. Another cable, like the one shown, is now being put in place so as to hurry the completion of the dam. Then both cables will be re- moved to Morena and by next summer that great work will be nearcompletion. All the dams of the Southern OCali- fornia Mountain ‘Water Company will be of the rock-filled e e have the courage to carry the enterprise | throueh. Mr, Babcock, looking into the matter, perceived its possibilities for wealth and development and secured all but a nominal shara of the stock. He then set to work to secure a contract with the city for a city water supply and distrib- uting system. A man of less than iron will would have been discouraged by the repeated reverses and the failure -of the people to unite for their own good. But by conlinual hammering the people were convinced of the feasibility and potential- pattern approved in mining After vestigation it was de- cided to wuse this style preference to solia masonry struc- tures, on account of the might be wrought by earthquakes. Witha countries. thorough in- dam " in the of disaster that ONE OF THE OLDEST LANDMARKS IN THE STATE. ity of the project, and they are now prac- tically united and enthusiastic at th prospect. The system now building, inside and outside of the city, will call for an ex- penditure of $3,000,000, Three dams will be constructed—one at Morena, another at Barrett's, and the third at Lower Otay. The latter is practically completed. The total drainage area of the system is 375 square miles, divided as follows: Lowe; rock-filled dam the quaking of the earth would simply settle the dam more firmly into the gorge. Lower Otay dam will be 400 feet thick at the base. A description of it will serve for all three. It has a boiler-steel care in the center, riveted and calked to with- standa a pressure of 200 pounds to the square inch. The pressure of the water will be 56 pounds, so that a liberal factor of safety is allowed. The core is treated T Otay 119 miles, Barrett’s 121 miles, and | to a coat of asphaltum applied &l a tem- Morena 135 miles. Lower Otay reservoir | perature of 300 degrees, then with a cover will impound 13,766,328,500 gallons; Bar- | of burlap, which in turn is covered with a rett’s reservoir will impound 15,630,000,000 | coat of boiling asphaltum, The core ab- pallons; Morena will impound 15,227,000,- | solutely prevents any leakage through the 000. These figures of course are quite be- | dam and is intended for nothing else, No yond the grasp of the mind. Reduced to | strain will rest upon it, as it will be miner’s inches the three reservoirs will | backed by immense rock laid in place, and impound 9441 inches. Yet in all three | before 1t will lie s tremendous body of only 3305 acres will be flooded, showing | smaller rock, faced to receive the first that the water will be in deep bodies. While there has been some werk donea pressure of the water. t | anchored to the sides by bolts in solid Barrett's and Morena, both in the way of | rock, with leaded ends in masonry 25 feet surveys and cleaning away preparatory to | wide and 35 feet thick. dam building, the bulk of the work has| Lower Otay reservoir will receive its "The steel core is | i The Oldest House " On Jackass Hill There is a house standing to-day on Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County, that is one of the vldest landmarks in the State, It was built in the spring of 1850, and the lumber with which it is put upcame around the Horn. John Walters originally owned this relic of early times, and from him it passed to Bill Carrington, the weil- known pocket-miner. In its time it has =erved as postoffice, town hall and general rendezvous of the miners of the surround- ing country, In laté years when the popalation of Jackass Hill began to de- crease, and the miping industry fell off, the bouse was turned from a store intoa dwelling-house, and as such it 1s at times used to-day, as the present owner, James N. Gillis,” allows anybody who wishes to stop init. Its dilapidated appearance is occasioned by the fact that Mr. Gillis wants to let it stand as long as it will in its original state as a wemento of early days. This ramshackle, tumbledown relic has quite & history, Years ago when it was | this, however. better taken care of than at present it was here that Mark Twain, Bret Harte and Prentiss Mulford lived during their stay in Tuolumne County. Twain at that time was unknown to fame as a writer and lived here while he essayed to make a stake at mining. It was shortly before he left'this' place that he began to write and attract - attention as a humorist. Two-thirds of the stories which go to make up his book called “Roughing It,” which treats mostly of life in California mining camps, were founded on incidents which occurred on this hill and were written while he was staying in this Louse. The vprincipal characters, too, in that bock were taken from life, and many of them live here to- day. He made but slight changes in their names. As a ghost story factory the old house has noequal. A temnderfoot after listening to one or two of the hair-raising varns that are located here would noc sleep a night in the house for anything. Spooks of ae- parted miners come in regularly every night and go through the. work, of weigh- 1ng their gold dust on a pair of scales that has stood in the same place on the same table for forty-six years. The old fesis dents pay no attention to little things like These scales have quite a history in | H"m‘flfllfl!fl P : R o SN '\ 2 5 SR MOUTH OF CAVE AT THE SITE OF MORENA DAM. : supply from Otay Creek, Jamul Creek and other streams, and from the overtlow of the dams higher up in the mountains, Otay is only fifteen miles from the city and 400 feet above sea-level, while Bar- rett’s is forty-two miles east and 1600 feet above sea-level. Morena is eight miles further east and 3100 feot altitude. The great fall between Morena and Barrett’s gives & large horsepower; which will be wilized by the city in developing clectric power. Enough will be furnished there and at places nearer the city for running every wheel in the county, With enough to spare for lights and prospective fac- tories, . Barrett’s dam is in a rough and preeipi- tous country, simost entirely denuded of s0il. In winter great torrents rush down through the gorge at the dam site, carry- ng vast quantities of valuable water to waste in the ocean. The dam site is the second hest in the county, that at Morena being unexcelled in the State. Barrett's dam site is situated about 3000 feev below themselves. They were the first .gord scales brou: ht to that vart of California in early days. Three prospectors -going -through the country, “‘in 1849 had a burro train, and among their effects brought this pair of scales. In a guich back of Tuttletown they found so much gold that they were able to load their entire train nf donkeys with the precious metal, and it was this that dubbed the place Jackass Hill. The scales passed from their hands to those of one Walters, who set them up in his house. Jackass Hill and the entire sur- rounding country proved to be very rich, and the mines for miles around— ville to Angels Camp —weighed their dust on the scales. It would be a hard mat- at the number of mil- lions that have been weighed on the scales. They are in as good order to-day as when first put up. J. J. McDar. e LS L T W the junction of Pine and Cottonwood creeks, the head- waters of the Tia Juana River, one of the largest streams in the county. The hills on either side of the dam sile are simply masses of granite. The canyon is narrow, with good abutments for build- ing a dam that would be immovable. Considerable time and money wasspent at Barrett’s locating bedrock and build- ing the preliminary strocture, as shown in the cut, was found at a depth of 85 feet, and the dam has been built above the surface 23 feet, or 52 from bed- rock. The ouilet of this dam will be 50 feet above the datum plane of the reser- voir, leaving the space below the level of the outlet for a settling basin. The reservoir is an ideal one, being- surround- ed by high moun- tains forming a nar- « row, deep canyon. This places an im- mense body of water in small compass, in- suring purity and greater immunity from loss by evapara- tion, The wildest, most inaccessible pertion of 8an Diego County is between Barrett's and Morena. A wag- on road would have to be hewed from solid rock. Thecountry becomes grander and more broken as Mo- rena is approached. The gigantic moun- tains rearing above Morena dam site are gaunt and steep, shining white and gray in the fervent sun, that begins to show signs of the approach toward the desert. The Laguna Mountains, skirting the des- ert, are just to the east of Morena, and furnish a large part of the water supply that courses past the dam site both winter and summer. It is the backbone of the country. Over the Lagunas the summer thunderstorms and winter rains break as the ocean currents meet and wrestle with the ary air of the desert. “In the center of this mass of granite, from near Coulter- | 4o) of the smoke-breathing monsters ter to make a guess | Bedrock | | with huge boulders lying thrown about as if among the ruins of some American Kar- pak, Morena dam site is found. Itisa narrow gorge between the shoulders of precipices 3000 feet in height. The dis- tance across at the 150-foot contour, the The Oddest “Trunk’ Line in Galifornia How many citizens of California have | heard of the Highlands Railroad at San Bernardino, which is a competitor for the distinction of being the ‘‘shortest line be- tween Californis and Chicago? In its legal transactions 1t hides under the far- reaching name of San Bernardino, Arrow= head and Waterman Railway Company, but is better known to the inhabitants of the alfalfs belt as the *‘Springs road.” In many respects it is an interesting and unique railroad corporation. It has no bonded or floating debt, has never been a member of a traffic association and as yet has had noquarrel with the State Railroad Commission. A legal department has not been created, the road having failed so far to kill a single cow, though several anti- monopoly members of the horned tribe have challenged it to combat, thereby ex- tendirg invitations to their friends and acquaintances to be present av their fanerals on -the succeeding days; for, though the motive power of the road is small, it possesses a due idea of 1ts own - dignity and claims right of track against the world. That the road has no enemies may be inferred from the fact that as yet no one has ever referred to it as the ‘“‘octopus,” and there seems little prospect of its keepivg in fashion by securing a receiver. In a few respects this model road re- sembles the trunk lines. It is said that some of its employes can swear with the ease and rapidity of old and experienced railroaders, and it is also alleged that the section boss is an Irishman.: It isoperated under standard rules, but as there is at present only one train and one crew on the road tie management has wisely con- cluded that a telegraph line and train orders are not necessary to its operation. When the stranger first views the unique rolling-stock that comprises the train he is usually struck with astonishment, and, if of the equine race, with fear. The High- lands road lays claim, and probably justly, to having run the first vestibuled train in California, for the newly painted and at- tractive coach that forms its weekday equipment is a combination of two first- class streetcars on a narrow-gauge passen- ger truck. The engine is a miniature that climb around Cape Horn; but it can whistle just as loud as its larger relatives, and, indeed, makes up in noise what it lacks in size. That it has all the latest improvements is sufficiently attested by the fact that it is an-oil burner. | keep it. When the unique train is all ready to start the conductor shouts, *‘All aboard!” and, with a shriek and a roar, it starts on its eight miles’ trip. It curves around the outskirts of the older parts of the city where the Mogmons settled for a long rest forty years ago afier their journey from Zion. Then it Jarts off across the low- lands, where the cattle are literally in clover, standing knee-deep in the succu- lent alfalfs, and watching with indifferent interest as the queer train goes whizzing by. Now it passes beneath the sheltering shade of & long row of cottonwouds, land- marks of the early settlers, and now it skirts orchards of apricots and peaches and here and there a vineyard. The road is run to accommodate its patrons, gx.d a temporary station is created at the wish of the passenger. A man &ppears and waves his band; we slacken up and take him aboard. He is ‘“goin’ to the lpxiqgs." Soon we come in sight of Harlem Springs, as yet unknown except to the health- seeker who has found and tested every hot-water spring in tbe State of Cali- fornia. The conductor is an ingenious as well as handsome young man. He is also general manager of the road and one of the prin- cipal stockholders, which adds to the dignity that seems a natural attribute of conductors. Asa general manager he is, of course, anxious to make a good show- ing, and he therefore brings to kLis aid in the operaiion oi the line a bicycle. Fer- haps on some trips he has no passengers for a point beyond the springs. If such is the case the engine goes to sleep ai the springs while he on his bicycle completes the trip on its schedule. At the departing time at Highlands he loosens the brake on an extra car and with gravity as a motive- power begins his descent. With the aid of the useful brake he stops for passengers and arrives at the springs on schedule time, where the refreshed and waiting engine joins the car and the reunited train proceeds on its journey. The Southern Pacific has recoznized the importance of this little road by placing tickets on. sale to its principal stationsin Southern California cities, and it promises to become an important factor in the development.iof the San Bernardino Valley. At present it has eight miles of track, three coaches, one freightear, four sidings, one board of directors, one engine, one superintendent, one depot building and one idea—to get business and PavL SHOUP. PICTURESQUE TROUT BROOK NEAR CISCO. Morena Dam, as Solid as the ills Just where Morena dam will be built, and where camps of men are now at-work clearing the ground end building roads, a mass of boulders as large as an ordinary business block is lodged. The stream flows toward these over a bed of white sand, and suddenly with a roar dives apparently into the earth. scending waters is an opening under the boulders, large enough to drive a coach and four. Chief Engineer Lew B. Harris Near the orifice filled by de- | | and President Babcock had some curiosity | to see where the hole ended, and they en- tered. After golng down until utter dark- ness prevailed, and hearing the roar of water below them, they returned, not knowing where the cave led. Securing candles and ropes, they maae a thorough exploration of the cave. It was found to be sixty feet deep, formed of the gigantic boulders Jodging in the narrow bed of the canyon. The winter torrents, finding the boulders immovable, had washed ont un- der them, scouring away the deposits of sand and drift until bedrock was exposed. The explorers found bedrock lying clean and wet, washed by the stream, and kept from being covered by sand on account of the peculiar lodgment of the boulders. To an engineer the great advantage of this cave is instantly seen. At Barrett's $35,000 was spent in seaching for bedrock. At every dam more or less money is spent in this manner, and no engineer, be he ever so experienced, can predict with cer- tainty what lies under the surface. In this case bedrock was found by nature, and has been kept ready for immediate work. The engineers plan to run powder mines and blow the whole mass of bowlders into smithereens, settling the rock into the dam- site and filling the interstices with con- crete. Plenty of rock for the structure lies on the hillsides almost overhanging, so that the cost of building & dam wiil be comparatively light. This dam will not have a steel core, but will have a steel fac- ing on the upper or waterside, with a mass of rock 600 feet at the base, to hold the water. back. It will be as solid as the ad- joining hills. The source of supply for Morena reser- voir is Cottonwood Creek, fed by the Metaguaguat, Laguna and other oreeks. All summer long the Cottonwood flows a large, ice-cold stream past the dam site. The snows upon the Lagunas and the high range betweea Morena and Barrett's add their quota to the catchment. The quality of the water is as pure as can be proposed height of the dam,is only 439 | obtained from nature, and through its feet, continual fall from Morena to the city, part of thetime in natural watercourses and part in cement-lined ditches, it will be thoroughly aerated and puritied. A The city of San Diego pays $727,579 for the Morena dam, the condnit to the city, and 1000 inches of water, perpetual flow. For the distributing system in the city it pays $767,421, the two sums making the total of $1,500,000, less $5000 paid for rights of way. The payments for the distributing system are made’ occasionally as work progresses, in stipulated amounts, but outside of the city the company must build, test, and turn over the system com- plet?, and with the approval of the City Engineer, before acent is paid by the city, In addition to this, the company must first have stored at Morena a year’s supply of 1000 inches per day before the deal is closed. The distributing system inside the city is to be of the best castiron and three reservoirs will regulate the pressure and supply two or three days’ demands in case of emergency. The water enters the city Pipe: atan elevation of 600 feet, thus giv- ing strong pressure and being sufficiently high to cover the tillable land within the city limits. In this connection it should be stated that the city itself owns from 5000 to 7000 acres of public lands, which with water would produce as fine lemons as are'grown in the world. The possibili- ties in this branch of the subject have been held secondary to the mair issue of getting water for the back country, but many citizens believe the city willi make enough from its lands to pay for the whole system, with irrigation rates half the sum now charged, leaving nothing to be raised by taxation, and giving the dwellers in the city water for domestic purposesata much lower rate than at present. The matter of electric power, also, has been secondary in the discussion of the subject, but it will prove of great profit to S8an Diego and thus reduce the outlay for the new works, That the Southern California Mountain Water Company is amply abie to carry out its colossal enterprise is conceded by’ all who are aware that both John D, Spreckels and A.B. Spreckels have be- come heayily interested in the enterprise, and that the former gentleman has prom- ised to finance the city’s bonds. A friendly suit to test the validity of the bonds is now in the courts, and though the oid mo- nopoly is attempting to obstruct work by litigation there is every reason to believe the bonds will be issued without a flaw. In the meantime work on the new system | is going on with great energy. v