USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 40
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It is impossible for one to estimate the increased number of lumber carriers which will call at this port, which invariably operate on a rapid fire schedule and therefore important that they be permitted to dock and discharge as quickly as possible after arrival.
With the inauguration of the San Francisco and Portland Steamship Com- pany's service between San Diego and Columbia river with the steamers Bear, Beaver and Rose City, there will be five steamship lines utilizing the west Santa Fe wharf for the discharging and loading of passengers and freight.
A probable solution of the lumber carrier problem may be found in the erec- tion of one or two more wharves near the foot of Twenty-fourth street. Be- tween the San Diego Lumber Company's yards and the National City line there are three miles of harbor frontage where if docks are built out to the pier head line, sufficient water will be found to dock a vessel that draws twenty-three feet Vol. I-22
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of water. Absolutely no dredging is needed in this section of the harbor frontage.
The depth of water in the middle ground of the harbor is thirty-one feet at lower low tide, which is the same as that over the bar at the harbor entrance. The depth of water in the channel ranges from thirty-five to sixty feet, while the average width of the channel at present is from 1,300 to 2,000 feet. There is no steamer afloat at the present time that cannot safely enter San Diego's harbor.
Steamship men have informed Harbor Engineer Capps that copies of the map which now hangs in his office showing the improvements that will eventually be made to San Diego's harbor, are now hanging in the offices of several big steamship companies of Liverpool and London.
In addition to increasing the acreage of his present large lumber plant in this city, Charles R. McCormick will build a new 600-foot dock adjacent to the one which is now used by the company. The McCormick plant in this city is, as far as known, the only firm on the Pacific coast that employs a certified master mariner to handle shipping which carries Inmber and ties exclusively. Captain C. P. Rorvik, former captain of several coastwise vessels, was requested by the McCormick interests to take the position because of his many years' experience at the business. The company's fleet of lumber carriers will be augmented this year by several new vessels which will ply between here and the Columbia river. Other local companies look for a big increase in their business with the result that a number of lumber carriers have been chartered to carry lumber from the northern mills to this port.
At the opening of the Panama canal the distance between San Diego and New York by ocean travel will be reduced 7,960 miles, New Orleans, 9,000 miles ; Liverpool, 5,645 miles; Iquique, 4,723 miles.
With the exception of the steamship companies, notably the Kosmos Line, which desires to exploit the South American trade, practically all the companies' steamers which will ply through the canal will be put in direct service between their Atlantic coast of European ports and the ports destined as ports of call on the west coast of the United States, Mexico and Central America.
"The commerce originating in the Imperial Valley and Arizona," said a mem- ber of the local chamber of commerce, "will make this a great port. Improved present transportation facilities or a new road to Escondido by way of Ocean- side, Fall Brook, San Jacinto, Riverside, Redlands and San Bernardino sections suggest an immense increase in our commerce. The conservation of the waters of our western slope would mean an increase of forty per cent in the citrus acreage of southern California."
Maritime men's attention is called to the statement that 15-knot steamers will deliver by way of the canal, freight in New York within fifteen days at one-third the present rail rates, presenting an unparalleled opportunity for expansion of business of the port of San Diego.
The total valuation of the commodities discharged at this port by vessels in 1912 amounted to $41,164,242.10. The increased number of vessels which have called here this year, together with the enormous amount of cargoes which they have discharged will almost quadruple last year's valuation on commodities received.
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Should San Diego complete her $1,000,000 improvements to the harbor in the time specified by the legislature, the harbor and adjacent tidelands will revert to the control of the city. The importance of completing this work in the time allowed by the legislature may be judged when it is stated that the revenues derived by the city from water front rentals will unquestionably result in making this city a free port. Ship owners and shipping men in general are quick to take advantage of reduced or no harbor dues and as a result San Diego will become a port of call for many a steamer that otherwise would call at some other port on the coast to discharge freight consigned to interior points.
CHAPTER XLIII CLIMATE AND ROADS OF SAN DIEGO
CLIMATE
When San Diego and vicinity are spoken of as having the finest climate in California, there instantly arises to mind the climates of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and other towns and cities of the state. If a just induction has been made, it is known that the statement is absolutely true. As a general proposition the climates of California are good. Some are better than others, and San Diego's is the best. A climate to be good must be neither too hot nor too cold. There must be no extremes of temperature, no violent changes or atmospheric disturbances such as electrical, rain or wind storms resulting in the loss of human life and property. Such a climate as this approaches the ideal as far as man's knowledge of climate goes. San Diego has such a climate. It is almost ideal. It is the best climate in California and this is saying a good deal in its favor. It is the best in the United States, which is covering more territory, but perhaps adding very little to the recommendation. It may have its equal in the world but no superior.
Equable is the term most frequently employed in describing the climate of San Diego, and certainly it deserves the best that can be said about it. This was a favorite among old geographers in giving the climate of a country its designation, and it had to be a pretty disagreeable climate that could not get written up as "equable." Loosely applied, "equable" is good enough and in its most commonly accepted meaning, that of varying but little, it fits the climate of San Diego. It needs a little modification, however, to convey the meaning intended, since a climate may be uniformly hot or cold and still be equable. San Diego's climate is equably mild with a slight range of temperature throughout the year.
Climate may be defined as the condition of a place with relation to the various phenomena of the atmosphere, as temperature, relative humidity, prevailing winds and the like, especially as they affect animal and vegetable life. Climate depends primarily upon temperature and temperature depends primarily upon location with reference to the equator and elevation. Climate and weather are used almost interchangeably by the average person, but there is a distinction to be drawn.
Climate is the condition of a place, as has been said with relation to certain meteorological phenomena and weather is these phenomena themselves. It makes little difference, however, which is used, since everyone knows that a fine climate and good weather mean practically the same. The weather or climatic state-
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ments regarding San Diego are not mere assertions, but they are based on facts.
The mean maximum temperature for July and the mean minimum for January are not equalled for uniformity by any other city in the United States, and remotely approached by but few. The monthly and annual maximum temperature for the last forty years shows that the temperature of San Diego has not gone below 32 degrees and has only reached 100 degrees three times within the same period. There are few spots in the world having a more uniform temperature, without sudden changes or extremes of heat and cold, and at the same time combining other desirable elements of residence. It is in such a climate as this that both animal and vegetable forms reach their maximum of perfection. While it is true that there are certain vegetable forms whose habitat is wholly within the tropics which cannot thrive here, and others which do not attain the degree of luxuriance that they do nearer the equator, practically all of the trees, plants, flowers and grains of the temperate zone and many of those of the torrid zone flourish.
The climate of San Diego is not only a commercial asset which means millions to the people residing here, but it conduces to health and longevity. Here man lives longer, more comfortably, enjoys better health and therefore lives more happily. In the money Marathon health and length of life are important quan- tities, for they themselves have their fixed and definite trade value. A sound mind in a sound body is an old saying, and a sound climate is one of the factors having much to do with both physical and mental perfection. There are a few spots in the world, which, as far as tradition, the records of history or archaeology go, have given rise to indigenous civilizations of high degree, considering the age. In these isolated places man advanced and developed more rapidly than in other localities, and in every instance the climate and physical surroundings have been strikingly similar. Moreover, in every instance the climate is very like that of San Diego, proving that climate has a great deal to do with health of body and mind. Man cannot be congealed or roasted continuously, or congealed and roasted alternately and reach the highest planes of mental and physical development. It is in the uniformly mild climate that man lives longer, more healthily, more happily, and that animal life attains its greatest perfection.
There are thousands of places that claim to have the finest climate in the world and it would be a difficult matter to decide in what instance the claim is just. San Diego is among them and would crowd any other claimant closely for the honor. San Diego is in about the same latitude as Morocco; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt and Shanghai, China, but there are vast differences in favor of San Diego when it comes to the matter of climate. Climate, as has been said, depends primarily upon position with reference to the equator and elevation, but there are other things to be considered, as prevailing winds, proximity of deserts, ocean currents, relative humidity and the like. Thus England and Newfoundland are in the same latitude but there is a very marked contrast between the climates of the two. England is clad in verdure, while Newfound- land for the most part is cold and barren. The climate of northern Africa in the same latitude as San Diego, is greatly affected and rendered disagreeable by the Great Desert of Sahara. In San Diego all the elements which constitute climate have combined to make the situation pleasant, agreeable and health-
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giving. Therefore when it is said that this city possesses one of the best and most healthful climates in the world, it is a statement supported by facts.
TEMPERATURE
The normal annual temperature is 61 degrees.
The warmest month was August, 1891 ; mean, 72 degrees.
The coldest month was January, 1894; mean, 50 degrees.
The highest temperature was 101 degrees, September 22, 1883. The lowest temperature was 32 degrees, January 31, 1880.
There have been no killing frosts recorded.
The greatest monthly absolute range was 55 degrees, in March, 1879.
Temperatures of 90 degrees or over have occurred fifty-eight times, or an average of less than twice a year.
The temperature has never fallen below the freezing point.
RAINFALL
The normal annual rainfall is 10.01 inches.
The greatest monthly rainfall was 9.05 inches, in February, 1884.
Ninety per cent of the rainfall occurs between November I and May I.
The greatest twenty-four hour rainfall was 2.75 inches, November 9, 1879.
Excessive rainfall (2.50 inches in twenty-four hours) has occurred but three times.
HUMIDITY
The mean annual humidity is 75 per cent.
The lowest average humidity occurs during December and the highest during July.
A humidity as low as 5 per cent has been observed at midday.
WIND
The prevailing winds are northwest.
The average annual hourly velocity is six miles.
The average velocity is greatest in May and least in December, the May average being 6.3 and December 4.9 miles per hour.
The highest velocity recorded was forty-three miles per hour, from the south- east on March 9, 1912.
WEATHER
The average annual percentage of sunshine is 68.
The most sunshine occurs in November and the least in May.
There is an average of but nine days a year without sunshine.
The average annual number of clear days is 191, partly cloudy 103 and cloudy 68.
The average number of days with 0.01 inch or more of rainfall is 43 per annum.
The greatest number of rainy days occurring in any month was twenty, in March, 1912.
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Thunderstorms, although rare, are most frequent in March and least fre- quent in November.
Thunderstorms occur on an average of less than twice a year.
Days with an hour or more of dense fog occur on a average of twenty-two times a year, being most frequent in October and least frequent in May.
Hail occurs on an average of once a year.
BY FRANCIS H. MEAD, M. D.
"The American public is familiar on all sides," says General A. W. Greeley, head of the United States weather bureau, "with elaborate and detailed state- ments of the weather at a thousand and one resorts. If we may believe all we read in such reports the temperature never reaches the eighties, the sky is flecked with just enough cloud to perfect the landscape, the breezes are always balmy and the nights ever cool. There is possibly one place in the United States where such conditions obtain-a bit of country about forty miles square at the extreme southwestern part of the United States, in which San Diego, California, is located."
The above quotation so accurately summarizes the climatic advantages of San Diego city and its immediate neighborhood, comes from the observation of so eminent and unprejudiced an observer, and is altogether such an absolutely truthful picture of local conditions, that it is difficult to say much in addi- tion.
Alexander Agassiz, the noted scientist, expressed the same views in a little different words: "In enumerating the peculiar advantages of San Diego there seems to be one which is of very great importance. Perhaps as a scientific man I may lay more stress upon it than is necessary, but I hardly think it possible. I have seen many parts of the world and have made some study of this subject It is the question of climate, of latitude, that I refer to. You have a great capital in your climate. It will be worth millions to you. This is one of the favored spots of the earth and people will come to you from all quarters to live in your genial and healthful climate, a climate that has no equal."
Professor Hare summarizes conditions in a few words: "San Diego a place where there is virtually perpetual summer." Not the summer, be it understood, however, of the eastern states, but that described by Greeley where the temper- ature rarely reaches the eighties, the breezes are always balmy, the nights ever cool. Such are the conditions San Diego has to offer, and every year the city is being built up by a fresh influx of newcomers who have heard that we have the one climate in the United States where one may live in absolute comfort all the year round. This may seem to be a large statement but it is absolutely true. A thermometer which has never fallen below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which rarely rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, furnishes a delightful climate to live in, and one which especially seems to suit and add to the comfort of the two extremes of life. Young children are reared with greater ease, as they can spend so much time in the open air and the almost perennial sunshine, and the opposite extreme of age is lengthened as the demands of extreme heat and cold are not made on the weakening animal economy, and so life is prolonged with relative enjoyment in it.
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Our winter residents during the first winter here usually ask if we are not burnt up in the summer. The poinsettas are ablaze with their gorgeous crim- son bracts, the bougainvillias empurple the trellises they bloom on and it seems to them, arguing from their eastern experience, that the antithesis in summer must be unendurable. When they stay with us they find the summer days even more enjoyable than the winter ones, with the added quality of the gentle trade winds to make them more so, if that is possible. Rainfall on the coast is small, averaging only ten inches, falling only for a few days in the winter. From April to November rain is rarely met with so that an outdoor engagement being postponed on account of the weather is never heard of. Back in the mountains, which rise to four and five thousand feet, the rainfall is, however, abundant, averaging fifty inches and over, and it is from these hills of granite that the city derives the pure, soft, filtered water with which it is so abundantly supplied. With this unsurpassed climate, a rapidly growing city, with at the present time a population of 65,000 (conservative estimate), has to offer to its citizens every advantage of modern civilization.
You may recall either by personal acquaintance, reading or hearsay, the cli- matic advantages of Madeira, the Azores, the Bermudas, Algiers, some few places in the French Riviera, or in that beautiful region beyond Naples of which Sorrento is the best known city. Would they, however, be suitable for a resi- dence the year round? Would you not feel somewhat cut off from the advan- tages of modern progress; above all, would they furnish the requirements for the education of children which if you are seeking for climate and comfort, you will find here? Snow has fallen on the palms at Hyeres. Often up on the Campanile at Florence, on the Piazza of St. Peter's in Rome-it has never fallen here, though we may lift up our eyes unto the hills and see it far away.
With the dry, temperate climate (sub-tropical to be strictly correct, although to the uninitiated this sounds too warm) health conditions are unusual. The ordinary infectious diseases of childhood are infrequent and of light type when they do come. Deaths from scarlet fever, measles and whooping cough are rare. The mortality of the eastern states does not prevail. Diphtheria does not flour- ish. Typhoid, the bane of so many cities during the late summer and fall months, is unusual. For the eleven months of 1912, thirteen cases only have been re- corded, more than half of these coming from the outside for care. This is an excellent record for a population of 65,000. The total average death rate per thousand for all registration districts as given in the last United States census report is 15.4. The death rate of all decedents in San Diego city-and it must be remembered that many people come in the last stages of various diseases in the hope of amelioration-is only 14.8 per thousand. The real residential death rate of those who reside in the city for one year or more before decease (191I) was only 8.63 per cent. Returns for this year at the time of writing are incom- plete but the ages of decedents for an average-1911-will show how their dura- tion of life is lengthened here. In that year forty per cent of deaths were in per- sons over sixty years of age, twenty-five per cent were over seventy. Such are the hygienic and climatic advantages San Diego has to offer to those who seek them.
What conditions are especially benefited by a sojourn or living here? First and foremost, every one lives a life of comfort, with no extremes of enervating
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heat in summer time, no cold in winter. A single blanket is necessary for every summer night. A little fire for a short time morning and evening only in mid- winter. The extremes of life, as has been pointed out, fare exceptionally well. Children pass through their critical periods, especially that of teething, more easily than in rigorous climates. The elder people enjoy their declining years more, and they are longer for them.
Of diseases of respiration those who suffer from bronchitis and winter colds are very soon much benefited, and lose the troubles which have made winters to be dreaded for them in other localities. Asthma is benefited, especially if patients will take up their residence a little distance from the ocean. Tuberculotics had better seek the mountains or the interior foothills, as the nearness to the ocean breezes is not ideal for them. Hemmorhagic cases, however, on account of the low altitude, do well. Sunshine is so perpetual that the treatment for surgical tuberculosis which has so successfully been carried out at Leysin in the Valasian Alps, could easily. be followed here. Hay fever is unknown, as is malaria, and convalescents from either trouble soon regain their health and live a life of comfort.
The absolute equability of the climate is of especial value in diseases of the kidney. The relatively high temperature keeps the vessels of the skin dilated and in a state of activity. Recoveries of those who come here suffering from Bright's disease, who here live a life of comfort after arriving with their lives ·in jeopardy, often surprise the physicians who have seen the patient as a last resort and with no hope of improvement. Heart cases do well. Convalescents and those suffering from insomnia and nervous strain soon lose their ailments in a location where rest comes so easily. The thermal springs of the neighborhood banish the troubles of the rheumatic and gouty.
The writer had occasion to investigate all the desirable climates in the world on his own behalf before he came here. He has found that San Diego from a climatic standpoint has done more for him than he or his advisers ever expected. This is no isolated case. So many families come with some sick member. Re- covery takes place and their friends from other places join the innumerable mul- titude who come to reside and to spread the praises and deserts of our city.
So, in conclusion, if you have any reason for seeking a change of climate, if you or any member of your family are unhappily needing a change from the place they reside in for the benefit of health, here you will find exactly what is needed, with all the surroundings of progress and civilization-pure filtered mountain water, certified milk for your children, meats all inspected by the United States government or city inspectors-only bear in mind one important condition : Do not do as so many do, put off coming to the last moment ; come as early as you can, and be one eventually of the increasing company who have arrived expecting little and have remained as useful and delighted members of the community.
ROADS
By Colonel Ed Fletcher
Never in the history of California has there been such a demand for good roads as at present. Southern California is today a playground of the United
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States, particularly during the winter months. One of our principal assets is the tourist trade, and why not? Have we not the best climate in the United States, free from cold and snow? Instead, we give them green fields and flowers, many pleasant, sunshiny days, innumerable places of interest, motoring and sailing, fishing, hunting and swimming; in fact, any kind of outdoor enjoyment. Our semi-tropical climate and vegetation entrances the easterner. We are a whole souled people, and to a greater extent than any other section in the United States, we make it a point to see that our visitor is extended a warm welcome.
Years ago the writer believed that what is now upon us was to come. No city in the United States has had such a marvelous growth as San Diego. The records from the gas company, the water companies, schools and the postoffice confirm the fact that San Diego today has a population of between seventy-five and eighty thousand people, permanent residents, as compared to the last census in 1910 of forty thousand. Think of it !- more than ten millions for the year 1912 in building permits. It has been stated several times and the writer believes it is true, that no other city of its size has this record of growth for one year, and what has caused it? Climate has already been mentioned. The Panama canal has helped. Our wonderful bay. with its boating and many amusements, has brought the business man and pleasure seeker. Our expositoin in 1915 no doubt has had a wonderful influence as well, but the writer believes the greatest induce- ment to the growth of San Diego city and county has been our good roads move- ment, and the construction of nearly five hundred miles of as good roads as can be found in the state of California, with grades not to exceed seven per cent, the elimination of dangerous curves, and properly located to develop the farming and residential sections of San Diego county.
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