24 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
wife has no trouble in drying her clothes, provided it should 
not rain. In fact, the atmosphere of San Francisco, in spite of 
sea winds and mists, is a dry atmosphere.” 
The mean temperatures of spring, summer, autumn, and win- 
ter, are 54°, 57°, 56°, and 50° respectiyely, showing a difference 
of only seven degrees between the average of winter and sum- 
mer}; whereas a similar comparison in the climate of New York 
city shows a difference of thirty-nine degrees. There is a range 
of two degrees more in San Francisco by taking the months 
separately—January, the coldest month, having a mean tem- 
perature of 49°, and September, the warmest, a mean of 58°. 
October is as warm as July, and in some years it has been 
warmer. The mean of the whole year is 54°, a temperature 
that requires heavy woollen clothing for comfort. For vigor- 
ous, industrious men, the climate of San Francisco is the health- 
iest and most agreeable in the world. I prefer it to all others. 
But, to enjoy it, a man should have warm blood, full veins, 
and active habits; if he is weak or idle, he will find it too cool 
for him. It is a climate that allows a person to be out in the 
open air’ all the time; no hour is lost because of either exces- 
sive heat or excessive cold. Women do not like the climate 
so well as men; it is too cool for their less vigorous constitu- 
tions and sedentary habits. 
San Francisco does not lie immediately on the ocean, but 
only six miles from it, and where there is a great gap to let in 
the winds and fogs. The nearer the Pacific, the denser and 
more frequent the fogs, the stronger the winds, the warmer 
the winters, and the cooler the summers. The great ocean is 
a powerful equalizer of climate: as you advance into the inte- 
rior, the range of heat and cold becomes greater. In the coast 
valleys you can choose your distance. San Rafael is ten miles 
from the Pacific, Petaluma twenty, Sonoma thirty, Napa thir- 
ty-five, Suisun forty-five, and Waca valley fifty. Sonoma valley 
has a delightful climate, free from fogs and cold winds, and 
yet blessed with a sea-breeze which tempers the heat of every 
summer day to the precise degree necessary to the perfect 
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