Vol. XIX, No. 7 



WASHINGTON 



July, 1908 





T 



'ATHOHAL 



©©mAPMED 



MBAM 



tr% 



Q 



THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN 



By J. N. Patterson 



Photographs by Professor Ferdinand Ellerman, of Carnegie Institute Solar Ob- 

 servatory, Mount Wilson 



IN Mount Wilson, the home of the 

 great Carnegie Institute Solar Ob- 

 servatory, Los Angeles and vicin- 

 ity possesses what may be justly termed 

 the greatest pleasure mountain of any 

 populous section of the globe. 



Towering at an altitude of 6,000 feet 

 above Pasadena, Los Angeles, and the 

 many towns and verdant ranches of the 

 San Gabriel Valley, this remarkable 

 mountain has gained distinction in the 

 world of science as the destined home of 

 the largest lens in existence. But it has 

 other claims which need no astronomical 

 art to reveal, and which, while enchant- 

 ing the eye of the world-traveled tourist, 

 are of greatest value to the vast area of 

 homes whose scintillating fairyland of 

 lights this sentinel of the Sierra Madre 

 nightly overlooks. 



It is doubtful whether as great a vari- 

 ety of appealing views can be enjoyed 

 from any other mountain of the world, 

 but it is the wonderful accessibility of 

 Mount Wilson to the thousands of beach 

 and valley homes outspread beneath its 

 pine-clad summit and the remarkable 

 climatic and physiographic change pos- 

 sible within half a day that makes it "the 

 magic mountain" in the people's fancy. 



A change of mind at breakfast and a 

 change of speed at Sierra Madre from 

 the Pacific Electric of the city to the 

 "Burro" Pacific of the trail, and the resi- 

 dent of Los Angeles is able to eat lunch- 

 eon over a mile nearer the heavens ; may 

 look out upon a sea of clouds, darkening 

 the city below, and at night may seerthe 

 glow of the light by which the ones at 

 home are reading. 



A plunge in the Pacific and snow- 

 balling and sled-riding before night has 

 become such a common story with resi- 

 dents of this favored district as to excite 

 no comment, and at night they can pick 

 out the several buildings of the beach re- 

 sorts over forty miles away by rail, find- 

 ing it hard to realize that they were there 

 but a few hours previous. 



There is practically no end to the vari- 

 ety of wild mountain and canyon scenery 

 offered by the Mount Wilson trip, but 

 there are four general panoramic views 

 which arouse the enthusiasm of the vis- 

 itor, and each of distinctly different 

 nature. 



Looking to the south, a hundred-mile 

 vista of valley, ocean, and shoreline re- 

 veals the buildings of Los Angeles and 

 Pasadena flashing in the sunlight, the 



