Fortunes have been lost in real estate in Los Angeles, but for the past eleven years it has been going up by leaps and bounds. Yet all wonder what keeps it up, as there are practically no manufactures, and though it is surrounded by orange and lemon orchards, those fruits are taken by buyers from the east and shipped there direct, so that there are few, if any, local middlemen. But there is, as I said before, a large influx of the wealthy class of tourists, and these leave an immense amount of money in the city. Besides, there are a number of the millionaire class from the eastern states who winter there. One striking feature is the great number of small detached cottages, with beautiful gardens, owned chiefly by the mechanics and labouring men of the city. Los Angeles is sometimes called the city of cottages. Most of these small five-and six-roomed cottages, quite up-to-date with all the latest conveniences and improvements, and costing from $1200 to $2000 each, are being or have been paid for on the instalment plan. Of course they are sometimes forfeited, but if one has paid enough to make it worth while, one can generally sell one’s equity if unwilling or unable to continue the payments. I knew a labouring man who in this way acquired three houses. He earned $2.50 per day in our yard as blacksmith, and his wife earned about the same amount as seamstress; they were childless and were saving for old age. As soon as they had a house paid for they rented it out, and with this rent and their savings commenced to buy another one. They expect, when they have enough houses, to retire and live on their rentals, looking after their property. As Los Angeles caters for the tourist trade, one can hire hundreds of houses of all sizes and prices, completely furnished even to bed and table linen, table and kitchen ware. Another thing that strikes the visitor is the street car system, claimed—and rightly, I think—to be the finest in the world. One can get a car to any part of the city, or to any of the suburban towns or seaside resorts (called beaches), at intervals of from three to ten minutes, according to the importance of the line. There are good roads out of Los Angeles, and in fact all over California, and the city itself has very fine asphalt streets. In consequence, the wealthy bring their automobiles, and also almost every labouring man has his bicycle to take him to and from his work. At 6 P.M. Spring Street and Broadway are a sight to see with the streams of bicycles and motor cycles wending their way homewards. In the evenings, in front of the cheap five and ten cent theatres (where really good vaudeville entertainments are given), the library, and the Y.M.C.A. rooms, I have seen bicycles five and six deep against the curb; it is quite a job to pick out your own amongst the hundreds of others.