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CROFUTT’S NEW OVERLAND TOURIST

 

rection, and orchards, yardens, vineyards,
and well-cultivated fields are to be seen on
every hand. Visalia is the center of the
rich section once known as the “Four
Creek Country.”

The town boasts of a $75,000 court-house,
some good stores, gas-works, several big
saw-mills, six hotels, three weekly news-
papers—the Delia, Times, and Iron Age—
one bank, a flouring mill, a normal school,
and a number of public schools, and
churches of various denominations. Stages
run from Visalia to Glenville, 65 miles.

From Goshen, Visalia is entirely ob-
scured from view by. the tall oaks that
abound in this section of the country on
every side. These oaks are old and ragged,
many are fast decaying, and when gone,
the country will be nearly bare, as there
~ few young trees growing to take their
places.

At Goshen, is the end of the Visalia
division of the “Central,” and the com-
mencement of the Tulare Division of the
Southern Pacific—operated under a lease
by the “Central” company. Although
this is the nominal end of divisions, all
changes, usual at such stations, are made
10.5 miles further at

Tulare—tThis is a new town, as it
were, built up under the stimulating in-
fluences of a railroad point where are lo-
cated extensive shops, round house, ware
houses, and station buildings, incidental to
its being the end of divisions. The town
contains about 500 population, and is situ-
ated in the midst of a broad plain about
20 miles east of Tulare Lake, and is a
thriving town. It is a point from which
large amounts of freight are shipped on
wagons, to the adjoining country, and
where wool in great quantities, is brought
for shipment to San Francisco.

The company’s shops and grounds at
this place—as is the case in some other lo-
calities—are surrounded with rows of beau-
tiful trees, chief of which is the “blue-
gum.” These trees, from a distance, give
the place more the appearance of grounds
surrounding some palatial residence, than
where several hundred men are employed
manipulating iron. These grounds are
also covered with green sward, which is
watered when necessary, by long hose con-
nected with the works.

Soon after leaving Tulare, we cross Deep
and Tulare creeks, both narrow streams with
steep banks, rich soil, and lined with trees;
the land is covered with a thick growth of |

short grass. Passing the neighborhood of
these creeks, the country seems to suddenly
change, and at |

Tipton—104 miles from Tulare, pre | -
sents a barren appearance. To the right,
left and front, sheep abound, but not a tree ,
or shrub. Five miles beyond Tipton, are
groves of eucalyptus trees, immense num-
bers of which are on both sides of the
road. The lands here, that are irrigated at
all, are supplied with windmills. Twelve
miles from Tipton comes

Alila—just after crossing Deer Creek. |

TULARE LAKE, is aboutseven miles west
of this station, and is a body of water cov-
ering an area of about 7,000 square miles,
is nearly round, or 30 miles long by 25
miJes in width, in which fish in great
varieties abound, as do ducks, geese, and
other water fowl.

Owens Lake —another large sheet of
water, but not as large as Tulare by about
one-fourth—is 78 miles from Alila, in a
northeasterly direction.

Passing on over White River, 8.3 miles,
we come to DELANO, a place of a half
dozen buildings, just in the edge of Kern
county. The country along here is treeless
and not very inviting. From Delano it is
11.8 miles to Poso, and 11.8 miles more to

Lerdo—To the southwest, about 40
miles, are located the Buena Vista Oil
Works, in a section of country where
great quantities of oil are found in holes
and ditches in the ground, where it is now
waiting for enterprise to sink wells, build
tanks for saving and marketing, when it
will yield immense returns. This oil
region is about eight miles by three in
area.

Passing on about nine miles, we come to
Kern River, which we cross on a long
trestle bridge. This river is one of the
largest flowing from the Sierras, and even
in a dry season, carries a large amount of
water.

Summer—is the next station reached,
12.4 miles from Lerdo. This is a very
busy place of about 250 population, it
being the distributing point for a large
amount of freight. To the westward, one
and a half miles, and connected by “buses”
hourly, is

BAKERSFIELD—This town is the county
seat of Kern county, and contains a popu-
ulation of about 800. It is situated at the |
junction of the two branches of Kern River,
has a $35,000 court house, a bank, several
hotels, a flouring-mill and two weekly