It is with a great sense of satisfaction and thankfulness to God that we are able to announce that another sanitarium in southern California is now ready to open its doors to the sick and suffering. For many years, even from the beginning of our sanitarium work, we have looked from the East, with its cold, wet seasons, over into the salubrious climate of southern California, and have heartily wished that Providence might open a way whereby we could establish at least one of our sanitariums where the splendid natural methods, which God has given us for treating disease, could be assisted by the unparalleled climate of southern California. And now instead of one, the Lord has given us two beautiful sanitariums,—one situated at Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles, which has already been announced to our readers, and the other to be known as the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, located in Paradise Valley, within the limits of the little town of National City, six miles from San Diego.
About twenty years ago a lady physician, possessed of considerable wealth and enterprise, selected a commanding site in Paradise Valley for a sanitarium home, and expended fully sixty thousand dollars on the buildings and grounds. For various reasons her enterprise was a failure, and in a few months the doors were closed, and the building has not been occupied since, except by caretakers and an occasional boarder.
Our attention was first called to this building about three years ago, when it was offered for fifteen thousand dollars; later it was offered for eleven thousand dollars, and a committee visited the place, and plans were laid for the purchase of the property, but the way was hedged up. Later it was offered for eight thousand dollars, and the way was hedged up again. Nearly one year ago, through the kindness of friends interested in the place, we secured the information that it could be bought at a very low figure for cash. Negotiations were immediately begun, which resulted in the purchase of this fine building, with about fifty rooms, a six-room cottage near by, a fairly good barn, and thirty acres of land, for five thousand dollars, including all expenses and costs. The main building is a splendid structure, and with repairs and painting just completed, it is practically as good as new.
On the eighteenth day of April we took possession of the place and began repairing the buildings. The house has been thoroughly renovated, painted inside and out, and has been comfortably furnished. A new pumping plant has been put in on the old well, which is considered one of the best wells in San Diego County. Another well has been dug, and a gasoline engine pumping plant installed, so that we have an abundance of water, with about sixty feet pressure, for all domestic and sanitarium purposes and for irrigation.
Too much space would be consumed if we were to narrate the many providences which led to the securing of the property and the abundant supply of good water in this place where sunshine is so abundant, and where water is so scarce. Indeed, a good well in this country is a fortune in itself.
The initial investment in this property was made by four individuals who were most enthusiastically interested in the subject of a sanitarium for southern California. During the month of November, 1904, these investors spent about three weeks at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, and while here, visited various places in the county, and presented the work to the friends of the enterprise. The result was that the capital was sufficiently increased to cover the purchase of the property and the furniture needed, and to make the improvements necessary. The hearty way in which our friends took hold of this work was most cheering. At every place where the interests of the work were presented, stock was subscribed, gifts of money were made, and in some instances the gifts took a most practical turn; for example, in San Pasqual, one farmer gave us a beautiful registered Jersey cow six years old; another man donated the use of his team and big wagon to bring her to the sanitarium, a distance of over forty miles. Another man volunteered to drive the team, and another to accompany him, and give us a week's work. And as the big team could haul two cows just as well as one, the wife of the man who gave the first cow, went out through the neighborhood and found another farmer who was willing to donate a second cow. That big team, when it drove up to our door, was an interesting affair; for in addition to the two cows, the good people had sent sacks of sweet potatoes, squash, canned fruit, canned corn, and other things that were very much needed. And so 'many hands,' which according to the proverb, 'make light work,' have supplied the labor and the means for one of the best little sanitariums that has yet been opened.
VIEW OF BUILDING AND GROUND
The situation of the sanitarium affords a fine landscape scene of the table mountains of Mexico to the south, of San Miguel and lower peaks of the Coast Range to the east, and a magnificent view of the silvery Bay of San Diego20and the Pacific Ocean, and the Coronado Islands on the west, Point Loma, with her celebrated lighthouse a little farther to the north, and the whole of National and San Diego cities, and the surrounding valleys, whose olive and orange orchards are always green, constituting a grand panorama calculated to give joy, and health, and life to those who can avail themselves of the privilege of visiting this, one of the loveliest and most attractive places in the world.
There may be other localities where a more delightful climate is enjoyed for a brief period, but there is no other place in the world where the temperature is so even, delightful, and healthful all the year round as in San Diego County. The temperature of San Diego has exceeded ninety degrees but nineteen times in thirty-two years. Four times in the history of San Diego the temperature has gone down to thirty-two degrees (the freezing-point), but it has never fallen lower, and within the history of the city there has never been a snowstorm. Flowers bloom out of doors from January to December. There is an average of one hundred and thirty-five days in the year when the thermometer stands between fifty-five and sixty-five degrees day or night. Last year there were two hundred and ninety-one clear days, and a rainfall of about five inches.
The sanitarium is not yet formally open, and its work has not yet even been announced to the public, and yet applications for admittance began to come in as soon as repairs were begun. One good lady insisted upon coming, and has been with us about two months, while the painting and repairing were going on. Week before last six patients pressed their way in upon us; others have come since, and all are pleased and are doing well. We expect the formal opening to take place about the middle of February, and it seems probable that our building will be full before we have time to open, as there are only four unoccupied rooms at the present time. In making the announcement for the preparation of this place for sanitarium work, the board of managers and investors wish thus to publicly express their thanksgiving to God for the marked providences which have opened the way for the launching of this enterprise.
Friends wishing to come to the Paradise Valley Sanitarium should buy tickets to San Diego, via Los Angeles. Our city office is 1117 Fourth St., San Diego. Our team will bring patients from the city to the sanitarium, a distance of six miles. All inquiries relative to facilities, charges, etc., at this place, should be addressed to the manager of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, National City, Cal.
