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CATALINA ISLAND AT CALIFORNU
( By H. F . Shortti'l l HiAtoriogra pber l
vae very much interested when r eading an articl e i n the Harbor Grace
Standard, of II recent issue , about the purchase of t he above Island by \lrlg1e y,
the world_fa med manufac t urers of che wing gum, for the sum. of ¢4, OOO,OOO.
Wha t dr e v my parti cular a ttention t o t his was t vo of our citize n8 of St.
John ' s , Han . Donald Mori l!lon, an d Mr . W. A. Hunn r e cently visited the Island ..
feel cer t ain that the Even i ng Te l egram w111 be pleased
to gi ve i ta nuaercu e
reade r s at home a nd abroad II brief sk etch of th.at far-off Island vhfcb has so
l at ely con e into such pr-oraf nen ce , &8 t he name Cata lina is su ch a hou se-bold
word with u s. Alt hough ve have no I sland of that naae , still t he Fishermen ' s
Union have bee exp endi ng a very large a moun t of money on t he t.ovn of Catalina,
and have brought it into great prominence .
The I sland of Catalina is sd'tuat.ed thirty mi l oe:s off the coast of California
and a l arge pa s senger ste amer c ak e s the r oun d trip da i l y from the port of San
Pedro, vhfch i s one of t he pri nc ipa l
sea -ports on the California coast , and 1s
really the harbor f or t he great Ci ty of Los Angeles \lith its many subur ban t owns
an d gre at or-ange-gr-ovfn g distr ict . Ther e i s little v ender- that this I slAnd i s a
gre a t resort. f or tourists, .'Who bathe on.1ts s andy beac hes, ca t ch slotord:-fi.tlh and
other game leviathans i n i t s t ropi ca l 'Water s, play gol f on t he hill-slopes of
t he fa mou s Isl and , a s "'ell a s inspec t the submarine gardens in glass b08 t S. But
there is a most remark.a ble coinc idence wi th regard t o t his Island of Catalina and
the nomenclat ure of our own country, viz-t ha t t he only ha rbor on t h" I sland
[vhfcb Island i s abou t 25 miles l ong and eight rrl l es br oad) bas the t.lllillar na me
of Ava l on, and the entrance
to the harbor has a conical r oc k \lith our Yell-known
name of Sug ar Loaf .
Such a coincidence a s that is more than remar ka ble, a nd as Secretary of our