HoUinger Corp. pH8.5 OEC 2S 1902 D. of D. s-v- Santa Bakbaka Homes. Santa Barbara. BY CHAS. AMADON MOODY. H G|rT has possibly been borne in upon readers of this magazine — I perhaps on nearly every one who knows anything at all about "* California — that the climatic and other conditions of the State as a whole are such as to make living better worth while than any- where else this side of Paradise. But even in California there are grades of climatic excellence — from "better to best" — though the precise grading of any particular locality, it must be admitted, will depend verj' largely on the individual taste of the observer. In the A Santa Bakpaka Stkket. Photo, by Leach. " best" class, by general consent, Santa Barbara must be ranked, and not one of those who know and love it best will admit any lower place for it than the very head of the list. It is unquestionable that the topographic conditions of Santa Bar- bara — and these are, of course, most important factors in modifying climate — are not precisely matched anywhere else in the State. The general trend of the coast line is from northwest to southeast. At Point Concepcion (about two-thirds of the distance from north to south) the line swerves sharply inward, and for about seventy miles runs as nearly as possible due east, then resuming again the south- easterly direction. Parallel with the coast, and only a few miles distant from it — sometimes, indeed, sending foothill spurs right down to the water's edge — the Santa Ynez range of mountains rises Reprinted from November, I'Wl, Land ok SuNSHr.XK, Los Anueh's, C.il. SANTA BARBARA. A Panoramic View abruptly more than three thousand feet, forming a permanent bar- rier to the northeast winds. And to complete the protection of this sheltered spot, twenty-five miles out to sea the Channel Islands stand as a lofty barrier against storms from the west or southwest. At a point on this southerly shore where the beach curves in a crescent miles long and the foothills stand apart to make room for a broad and gently sloping valley, is the city of Santa Barbara. Shut in, therefore, on three sides by mountains and hills, opening only to the south upon the sun-warmed and quiet waters of Santa Barbara Channel, the climate of the city is singularly uniform throughout the year. There is no extreme heat in summer — hardly even a " hot Bath House. SANTA BARBARA. OF Santa Barbara. Photo, bj' Reed. day." The thermometer will hardly reg-ister 90° three tiines during- the year, and has reached 100° but twice in a generation, influenced in both cases by the forest fires in the near-by mountains. Extremes of cold are even more conspicuously absent, the freezing- point (32° ) having- been recorded but three times in fifteen years, and then only for a short time just before sunrise. This is not the place for extended records of temperature, but a few striking- statements of facts and comparisons must find room. The average monthly temperature at Santa Barbara shows a range of less than fourteen degrees — from 53° in January to 66.6° in August. This is less than the difference between Portland, Maine and Del Mar and Boulevard. Photo, bj' Newton. SANTA BARBARA. Santa Barbara Roses. Photo, by Leach. Philadelphia for the single month of May. It is also less than the difference at Atlantic City between April and June. No month at Santa Barbara is so cold as April at Atlantic City nor so warm as June at the same place. Perhaps, however, the most vivid impres- sion of the uniformity of the year-round climate at this favored spot will be found in a comparative table, which shows that January in Santa Barbara corresponds'in average temperature to May at Nan- tucket, February to May at Atlantic City, March to May at Norfolk, Va., April to May at Portland, Me., May to the same month at New Santa Barbara and the Cha.nnkl. (Anacapa Island in the distance) SANTA BARBARA. Sport at Low Tide. Pliolo. by Reed. Haven, Ct.. June to May in New York City, July to May at Phila- delphia, Aug-ust to May at Washington, September to May at Brook- lyn, October to May at New London, Ct., and November and Decem- ber to May at Portland, Me. Truly here the dream of a land where the year is " one eternal May" is fairly realized. Just a few more statistics on the weather question, and we shall have done. The average velocity of the wind is about four miles an Treasure Trove Along Shore. Photo, by Leaoli. A Home Place in Mission Canon. Sycamore Canon. Dkive. Photos, by Reed. SANTA BARBARA. hour, the total wind movement being- nearly equal winter and summer. The average annual relative humidity is 71°, being lower in winter than in summer, and lower throug-hout the year than at other points on the coast. One may count on about 240 absolutely clear days during the year, from 50 to 60 fair days, 30 to 40 cloudy daj's, and about 30 days during which some rain falls. Practically all the rain falls between November and April. Such fogs as appear come in mostly during the night and disappear rap- idly before the rays of the sun. These figures may seem somewhat dull, but the significance of them for health and comfort can hardly be overestimated. They mean that there is no day in the year when the in- valid need fear that weather condi- tions will place any obstacle in the way of regaining strength, nor when the person in more robust health need have the full joy of living clouded by discomfort from that source. Taken in connection with the perfect drain- age, the fine mountain water, the free- dom from both endemic and epidemic disease, and the constant invitation to and opportunity for outdoor living, they mean that Santa Barbara is one of the healthiest spots in the world. And the phenomenally low death-rate con- firms this deduction beyond possible doubt. One conspicuous and interesting re- sult of these conditions is the great variety and luxuriance of plant-life, both native and exotic. On this point, Dr. F. Franceschi, who has for many years mainly occupied himself with introducing and acclimatizing new flowers, shrubs and trees from all parts of the world, writes : "Santa Barbara is known at present all over the world as the place where the largest number of plants, from widely difl"erent climates, have coii- Phulc). by Nl-\vIoii. 10 SANTA BARBARA. greg-ated to live happily together, and often will thrive with more vigor than in their native countries. Mainly two factors have contributed to bring these results. The tirst is nature, namely, the special topographic and climatic conditions of this spot. The local ineteorological records for over 30 years, when carefully compared with other localities of Southern California, unquestionably show that Santa Barbara enjoys the privilege of higher rainfall, and of less variation between the different seasons of the year, consequently the growth of most plants is continuous, and they will attain here larger size and come into bearing much earlier than in other places. The other factor is man, who in this case has wonderfully cooperated with nature. Ever since the first establishment of the Old Mission, more than a century ago, a much larger number of plants was intro- duced here from foreign countries than in other localities of Cali- fornia, and a smaller num.ber of them have been lost, because they found here more congenial conditions. At the beginning of the new century, it is safe to say, that there are grown, in the open, at Santa Barbara not less than 150 different species of palms, about the same number of conifers, £0 species of bamboos, about 300 of vines or climbers, and something like 2,000 different species between trees, shrubs and perennials. They have convened here from, the hottest and from the coldest regions of the globe, as well as from the tem- perate one, and they combine to make a display of vegetation that have no rivals anywhere else." As for roses and the more familiar garden flowers their profusion at all seasons of the year is fairly bewildering. Even more interest- ing to the botanist, or, indeed, to most genuine flower lovers, are the native wild-flowers which, in their season, carpet field and hillside. But climate and flowers by no means exhaust the natural charms of Santa Barbara. Picturesquely located as it is — in the lap of the mountains with the summer sea at its feet — one might spend many a week in riding, driving, or walking through the near-bj' country, re- turning each day before nightfall, and making each day a trip both new and interesting. From the smoothly macadamized boulevard, which runs for a couple of miles right along the edge of the Pacific, to the steep and rugged trails which lift rapidly to the summit of the Santa Ynez range is but a few miles, and one may get almost any desired combination of ocean, valley and mountain scenery within the compass of a few hours. Canon and mesa and smooth, hard, sandy beach, orchards of olive, lemon or walnut, miles of densely- timbered forest reserve, acres of strawberries from which ripe fruit may be gathered any week in the year, leaping waterfalls, and long, quiet roads through fertile valleys dotted with lovely homes — these offer but a suggestion of the choice that is near at hand. For .salt-water bathing, if the ocean itself — with a temperature from 68° to 74° for much of the year and rarely below 60° at any time — does not precisely suit, there is a dainty new bath-house on the Plaza del Mar. which should meet the most exacting requirements. Ox THK Channel Islands. Pholos. by Reed. 12 SANTA BARBARA. For boating- or yachting, the Santa Barbara channel is one of the finest stretches in the world, offering ample sea room for an extended run yet so protected as to be entirely safe at all times. The trip across the channel to the Channel Islands — San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa — is one of great interest. They are, in reality, only the tops of what was once a mountain range, parallel with the Santa Ynez and a part of the mainland. Their shores are in the main very precipitous, perpendicular bluffs often rising hun- dreds of feet right out of the sea. Picturesque and profusely covered with vegetation, one of them might easily, in the right hands, be- come a pleasure resort unrivalled anywhere except by Catalina An Old Adobe. Photo, by Reed. Island. Even the great tuna, which has attracted fishermen from all over the world to Catalina, is foitnd here in abundance, while the yellowtail, sea-bass, jew fish, barracuda, and others offer sport a-plenty to devotees of the rod and reel. What of the city which has grown up amid such surroundings ? In the first place, it is a little city as cities go nowadays, counting scant 8,000 residents within the two miles square which bound it. And it is a restful city — "sleepy" it might be called by those who count life best occupied in madly chasing dollars some of the time and throwing them away the rest of it. If to be prosperous, to be con- tented, to be beautiful, to be reasonably well-satisfied with itself but continually striving for solid improvement be symptoms of sleepi- ness, Santa Barbara has them all — and is proud of it. SANTA BARBARA. 13 A MoDliK^• Adobe IN Santa Barbara. Photo, by Leach. The Patio Entrance. One of the oldest cities in California — it was founded in 1782 by Fray Junipero Serra — the " local color" of Santa Bar- bara has retained a deeper tinge from the years before the Ameri- can occupation than any other place in the State approaching its size, and is all the more inter- esting for that reason. Full twenty per cent, of its popula- tion are of Spanish descent, and one considerable part of the city, but a stone's throw from the chief thoroughfare, is still given over to the old adobe houses. The Old Mission, on the heights just outside the city limits, is the host preserved mission building in California, and the only one in which the ministration of the r^ranciscans has never been inter- ruiJted. It is now the headquar- ters of the Franciscan Order on this coast, and near it has just been completed an impressive stone building to house a college for the training of young men desiring to enter the order. The Mission was established in 1786, but most of the pres- ent buildings date no further back than 1820. If there were nothing else to attract to Santa Barbara, the Mis- sion alone would repay a long pilgrimage to one who can really see and understand. The street names of Santa Barbara are worth an article by themselves. No wise alder- manic body has cancelled the historic old Spanish and In- dian names to replace them by numbers or to embalm the memory of local politicians. The consequence is that every name has a story at- tached, and one might spend time with less profit than in learning the names and the stories. For instance, Canon Perdido (lost cannon) street commemorates the stealing by patriotic native Californians of a brass twelve-pounder brought here in 1847 by the in- vading American troops. The local authorities could not or would not restore it upon de- mand, whereupon the militarj' governor fined the town five hundred dollars, and sent a cavalry company up from Los Ang-eles to enforce collection, yuinientos (500) street was named in rueful honor of the fine, while the governor who imposed it — Mason — also im- posed his name upon the adja- cent street. Salsipuede ("get- out-if-you-can " ) street is seamed with ravines and gulches, while Anapamu, Yan- onali and Valario were named for Indians of various renown. SANTA BARBARA. 15 Conspicuously a city of refined and cultivated homes, Santa Bar- bara's educational facilities are excellent. Some 1,700 children are enrolled at the public schools, which include kinderg-arten, grammar and high schools, and a manual training school — the pioneer, by the way, of sloyd work in the State. Besides these are a business col- lege, a collegiate school, St. Anthony's College (Franciscan) and the St. Vincent school for girls. The public library, with over 13,000 bound volumes, and a large and well-selected list of periodicals, is open to visitors as well as to residents of the city. The clubs form a prominent feature of Santa Barbara social life. The Union Club includes the more prominent of the older citizens, Thk New Franciscan C(ji,lkgk: Plioto. by EdwartU while the Santa Barbara Club is more favored by the younger men. The Santa Barbara Country Club has its beautiful house and grounds at Montecito on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and is hospitable and delightful. The Women's Club has its own quarters and is a factor of growing importance in the community. The Polo Club, with a superb field, the Golf Club, whose links are exceedingly picturesque as well as " sporting,"' and the Gun Club, with an uiuisually line preserve on Lake Guadalupe, till their respective spheres to the sat- isfaction of both members and guests. Only just outside the category of clubs stands the Chamber of Commerce, which has its own home on the main street, and keeps open doors, with a cordial welcome on tap for all comers. Of the hotels, the Arlington's supremacy has long been unchal- lenged, but there are many excellent smaller places, and a long- talked-of plan to put up a superb modern hotel fronting on the ocean seems to be nearing realization. Certainly the opening to through 16 SANTA BARBARA. travel of the Southern Pacific's Coast Line between Los Angeles and San Francisco — iioped for and dreamed about for many years, but The Arlington Hotel. Photo, bv Reed. barely now accomplished — will add immensely to the tide of,' tourist travel to Santa Barbara. It is safer to refrain from prophecy. Yet when so many condi- tions unite to make Santa Barbara a perfect home for people of culture and refinement who can choose where they shall live, one risks nothing in predicting that it will become one of the most beauti- ful and attractive cities in all the lands. Never a "great" city, never a commercial metropolis — these would blot its peculiar charm. Only just as perfect a place to home in as there is anywhere. Of all the holy calendar, tradition has it that Saint Barbara was the fairest to look upon. As she assumed the crown of virgin mar- tyrdom rather more than sixteen centuries ago, this assertion cannot well be either confirmed or disproved. But let her have been never so lovely and gracious, there will be few to dispute that the City of Santa Barbara worthily bears her name. Photo, bv Newton. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 135 888 7^ average:s OF TEMPEKATUKp;, RAINFALL, KKLATIVE HUMIDITY, AND WIND MOVEMENT, AT Santa Barbara, California, AS OBSERVED DURING THE PAST QUARTER OF A CENTURY. W ju , 3 ■^ nn S « <1- January 74.8 37.1 53.5 67 3.73 3.5 February 78.2 36.1 54.8 69 3.21 4.0 March 79.8 38.3 r-- ^7 70 2.28 4.5 April 82.0 40.8 58.0 71 1.18 4.6 May 82.2 44.5 59.3 73 .36 4.5 June 85.4 47.9 62.5 74 .10 5.0 July 86.7 52.3 65.2 76 .02 4.2 August 87.0 53.5 66. 7 75 .00 4.0 September 88.2 50.5 66.0 75 .22 3.6 October 87.9 47.3 62.6 72 .73 3.5 November 84.0 43.2 60.0 66 1.54 3.1 December 77.1 38.6 55.7 65 3.63 3.5 Means 82.7 44.1 60.0 1--: 71 17.00 4.0 Hollinger pH8. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 135 888 7 Hnllinorpr C.nrr*.