Ten Years in Paradise. Leaves from a Society Reporter's Note-Book. by Mary Bowden Carroll
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Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll TEN YEARS IN PARADISE. Leaves from a Society Reporter's Note-Book. ...BY... MARY BOWDEN CARROLL. Price, - $2.50. COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY MARY BOWDEN CARROLL. Press of POPP & HOGAN, San Jose, Cal. TO Mrs. Fannie P. McGehee, A friend, tried and true, I affectionately dedicate this volume. PREFACE. Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.169 It is with pleasure that I present this volume to the public. Not a single fact in it has been exaggerated, and the conditions described are true even to the smallest detail. I am no stranger, for a residence of a quarter of a century here, and nearly twenty years of active work on the local newspapers have made me familiar with this valley and its people. This work was not prepared in the interest of any organization, but in the hope that it might, to some extent, be the means of attracting desirable people to this fertile valley, where Dame Nature wears her brightest robe through all the year, and where are found sun-kissed bowers, cool glades, and hills bedecked with myriads of flowers, as if by the touch of some fairy wand the choicest blossoms had been showered over all this favored land. MARY BOWDEN CARROLL. Endorsement of Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce of the County of Santa Clara hereby endorse the work published by Mary Bowden Carroll, entitled “Ten Years in Paradise—Leaves from a Society Reporter's Note- Book.” The book truthfully portrays the past and present conditions of Santa Clara Valley, and meets with our approval. V. A. SCHELLER, President. Contents. Chapter. Page. I. Arrival in Santa Clara Valley, 9 II. Society in the Forties and Fifties, 13 III. Society in the Sixties and Seventies, 25 IV. Society in the Eighties and Nineties, 33 V. Scenery and Climate, 45 VI. The Wild Flowers, 51 VII. The County Seat, 59 VIII. Popular Societies, 67 IX. Prominent Clubs, 73 X. The Home of Woman's Clubs, 85 XI. Charitable Organizations, 99 XII. A Trip Through the County, 105 XIII. Places Where Everyone Delights to Linger, 119 XIV. Santa Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.169 Clara County for the Home Seeker, 131 XV. What Santa Clara County Offers to the Capitalist, 143 XVI. Society Affected by Soil and Climate, 149 XVII. After Ten Years in Paradise, 155 XVIII. Bayard Taylor's Dream Realized and His Prophecy more than Fulfilled, 183 Appendix—Society Directory, 197 Illustrations. Page. Street Scene in San Jose, 9 Hotel Vendome, 13 Interior of Victory Theatre, 40 Water Falls at Alum Rock Park 45 Bradley Almond Orchard, 48 Santa Clara County Hillside covered with Wild Flowers 52 Penitencia Creek, Alum Rock Park, 57 Scene on North First Street, 64 Santa Clara College, 104 Orange Trees at Sunnyvale, 108 Memorial Arch, Leland Stanford Jr. University, 112 San Jose's Water Front, 116 Reduction Works at New Almaden Quicksilver Mines, 120 Scene at Alum Rock Canyon, 124 Scene at Alum Rock Park, 128 Curing Prunes in Santa Clara County Sunshine, 132 Lemon Trees on Dr. Babb's Place, 136 Llomas Azules Vineyard, 140 El Quito Olive Orchard, 144 Residence of Dr. J. L. Benepe, 160 Residence of Mr. Frank H. Moon, 164 Residence of Mrs. A. M. Hobbs, 168 Residence of Mr. George M. Bowman, 172 Residence of Mr. Nicholas Bowden, 176 Residence of Mr. William Wehner, 180 Interior of Mission Church, Santa Clara, 184 Mission Church and College, Santa Clara, 1852, 188 View of Pajaro River near Gilroy, 193 Street Scene, San Jose, California. CHAPTER I. Arrival in Santa Clara Valley. IT was in the month of December, accompanied by my daughter and son, and with a party of fellow tourists that the companionship of travel had transformed into close friends, that I first set foot in Santa Clara—a valley that Bayard Taylor styled “one of the three most beautiful valleys in the world.” Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.169 We were from the interior of the Empire State, where from November until April the thermometer marks twenty degrees below zero and the ice measures from eighteen to thirty inches in thickness; while Mr. and Mrs. William Worth came from that grand old Quaker town, Philadelphia. Mr. Worth was in very poor health, and his aim in coming west, like ours, was to enjoy a vacation and try the rest cure. Kansas claimed as her sturdy son, John Blackstone, a college-bred man, an enthusiastic athlete and a member of several college frats. Having just been admitted to the bar, he was in search of a propitious opening for the practice of his profession; while his boon companion, James Learning, was a thoughtful, manly fellow, whose health had been impaired by too close study and whose chief ambition was to grow strong and well. In the party were also Miss Margaret Titian and Miss Clara Wagner, both accomplished artists and musicians, who proudly and on all occasions spoke of their home in Boston, and also George Enterprise, a thoroughly wide awake business man, who firmly believed “that there is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune.” He had an abiding faith that 10 here in this great “Golden State” the tide was now at its flood, and that here was the place for him to win the wealth he sought. He was ready to engage in any legitimate business that promised to pay a reasonable profit on the money invested. Mr. and Mrs. John Thrift and sons came from Maine, and their hobbies were the raising of poultry, vegetables, and berries, and while so engaged they wished to be in the shade of their own vine and fig tree. An ancient dame, whose name was Mrs. Curiosity, hailed from Nowhere and from Everywhere. She had read that Paradise was located in a fertile valley which nestled between spurs of the Coast Range Mountains in the central part of California, and was curious enough to make the journey just to see for herself if this were truth or fiction. Mr. and Mrs. Grace, and their invalid daughter, whose pale face, listless manner and hacking cough spoke plainer than words that a celestial rather than a terrestrial paradise would probably be her home ere long, had crossed the continent from their far away Connecticut home in search of the jewel, health, without which all other treasures sink into insignificance. With them was Mrs. Grace's father, Mr. Phelps, whose faith in the California climate nothing could shake. Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.169 We had carefully read the guide books and had learned that San Jose, which was our destination, was the chief city of Santa Clara County and was pronounced “San Hosay,” and really after a little practice this name sounded very musical and pretty. Our first night was spent at the Hotel Vendome, and as soon as we had crossed its portals we no longer felt as if we were strangers in a strange land—in fact, it had all the charms of home. Our first impressions in this case have been lasting, for after years of intimate acquaintance, that first agreeable mental picture has never been eftaced. The building, a large, airy, wooden structure, was surrounded by a scene of natural and created beauty. The grounds on that December afternoon were brilliant with flowers, shrubs, and climbing vines, which gave gayety and an air of friendly welcome to the place that gladdened our 11 hearts. Grand old oaks, graceful palms, feathery pepper trees laden with bright red berries, and tall stately eucalypti towering above a wealth of marigolds, violets, and myrtles, met our admiring gaze. The air was soft and balmy, the sun clear and bright, and the thermometer marked sixty degrees. We were soon ensconced in luxurious chairs and chatting merrily before the roaring fire that burned brightly in the big fireplace in the spacious office rotunda. Our suite of rooms was on the third floor, with an outlook upon the lovely and well-kept garden, and it is needless to say that we were soon enjoying the numerous comforts, the varied and excellent fare, and praising the faultless service. There were billiard rooms for ladies, a large parlor, reading, breakfast and ball rooms, and an attractive dining hall, around whose walls at intervals were arranged brackets, from which hung a luxurious growth of “wandering jew;” and we never tired of looking at its variegated foliage ranging from the palest green through the tones of rich browns and reds. The whole building was illuminated with electric lights and the temperature was regulated as desired—in fact, it had all the equipments of any up-to-date hotel in New York, Boston, or Chicago. Ten years in Paradise. Leaves from a society reporter's note-book. By Mary Bowden Carroll http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.169 Flowers were seen on every side; begonias and roses on mantels, while every table in the dining room had for its central decoration a bouquet of exquisite blossoms. The air was redolent with the odor of violets, which grew in such luxuriance that picking seemed to increase rather than lessen their marvelous abundance.