California
California names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
California the most southerly of the Pacific states
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the most southerly of the Pacific states. Area, 158,360 square miles, equivalent to that of New England , New York , and Pennsylvania. It is exceeded in size by Texas only. The extreme length from northwest to southeast is about 800 miles, equal to the distance from Boston to Chicago or to Charleston. The greatest width is about 270 miles. Within this vast territory there is the greatest diversity of scenery, rainfall, temperature, soil, and productions. It is difficult to characterize a state in which a single county has mountain summits above the snow line at one end and orange groves at the other. It is difficult to name a fruit, flower, vegetable, or field crop found elsewhere in the United States that does not find a suitable locality somewhere in California. MOUNTAINS. The Coast Range, from 2,000 to 8,000 feet in height, follows the coast from Oregon southward about two-thirds the length of the state. The Sierra Nevada range marks approximately the eastern boundary of the state. Although geologists say that it has been worn down until it has lost a mile of its height, it is still the steepest and loftiest range of mountains in the United States. Mt. Whitney, 14,520 feet high, is our highest peak outside of Alaska. The lowest pass in this range is 9,000 feet above the sea level. The famous Yosemite Valley is in this range. In places the western slope falls 10,000 feet in ten miles. A belt varying in width, but averaging perhaps thirty miles, is entirely above the snow line. There are perhaps 100 small glaciers. A knot between these ranges near the Oregon boundary, and another near the southern end of the Coast Range, divide the interior of California into two great basins. The larger of these, drained by the Sacramento River and its branches, has but one outlet, the Golden Gate, through which its waters make their way to the Pacific Ocean. CLIMATE. Shielded by mountains on the north and east, California has but two seasons, a wet and a dry. Hurricanes and cyclones are unknown. Beginning with May, rain is practically unknown for six months. Sacks of wheat are left in the field, and fruit is spread to dry without the slightest danger from rain. The annual rainfall near the Oregon line is about 8 inches. At San Francisco , it is about 24, at Los Angeles , 15 inches. At Yuma, in the extreme desert southeast, it seldom amounts to 3 inches. In this part of the state lies the Death Valley , feet below the level of the sea. It derives is name form the scarcity of life. Forest TREES. The forest of California, consisting chiefly of the redwood of the coast range, the big tree of the Sierras, the sugar pine, the Douglas spruce, the incense tree, and the silver fir, are second only to those of Oregon in value. In the southern part of the state millions of pepper trees from Peru and eucalyptus from Australia have been set out for fuel and for ornament. The northern pine yields enormous crops of seeds used by the Indians to feed their horses. AGRICULTURE. Agriculture and fruit raising were introduced into California by Spanish missionaries. Vast cattle ranges and sheep ranches formerly existed in southern California. Mrs. Jackson’s Ramona gives an excellent picture of sheep farming. Within the last fifteen years these great ranches have been broken up into small farms. The enormous wheat farms of twenty years ago have also been divided into small holdings. There are still a few large farms; one in particular comprises 1,000,000 acres. Three factors the introduction of fruit raising, the difficulty of obtaining farm help, and the construction of irrigating ditches, have combined to favor the small farm,. A farm of ten or twenty acres is about all that anyone can handle properly or need to have. Over 5,000 miles of canals and ditches have been constructed to conduct the waters of the mountains to the valley below where it is needed. Land that was formerly worthless has been converted into fertile valleys. Alfalfa yields easily three croups a year. In irrigated valleys crop failures are unknown. Were it not for insect pests California could raise all the fruit the world needs. Of plum. Prune, peach, apricot, apple, pear, and cherry trees, there are about 28,000,000, with an average annual yield valued at fifty cents each. Southern California, of which Los Angeles is the metropolis, is none of the most famous orange, lemon, and olive regions in the world. In 1900, 18,000 carloads of these fruits were shipped to eastern markets. It is estimated that there are 48,000,000 fruit trees of all kinds in California and 240,000,000 grape vines. Grapes are produced in nearly every county. The annual yield may be placed at 5,500,000 gallons of wine, and 200,000,000 pounds of raisins. The quantity of fresh grapes shipped in baskets is almost beyond computation. In 1905 California packers put up 4,475,751 Cases of canned fruits and vegetables. Named in order of importance, the principal crops are wheat, hay and forage, orchard fruits, barley, tropical fruits, grapes and small fruits, potatoes, and other vegetable, corn, oats, and rye, sugar beets, beans, and hops. The total value of these products is $132,000,000 a year, over one half being raise on irrigated land. MINING. Attention was called to California first by the discovery of gold in 1848. Up to that time the United States had produced less than $12,000,000 worth of gold, the annual yield of California alone was over $30,000,000 for a long series of years, and it is still about $85,000,000. Named in order of importance, the minerals produced are gold, copper, petroleum, quicksilver, silver, borax, mineral water, soda, asphalt, salt, and lime. California is deficient in hardwood and in coal. MANUFACTURES. The discovery of petroleum in abundance has stimulated manufacture. The leading manufactures are sugar, paced meats, lumber , flour, canned fruits and vegetables, machinery, wines and liquors, cars, leather, brooks, and paper. Mountain torrents are now being utilized to generated electricity. It is transmitted long distances, as to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to drive machinery. EDUCATION. California has taken advanced ground in establishing a systems of education. Common schools, normal schools, and a state university have a reputation second to none in the Union. The state university situated at Berkeley opposite San Francisco is one of America’s great state universities. Its Income from various sources is about $600,000 per annum, Wealthy citizens, particularly Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, have contributed large sums for the construction of buildings and to endow chairs. Leland Stanford, junior, University, founded by Senator and Mrs. Stanford in memory of their son, is also an institution of world-wide reputation. It stands in the front rank as to scholar-ship and equipment. Sacramento, the capital of California, has a population of about 50,000; san Francisco, the metropolis, and Los Angeles, second city in size, are reserved for special articles. The population of California in 1900 was 1,485,053. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, sq. miles 156,172 Population 1,800,000 San Francisco 450,000 Oakland 100,000 San Jose 30,000 Stockton 30,000 Berkeley 25,000 Fresno 25,000 Los Angeles 250,000 Sacramento 50,000 Alameda……30,000 San Diego 30,000 Pasadena 30,000 No. counties 57 Members of state senate 40 Representatives 80 Salary of governor $6,000 United States representatives 8 Presidential electors 10 Assessed Valuation of property $1,878,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $6,325,000 Acres under irrigation 2,500,000 Agricultural Products— Corn, bushels 1,600,000 Wheat, bushels 12,000,000 Oats, bushels 7,000,000 Barley, bushels 25,000,000 Wine, gallons 40,000,000 Wool clip, pounds 13,300,000 Fruit shipments , cars 7,441 Beet sugar, pounds 146,000,000 Farm crops, value $131,000,000 Domestic Animals— Horses 396,000 Mules 82,000 Milk cows 410,000 Other cattle 1,555,000 Sheep 2,422,000 Swine 551,000 Forest reserve, acres 22,000,000 Fisheries, value of $4,000,000 Miles of railway 6,655 Manufacturing establishments 6,839 Capital invested $282,000,000 Operatives 100,000 Raw material….$215,000,000 Output of manufactured goods $367,000,000 Gold mined $16,000,000 Quicksilver, output of $622,000 Coal mined, tons 24,000 Petroleum, barrels 39,000,000 Borax, output of $1,121,000 Clay products $5,740,000 Mineral products $56,000,000 Savings banks deposits $165,000,000 Teachers in public schools……9,714 Pupils enrolled 335,645 Percentage of male teachers 13.1 Average monthly salary of men teachers $112.04 Average monthly salary of women teachers $76,06 Average annual expenditure per pupil $49.29 See Sequoia ; Yosemite ; Gold ; Grapes; Canning ; Prunes; Celery ; Death Valley ; Lick Observatory ; Le-Land Stanford
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a State in the Western which great streams of water were turned against the gravel banks. This process was successful, but by it the banks were rapidly swept away and the detritus threatened to choke the rivers, so that its use was soon prohibited by law. Gold is found in the metallic state, often associated with silver and other metals, on the slopes of the Sierras. It is also found in streams and alluvial deposits in coarse grains, and quartz deposits where it is extracted by amalgamation. A very rich quality of silver ४ occurs in small quantities, and magnetic iron and cinnabar abound in the Sierras. Pyrites of iron and copper are found in gold-bearing quartz, and a rich variety of argentiferous galena occurs in San Bernardino county. Other valuable mineral products are: tin, plumbago, cobalt, granites, marbles, sandstones, hydraulic limestones and bituminous coal. Mineral Production. - The combined output of gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead mines for 1918 was valued at $32,- 223,500. The iron ore output was 25,000 gross tons. The yield of silver was 1,- 533,000 ounces, of copper 48,538,000 pounds, of lead 14,655,800 pounds, and of zinc 4,697,900 pounds. The gold production was valued at $16,528,953. The estimate for 1919 was of gold $17,320,- 250, silver $1,244,386, copper $4,236,934, lead $253,944, and zinc $68,533. The most notable development in the mineral production of California has been the extraordinary increase in the production of petroleum. The production in 1899 reached scarcely 2,000,000 barrels. This has increased in 1906 to 34,500,000 barrels, in 1914 to 86,450,797 barrels, and in 1918 to 97,531,997 barrels. In the production of petroleum California was exceeded in 1918 only by Oklahoma. The total value of the production of 1918 was $118,770,790. This development resulted from the discovery of oilbearing fields in various parts of the State. Soil. The soil varies with the surface conditions of the State. In the elevated portions it is rich, mellow, and easily worked, and timber land abounds. In the lower portions the soil varies from a rich loam to a heavy clay or adobe. What was formerly considered desert land can now, under irrigation, be turned into valuable agricultural districts. Agriculture.- The State is very rich in its agricultural interests. The acreage, production and value of the principal crops in 1919 was as follows: corn, 87,000 acres, with a production of 2,- 871,000 bushels, valued at $5,139,000; oats, 17 175,000 acres, with a production of 5,250,000 bushels, valued at - $5,040,000; wheat, 990,000 acres, with a uted as follows: State reform schools, production of 16,335,000 bushels, valued at $33,323,000; barley, 1,000,000 acres, with a production of 30,000,000 bushels, valued at $42,300,000; hay, 2,352,000 acres, with a production of 4,257,000 tons, valued at $73,220,000; beans, 395,- 000 acres, with a production of 4,464,000 bushels, valued at $19,418,000; potatoes, 88,000 acres, with a production of 11,- 352,000 bushels, valued at $19,412,000; cotton, 167,000 acres, with a production of 102,000 bales, valued at $21,930,000; rice, 142,000 acres, with a production of 7,881,000 bushels, valued at $21,042,000; and hops, 11,000 acres, with a production of 17,875,000 pounds, valued at $13,- 764,000. There were, in 1919, 88,197 farms, with a total acreage of 27,931,- 000, valued at $1,614,694,000. Manufacturing. -In 1914 there were nearly 5,000 manufacturing industries. There were 10,057 establishments, 176,- 547 workers engaged, with salaries and wages of $140,842,691. The capital invested was $736,105,455, and the value of the manufactured products was $712,- 800,764. The chief industries were meat packing, fruit and vegetable canning, lumber, foundry, and machine-shop products, flour and mill products, petroleum, and shipbuilding. Banking. In 1919 there were 290 National banks in operation, having $62,- 976,000 in capital, $22,017,000 in outstanding circulation, and $126,244,000 in United States bonds. There were also 298 State banks, with $34,391,000 in capital, $253,301,000 in deposits, and $342,137,000 in resources. In the year ending Sept. 30, 30, 1919, the exchange at the United States clearing houses in San Francisco aggregated $6,703,- 134,000. Education. The public school enrollment in 1918 was 596,155. There were 11,680 teachers in the elementary schools, and 2,882 in the high schools. The average salary of male teachers in the elementary schools was $905; female $895; in the high schools $1,450.64 for male teachers and $1,336.95 for female. The annual expenditure for schools is $34,133,122. There are 13 colleges with an enrollment of 15,136. The principal universities and colleges are: University of California (opened 1869, non-sectarian); Leland Stanford Junior University (1891, non-sectarian); St. Ignatius College (1855, Roman Catholic); Santa Clara College (1851, Roman Catholic), and the University University of Southern Califor nia (1880, Methodist Episcopal). See LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY;
California Gulf of, an arm of the Pacific extending between
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Gulf of, an arm of the Pacific extending between the peninsula of Lower California and the mainland of Mexico. Length, 700 miles; breadth at the entrance, 130 miles. See Colorado River ; Salton Sea Caliph or Calif, ka’lif, a name given to the successor of Mohammed in the government of the faithful and in the high priesthood. The name is Arabic and means successor or deputy. The power of the caliph was absolute in both civil and of the caliph was absolute in both civil and religions matters, a long as he ruled in conformity with the Koran and traditions. The caliph must be a male adult, a free-man, and sane. It was expected that he be a learned divine, a powerful ruler, a just person, and that he belong to the Koreish, or tribe to which Mohammed himself belonged. Some authorities claim that he must belong to the family of Mohammed, and consequently maintain that since the first five caliphs none have been entitled to the name, but are merely governors. The caliph in his office of high priest began the public prayers every Friday in the chief mosque, and delivered the sermon. He was obliged to lead the pilgrims to Mecca in person and to march at the head of the armies of his empire. He rode to the mosque mounted on a mule, and the Seljukian sultan held his stirrup and led the mule until notified by a sign from the caliph that he might himself mount on horseback. From a window of the caliph’s palace hung always a piece of black velvet thirty feet or more in length called the “caliph’s sleeve.” This was kissed daily with great respect by the grandees of the court. The succession to the caliphate often occasioned much excitement. There were various insurrections and dissatisfaction among individuals. Many caliphate passed over to the ninth of the Ottoman dynasty of Turkish sultans, and the title is still vested in the sultan of the Ottoman Empire . The Mohammedan princes appoint a particular officer in their respective dominions to sustain the sacred authority of the caliph. In Turkey he is called a mufti; in Persia, a sadne. Soon after the battle of Tours, little more than a hundred years after the death of Mohammed, the world of the Moslems was rent. Islam extended form Persia and the far East, along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, and across the Straits of Gibraltar into Spain. Geographical conditions and personal ambition split this extended empire into two divisions, an eastern and a western, just as similar factors split Christendom into an eastern and a western empire. In the day of Charlemagne, we find two caliphates. Harounal-Rashid, the friend of Charlemagne, built his luxurious capital, Bagdad, on the Tigris; the caliph of the West built up Cordova in Spain. Historians have not failed to point out the loss of momentum that followed the Mohammedan division and the corresponding degree of safety that came to Christendom.
California UNIVERSITY OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNIVERSITY OF. Charities. State institutions on Nov. 30, 1919, held 15,169 inmates, distrib- 734; hospitals for the insane, 10,124; Industrial Home for Adult Blind, 139; Home for Feeble-minded, 1,301. There were 2,871 in the State prisons. Railroads. There are 12,145 miles of railway and 3,032 miles of electric railways in the State. California has 19 lines of ocean steamers plying to China, the Philippines, Chile, Panama, Mexico, and Alaska. There are also 13 coastwise lines. Finances. The revenues for the fiscal year 1918-1919 were $50,132,906.37, and the expenditures $50,681,433.48. On July 1, 1919, the net bonded debt was $44,138,500. The assessed valuation of taxable property was $4,023,009,588. State Government. - The Governor is elected for a term of four years and receives a salary of $10,000 per annum. The legislature has 40 members in the Senate and 80 in the House. There are eleven Representatives in Congress. The State government in 1920 was Republican. History. The name California was applied to an island in the Pacific in 1521, and, sometime between 1535 and 1549, was also applied to that part of North America now known as California and Lower California. Several Spanish and English explorers visited this section during the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1769 the Franciscan monks founded San Diego and soon afterward many other missions, including Dolores at San Francisco, 1776. In 1826 the first American emigrant train entered the present limits of the State, and in 1840 Monterey was made the capital. The United States tried to form an alliance with California in 1846; but the Americans already settled there seized Sonoma and proclaimed a republic. At the outbreak of the Mexican Mexican War, San Francisco was seized by the Americans, and, on Aug. 15, 1846, California was declared United States territory. In 1848 gold was discovered, and this led to a great immigration. In less than four years there were 250,000 people in the State. Many of these were lawless and capable of any crime, and several times vigilance committees were organized by the better class for active measures in the suppression of crime. California was admitted to the Union as a Free State, Sept. 9, 1850. In 1869 the Central Pacific Railroad was completed, and the employment of Chinese in this work led to serious riots, and resulted in the passage by Congress of the Chinese Exclusion Act. During the Spanish- American War and the American operations against the Filipino insurgents, nearly all the expeditions to the Philippine Islands started from San Francisco. Agitation against the immigration of Japanese laborers, which became acute in 1912 and the year following, and which was quieted by a compromise between the American and Japanese Governments, again became a source of irritation in 1920. The action of the United States Government in practically debarring Japanese immigrants ants from California was bitterly resented by the Japanese people.
California GULF OF, or SEA OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GULF OF, or SEA OF
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote this in 1910, California held fewer than 2.4 million people and was, in its telling, "exceeded in size by Texas only"; Alaska's statehood in 1959 pushed it to third in area, and its population has since grown to roughly 39 million, making it the most populous state since it passed New York in 1962. The gold that "called attention to California first" is now a minor industry: the state's economy runs on technology, entertainment, petroleum and an agricultural sector still worth more than any other state's, and by itself it ranks among the largest economies on earth. The irrigation Aiton's praised, "over 5,000 miles of canals and ditches," became the Colorado River Aqueduct, the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, and the water they move is now the subject of permanent political conflict amid recurring drought. The claim that "hurricanes and cyclones are unknown" still holds, but the century since has been defined instead by earthquakes and, in recent decades, by wildfires of a scale the 1910 account could not have imagined.
Written for this edition, 2026.