Santa Clara County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter XV 1922
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Book Title: History Of Santa Clara County

CHAPTER XV.
The Resources and Attractions of San Jose, the Garden Cty of California- Soil,
Climate, Productions and Opportunity-What a Man From the East Learned From an
Old Resident.

  "San Jose? In California? Never heard of the place. Must be some old Spanish
village, eh? Pueblo-that's it, pueblo. I've read Spanish history and when I was
a youngster I had a lot of Spanish lingo at my tongue's end. I never heard of
but one San Jose on the Western Continent and that is San Jose de Costa Rica.
Perhaps you were not referring to California and your San Jose is the Costa
Rican city. No? Then where is your San Jose and what do they raise there, coffee
or pumpkins?"

  The speaker was a man from the East, who had come to California in search of a
home and also a field for the profitable investment of the money he had saved
after years of toil in the cold, cheerless communities of New England. The scene
was the reading room of one of San Francisco's palatial hotels and the person
addressed was an old resident of San Jose, who had been introduced to the
Easterner by a mutual friend.

  "San Jose is of right the fourth city in the state and is located in the heart
of the richest valley in the world; distance from San Francisco, forty-eight
miles. It is-"

  "Hold on, hold on," was the quick interruption. "Let me get my breath-you
quite took it away by your surprising announcement. I am a tenderfoot, it is
true, but I thought I had California sized up pretty well before I bought my
ticket in Boston. I knew there were a large number of towns and villages where
they dig for gold, but I had formed the idea that the only two cities worth
mentioning were San Francisco and Los Angeles. As San Francisco is hardly the
place for a home, I had concluded to go to Los Angeles."

  "Have you bought your ticket?" "No," was the reply. "Then before you do so let
me suggest that you take a trip to San Jose. You are looking for a place
suitable for a residence. San Jose offers the best inducements of any community
in the state of California. You have money to invest-invest it in the Santa
Clara Valley."

  "But I am very particular. I have a family, children not yet grown up. There
are many things to be considered and I am afraid, my good friend that a country
town or city- for I have heard that out here in the West a town becomes a city
when it can show a population of 800 or 1,000-will hardly afford the facilities
which are essential to the well-being of my family."

  "Let me tell you something about San Jose and its environs. Perhaps I may be
able to furnish facts that will suit all your requirements."

  "I shall be pleased to hear you." The man from the East lighted a cigar, then
sinking in his chair waited for the promised exposition.

  "You spoke of Spanish villages," began the old resident," and that reminds me
that San Jose was once a Spanish pueblo, where all the houses were of adobe,
where the seat of education and religious enlightenment was in the Mission and
where wild cattle roamed the valley and a dolce far niente people lived lives of
ease and dreamed not of the time when fair and stately homes should dot the
lands given over to the chapparal and the wild mustard, and the busy hum of
industry indicative of an advanced civilization should be heard in places where
happy feet kept time to the seductive strains of the Spanish guitar, or where
the matador and picador imperiled their lives for love or gold. San Jose was
settled in 1787 as the result of an exploration made at the instance of the
Spanish authorities in 1769. Until 1830 no Americans had ever penetrated
California. In that year they began to arrive so that when the discovery of gold
was made San Jose was practically dominated by the American population. In
February, 1848, the United States, by treaty, acquired title to California and
the first Legislature held its first session in San Jose, which for a short time
was the capital of the state. Had general and not sectional interests been
consulted, it would be the capital today; but by a series of bargains, governed
solely by selfish considerations, the capital was removed first to one point and
then another until it reached Sacramento to stay. In 1849-the year the Argonauts
came from all parts of the world- San Jose, as now, was the paradise of the
homeseeker, its location, climate and other attractions combining to make it the
most favored city in the state. Seekers for the gold, which was to be found in
the mountainous counties to the north and east left their families in San Jose,
well knowing that while they delved for the yellow metal their loved ones were
surrounded by all the conditions calculated to make life worth living. And if
life were worth living in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley in 1849, what must
be said of the advantages which it possesses today? Then the valley, outside of
the pueblo, was practically an unbroken plain where the wild cattle roamed at
will. Today is presented a transformation that would hardly be looked for
outside of an Arabian romance. The late Judge Belden, in a graphic and
beautifully .worded picture of the valley in the vicinity of San Jose, thus set
forth some of the attractions:

  "To the visitor approaching San Jose, through the upper end of the Santa Clara
Valley, each mile traversed ushers in some delightful surprise, introduces a new
climate. If his advent be from the north, the hills of verdure which encircle
the bay recede on either hand and assume a softer contour and a richer garb. The
narrow roadway that skirts the salt marsh has widened to a broad and fertile
valley that stretches as far as the eye can reach in luxuriant fields of grass
and grain and miles upon miles of thrifty orchards. Bordering this verdant
plain, in hues and splendors all their own, come the hills and into the recesses
of these hills creep the little valleys and as they steal away in their festal
robes they whisper of beauties beyond and as yet unseen. In full keeping with
the transformed landscape is the change of climate. The harsh, chill winds that
pour in through the Golden Gate, and sweep over the peninsula, have abated their
rough work as they spread over the valley, and, softened as they mingle with the
currents of the south, met as a zephyr in the widening plain.

  " 'If the approach to San Jose be from the south, the traveler, wearied with
the desert and its hot, dry air, is conscious of a sudden change. The sterile
desert has become a fruitful plain and the air that comes as balm to the parched
lungs is cool and soft and moist with the tempered breath of the sea. If it be
spring or early summer, miles upon mile stretches the verdant plain; over it
troops sunshine and shadow; across it ripples the waves. Summer but changes the
hue and heaps the plains with abundant harvest of grain, vegetables and fruit,
while the first rain brings again the verdure and the beauty of spring. "An
ocean of beauty," exclaims the charmed beholder.' "

  "From that very pretty description I infer that your climate is not to be
sneezed at."

  "We are proud of our climate," replied the old resident, "and with reason.
There are all sorts of climate in California but it is generally conceded by
those who have traveled the state over and are not afraid to express an honest
opinion, that the climate of San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley is unsurpassed
in mildness and salubrity. It is all owing to topographical situation. With
moderately high mountains rising on the east and west and closing in on the
south, the valley is protected from the fog and winds that in certain seasons
envelop more exposed sections in less favored locations. Protected from extremes
of heat and cold by the sheltering arms of the mountains, the hottest days of
summer are never oppressive on account of the cool breezes that sweep in from
the bay. Climatically considered, San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley is open to
no objection."

  "Your climate I admit is all right, but what about resources?"

  "The valley is one of varied resources and San Jose, as the county seat,
enjoys the major part of the benefit derived from the orchards, grain fields and
berry and vegetable sections. The shipping facilities are unexcelled. In the
first place San Jose is the terminal point and therefore growers are not
compelled to send their products to a great distance at local rates in order to
reap the benefits that always accrue by reason of the rates offered at terminal
points."

  The man from the East was becoming vastly interested. His cigar had gone out
and his eyes were fixed intently on the face of the old resident. "What kinds of
fruit do you raise?" as asked, and on the moment out came his notebook.

  "Prunes, apricots, cherries, pears, apples, peaches, quinces, olives,
nectarines, plums, limes, lemons and oranges." "Oranges?" "Yes, oranges in the
section we call the warm belt, but our prunes, apricots and peaches give such
better returns that we do not count on citrus fruits, leaving that line to the
southern counties. Prunes take the lead and San Jose handles about all of them.
There are twenty-three packing houses and twenty-four canneries in San Jose
alone; outside there are fifteen packing houses and about the same number of
canneries. The number in city and country will increase before the year is out.

  "Gee Whiz!" ejaculated the man from the East, "San Jose must handle hundreds
of tons of fruit each year."

  "Hundreds of tons? Thousands of tons would hit the mark. In the shipment of
dried fruit San Jose's contribution is about half of that of the whole state."

  "How about marketing?" was the next inquiry as the business sense of the man
from the East came to the fore.

  "We are exceptionally favored," was the reply, "in having an organization
allied with the packers which controls more than eighty percent of the prune and
apricot output of the entire state. It is called 'The California Prune and
Apricot Growers, Inc.' It came into existence in 1916 and its growth has been
such that it now owns forty packing houses, has alliances with many packers and
costly extensions and improvements have been mapped out for the near future. By
the rules which govern its conduct it is able to prevent troublesome
fluctuations and the expensive interventions of middlemen and bring security and
good prices to the orchardists. It is a combine in which the interests of
producer, buyer and consumer are equitably adjusted."

  "That's good. I like that. And now another question. What are fruit lands in
the vicinity of San Jose worth?"

  "On account of the large profits, prices have gone up during the past ten
years. Suitable lands with bearing trees sell all the way from $800 to $1500 per
acre. On some of these lands, planted to prunes and apricots, the profits per
acre, in 1919, ranged from $500 to $1,000. So you see the prices are not high
when profits are considered. As an instance of money I will cite one case. A San
Franciscan in the spring of 1919 bought a twenty-acre bearing prune orchard for
$30,000. The fall of that year brought him a profit of $15,000 on his fruit. So
you see half the value of his property was paid for in one year."

  The man from the East looked at his watch. "I find I have yet more than an
hour at my disposal," he said.

  "Then I will talk rapidly," replied the old resident, "though I could put in a
week and not exhaust the subject.

  "The soil in and about San Jose offers the-prime requisites for the raising of
all kinds of vegetables and small berries. This with a climate equally suited, a
ready market in San Jose and a still larger one in San Francisco, makes the
business of production a most profitable one and gives employment to a large
number of people. The seed output will more than double the amount of other
garden products. One of the seed farms located near San Jose is the largest in
the world. In the future another soil industry may be added-flax culture.
Statistics show that it is very profitable and in the opinion of experts the
climate and soil of the valley meet every requirement.

  "While San Jose is noted as a horticultural center its industries along the
line of manufactures are not unimportant. There are many lumbering manufactories
in the city and vicinity. There are flour mills, iron and brass foundries,
tanneries, carriage factories, marble works, cigar factories-but stay, it is
better to give you a list prepared by the Chamber of Commerce, so you see what
San Jose can boast of: Acme Sheet Metal Manufactory, Anderson-Barngrover Mfg.
Co., manufactures fruit and canning machinery; T. D. Anderson, awning and tent
makers; Banks Corporation, manufactures Banks' Evaporator; Bean Spray Pump Co.,
manufactures pumps, gas and traction engines; Beech Nut Co., jams and preserves;
E. Benone, Ravioli and Noodle Mfg. Co.; Harry Bobbitt, California Wall Paper
Mills; Braslan Seed Growers Co.; Burns Mattress Co.; Byron Jackson Iron Works,
centrifugal and turbine pumps; California Seed Growers' Association; Campbell &
Budlong Machine Works, pumps and engines; Chase Lumber Co.; Christian Mfg. Co.,
harvester teeth; Cowell Lime and Cement Co.; Delmas Paper Co.; Eagle Body Mfg.
Co., auto body builders and repairers; Farmers' Grain and Poultry Supply Co.;
Finnett-McEwen Co., tractors; Fisk Rubber Co.; Garden City Glass Co.; Garden
City Pottery; Garden City Rubber Works; Garden City Implement and Vehicle Co.;
Glenwood Lumber Co.; James Graham Mfg. Co., stoves and ranges; Hart's Auto
Signal Tail Light Co.; Hubbard & Carmichael, lumber and mill work; Kimberlin
Seed Co.; Knapp Plow Works; San Jose Bottling Co.; San Jose Wire Strapping Co.;
Moenning & Harvard, pumps and engines: Mussos Outing & Equipment Co.; Pacific
Gas & Electric Co.; Pacific Mfg. Co.; Pacific Shingle and Box Co.;
Peterson-Kartschoke Brick Co.; Pioneer Rubber Co.; National Axle Mfg. Co.; San
Jose Broom Factory; San Jose Flour Co.; San Jose Marble & Granite Works ; San
Jose Foundry; San Jose Lumber Yard: San Jose Paper Mills; Ravenna Paste Co.;
Schuh & Vertin, granite and marble works; Security Cold Storage Co.; Sperry
Flour Co.; Vacuum System Oil Refining Co.; San Jose Implement Co.; Marvel
Compound Co., boiler, gas engine and radiator compounds; Litch Pump & Supply
Company, Smith Manufacturing Company, and several others. Besides these four
Building and Loan Associations, eighteen dairies and creameries, eight wholesale
flour and grain houses, nineteen butcher shops, over one hundred grocers, five
sanitariums and hospitals, a telephone company with over 14,000 subscribers, and
other lines of business. One drawback to the proper development of manufacturing
industries was the lack of cheap fuel, but a factor of the greatest importance
was furnished in 1901 when the Standard Electrical Power Company, with plant at
Blue Lakes, put up poles and wires in Santa Clara County and furnished 15,000
horsepower for every purpose for which it could be used."

  "Tell me more about San Jose, itself. I want the details."

  "San Jose," said the old resident, with glistening eyes, "is the garden spot
of California, the Queen City of the Pacific Coast. It is beautifully situated
in the center of the valley, surrounded by the richest fruit growing section in
the world, and having within its boundaries all the elements conducive to a
happy existence. I have told you of the climate, you know something respecting
the resources of the contiguous territory, and you will therefore understand
that trade must naturally gravitate to the city by reason of its location with
outlying* sections. The constancy and certainty of trade enables the farmers and
orchardists to pay cash for supplies and in turn insures the prosperity of the
merchants. But the fruit industry and the manufacturing concerns form but two
factors in promoting commercial healthfulness. Hundreds of thousands of dollars
flow in annually from the educational and other public institutions situated in
San Jose and its near vicinity.

  "It is one of the most beautiful residence cities in the state on account of
its charming situation, unrivaled climate, beautiful landscape, educational
facilities, accessibility to the great metropolis of the coast, and to the
intelligence, refinement and enterprise of its people. It is connected with San
Francisco with three lines of steam railroads, one line, a transcontinental one,
running from San Francisco and San Jose along the coast to Los Angeles and
thence East. There are also electric lines running to Palo Alto on the north,
Los Altos, Cupertino and Saratoga on the west and Los Gatos and Campbell on the
south. In the near future the electric cars will convey passengers from San Jose
to San Francisco. A new transcontinental line, started in 1917 and finished in
1922, is the Western Pacific. A branch line was built from Niles."

  "How about auto stages? Do you have them?

  "Of course," replied the old resident, serenely, "for we're up to date in San
Jose. There are hourly auto stages to San Francisco, Oakland, Stockton,
Sacramento, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Saratoga and other points. In fact you can get an
auto to take you anywhere in the state. And talking about autos- I will inform
you that San Jose is the pride of the automobilists of California, for it has
more roads, better roads, more beautiful spots - valley or mountain - more
orchard avenues than any other section of the state. The state highway runs
through San Jose with branches to Santa Cruz, Gilroy and other towns in the
county. Besides there are hundreds of miles of paved roads paid for by the board
of supervisors acting for the county."

  The man from the East made a movement in the direction of his watch pocket,
but it was not completed. Some restraining influence was at work. Presently he
said: "You speak of educational facilities. A city or town may have climate to
burn, the scenic beauties that poets rave about, but unless it possesses a full
measure of the best of civilizing influences it fails of being the 'one and
altogether lovely spot' to me."

  The old resident listened complacently. "I think I can satisfy you," he
replied, "for one of the strongest appeals that San Jose makes to the seekers of
homes is that it is the center of the finest system of education to be found on
the Pacific Coast. In the city itself are the public schools from primary to
high, and many academies and private schools. The high school building, or
buildings, for there are many of them, cover acres of ground, and with the
improvements mapped out for this year-athletic grounds, new structures and an
increased equipment-makes the cost upwards of one million dollars. The school
has the highest university rating and the course, of study embraces almost every
department; of culture from the rudiments of learning up to the arts, sciences
and classics. The grammar schools, nine in number, are comparatively new, are
built in the mission form with spacious grounds, up-to-date sanitary conditions
and all the appliances of first-class metropolitan institutions. And there are
in the city commercial schools, church schools, and schools of painting,
industrial arts and metaphysics., In San Jose is located the State Teachers'
College, with an efficient corps of instructors for the education of teachers:
the College of Notre Dame, one of the leading Catholic institutions of learning
and morals in the United States, devoted particularly to the training of young
girls: and the St. Joseph's school for boys. Two miles from the heart of the
city at College Park is the College of the Pacific, the leading Methodist
College of the Pacific Coast, with a Conservatory of Music attached; at Santa
Clara, three miles distant, is the University of Santa Clara, founded by the
Fathers of the Society of Jesus and having commercial, law, scientific and
classical courses, and with a reputation that extends to every part of the
United States. Palo Alto, nineteen miles distant, about half an hour's ride from
San Jose, boasts of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. It is designed in this
university to represent the crown and out-come of the new education,
specialized, however, on the highest planes in utilitarian directions. This
university is really an asset of San Jose and as such I speak of it.

  "It might be well for you to know that San Jose is a city of churches, every
denomination of importance being represented. The cost of the buildings, which
in their ornateness add much to the beauty of the city, range from $5,000 to
$200,000. In the line of charitable institutions there is the sanitarium built
by the donation of the late Judge M. P. O'Connor and conducted by the Sisters of
Charity; the Pratt Home for old ladies, the Sheltering Arms, and the Orphans'
Home, conducted by the Ladies' Benevolent Society. Besides there are many other
organizations, like the Good Cheer Club and the Elks which care for the sick and
distressed."

  "How about public buildings?" asked the Easterner. "Do they match the other
things you have been talking about?"

  "They do and they present much that is architecturally beautiful and
substantial. The Court House, Hall of Records, Hall of Justice, City Hall and
Postoffice cost one million and a half dollars in the aggregate, and each
structure is massive and imposing. The Carnegie Library, built by a donation
from Andrew Carnegie, is a handsome structure, located in one corner of Normal
Square, and answers the public needs. The business houses of San Jose are large,
well built and attractive structures. There are two skyscrapers-the First
National Bank building, nine stories, and the Garden City Bank and Trust Company
building, seven stories: The residences, as a rule, are in the bungalow style,
costing from $2,000 to $75,000. Some of the suburban residences are veritable
palaces and they stand as monuments of art and beauty in the midst of luxuriant
gardens and thrifty orchards. Speaking of gardens, San Jose has well been called
the Garden City of California. Flowers grow so easily and abundantly that every
residence has its flower garden and every month in the year some varieties are
in bloom. There is no snow and the frosts are so light that only the most
delicate plants are affected. There is no time in the winter when the ground may
not be worked, so that under what are semi-tropical conditions the growth of
flowers has everything in its favor. The facility with which the flowers are
grown add much to the beauty of the public parks, of which there are four,
ranging in size from three to thirty acres.

  "Are there any health resorts in the neighborhood of San Jose, any drives or-"

  "Enough to beat the band," was the expressive response. "The city owns a
natural park known as Alum Rock, which is one of the most picturesque and
inviting spots in the state. It is but seven miles distant, covers an area of
about 1,000 acres, is under control of the city government, and is reached by
three fine driveways and an electric railway. There are bath houses, plunges, a
restaurant, swimming tank, esplanade, a concrete dam for the water supply,
beautiful park-like enclosures for flowers, and lovely walks in every direction.
The fame of the mineral waters has spread far and wide. There are other mineral
springs not far from San Jose, and the fact that they are located far above the
sea level and with most attractive natural surroundings make them sought after
by both the invalid and the tourist. The roads about San Jose are among the best
in the state, for the reason that they are not only kept in first class
condition the year round but are sprinkled continuously from the end of one wet
season to the beginning of another. This work is done under an energetic and
up-to-date board of supervisors.

  "While there are charming drives through the orchard districts, to the
quicksilver mines at New Almaden, to Los Gatos and Saratoga in the western
foothills, to the Big Basin, the great redwood park in the Santa Cruz Mountains;
to Alviso and Milpitas near San Francisco Bay, along the far-famed Alameda to
the town of Santa Clara and in other directions where the natural prospect is
inviting to the eye, the one most favored by tourists is the drive to the Lick
Observatory on the summit of Mt. Hamilton."

  "I have heard of the Observatory," interposed the man from the East, "but I
never connected San Jose with it."

  "It is San Jose's greatest auxiliary attraction, though the Big Basin is
running as a close second. The road that leads to the Observatory is
twenty-seven miles from -San Jose and was built at the expense of the taxpayers.
It is conceded to be the finest mountain road in the world and cost upwards of
$75,000. It was upon the condition that Santa Clara County should build the road
that James Lick, millionaire philanthropist, agreed to construct the Observatory
and equip it with the finest astronomical appliances in the world. The important
discoveries that have been made since the astronomers began their work have
given the Observatory a world-wide fame. The beautiful scenery of the Coast
Range is seen at its best on the road to the summit, and the drive up the
mountain is as much an attraction as a look at the heavens through the great
thirty-six inch glass."

  "If tourists should visit San Jose for a trip to the Observatory what
accommodations would they find?"

  "As good as can be found anywhere. There are twenty-seven hotels, besides
dozens of lodging houses. The finest hotels, metropolitan in every respect, with
electric lights, heating plants, elevators and the finest of service are the
Vendome, Hotel Montgomery and Hotel St. James."

  "You have spoken about the climate, scenic and other attractions. Have you a
system of sewerage, and how does it operate?"

  "San Jose has a system, a perfect one, and it operates to the satisfaction of
the entire community. The city, you must understand, is located on a plain which
slopes gently toward the bay. The problem of drainage, therefore, which has in
sections less favorably situated involved great expense, was in San Jose easily
solved. The fall is about ten feet to the mile, enough to insure a rapid flow of
water and there are now over sixty miles of main and branch sewers. The
principal drainway is built of brick and is five feet in diameter."

  "Where do you get your water supply?"

  "From artesian wells and from the lakes and streams situated high up in the
mountains. The supply is ample and can be increased whenever occasion demands.
The pressure to the hydrants from the water brought in pipes from the hills is
fifty-five pounds to the square inch."

  "How about taxes?"

  "Not high. Up to May, 1920, the city rate was $1.19. Of this eighty-five cents
was for the support of the city government, fifteen cents for the school
department, and nineteen cents for the payment of principal and interest on
bonded indebtedness of $659,400. In May, 1920, at the regular city election, it
was voted to increase the tax rate to thirty-five cents, the increase to last
for three years only, to give the city a chance to recover from the loss of
liquor licenses due to the wiping out of the saloons through Prohibition.

  "In conclusion," sadi [sic] the old resident, "I will say that we are working
under a commission form of government, with a city manager as its principal
officer; that we have a Chamber of Commerce, a live, progressive body of
representative men; a Merchants Association, the Rotary, Lions, Civic Welfare, a
Commercial Club, a Progressive Business Men's Association, One Hundred Per Cent
Club and the Commercial Club for placing San Jose in large letters on the map;
that the streets of San Jose are lighted by electricity; that car lines operated
by electricity traverse the city in every direction and extend to outlying
towns; that fifty-nine railway trains leave the city daily; that the city has
two daily newspapers, the Mercury (morning) and the News (evening) furnishing
the news of the world by Associated Press and United Press dispatches: that all
trades and professions are represented-there are forty-five dentists,
seventy-seven physicians and eighty lawyers, and that there are over 100 auto
salesrooms, garages and service stations: that over 12,000 automobiles are owned
in San Jose and at least half that number by residents of outside districts;
that there are fraternal orders galore besides clubs for men and clubs for
women, the latter for social culture, educational and literary advancement, and
in the interest of morality; that there are six banks, an efficient police force
and fire department, a public library, fine, costly buildings for the Y. M. C.
A. and Y. W. C. A., Protestant, and the Y. M. I., Catholic; a Humane Society,
Medical Society, Pioneers Society, six theaters (three of them motion picture
houses), many concert and lecture halls, a system of rural delivery that reaches
every part of the county, thus insuring a daily delivery of mail by carriers:
that the total" valuation of all property in the city amounts to $26,234,600;
that the population within the legal boundaries is over 40,000 and that it would
be at least 65,000 if the suburban districts, really a part of the city so far
as social and business interests are concerned, were admitted as a part of it.

  "Are you through?" "Nearly. Have you any questions to ask?" "You seem to have
about everything worth having down your way, but I think San Jose will be found
lacking in one respect."

  The man from the East paused and with a look which said, "I've got you, now,"
waited for the old resident to speak.

  "If we haven't got it, it isn't worth having."

  "I do not agree with you. I like relaxation. 'All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy.' I require outdoor exercise with some nice ozone thrown in to give
me a healthy color and take the kinks out of my muscles."

  "Ah, I see. You want a baseball or a cyclers' club. We have both in San Jose.
We have the automobile as well and as for hunting and fishing, no county in the
interior of the state offers better inducements."

  "They are all right, but you haven't got what I want and that's a golf club."

  The old resident's, face fairly beamed: "Haven't got a golf club? Why, man
alive, we've got the best golf club in Central California."

  "You can't mean it."

  "I do. It was organized about twenty years ago, has as fine links as any one
could wish, with an ornate club house, replete with every up-to-date convenience
and costing about $20,000. The links are located on rising ground at the foot of
the eastern hills about four miles from the city. A prettier location could not
be found. The club house has an outlook that takes in the whole valley. It goes
without saying that the club is composed of men and women who represent the best
in society and business."

  "What are your prospects for the future?"

  "They are very bright. Money is easily obtainable and in a business way San
Jose is prosperous. Its various resources and utilities combine to make it so.
The Chamber of Commerce is doing wonders in the way of promoting business
activity, fostering improvements and paving, the way for all enterprises looking
to the city's advancement along the best lines. Seven miles north of San Jose is
the port of Alyiso, situated on a slough which empties into San Francisco Bay.
Before the European war the city bought a strip of land extending along the
Alviso road to Alviso and more land suitable for the establishing of a real port
of entry for vessels. It was the intention, through Government aid, to dredge
the slough, make it passable for transportation craft and thus provide San Jose
with water as well as railway transportation for her products. The war stopped
the project, but Sunnyvale, nine miles from San Jose, has taken it up and a
port, near the San Jose line, will soon be in operation. So you see that in 1922
the City of San Jose offers a fine field for the investment of money."

  "Soil, climate, production, opportunity, Eh?" "Yes."

  The man from the East now looked at his watch. "The Los Angeles train has
gone," he said. "Well?" "There's the train for San Jose. I'll take it."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
EUGENE T. SAWYER

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
1922


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