31 May 2017

Tres Hermanos Ranch and Tonner Canyon Plan Reported

This came out several days ago in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune concerning the City of Industry's plans for Tres Hermanos Ranch and other land in Tonner Canyon directly north and adjacent to Carbon Canyon.

Here is the link to the article discussing those plans for a large solar farm in the area and quoting from nearby officials, including Rad Bartlam, city manager of Chino Hills.

14 May 2017

Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #55: La Vida Mineral Water Company Stock Certificate, 1930

With many thanks to Dorothy Infantado, who sent this item a few days ago so that it could be posted on this blog, this entry highlights a stock certificate from La Vida Mineral Water Company, which used the water from the resort here on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon and bottled it with a variety of added flavors as a healthful beverage.

A stock certificate for 20 shares of preferred stock in La Vida Mineral Water Company, issued to Charles and Lulu Rose of Long Beach, 2 September 1930.  Donated by Dorothy Infantado.

Previous posts here have given some of the history of the La Vida Mineral Water Company, but this is the first time that a stock certificate has surfaced.  The seal of the firm shows an incorporation date of 27 February 1928, with posts on this blog stating the company started producing water in 1927 and then, evidently, decided to sell stock in the company to raise capital for expansion.  This definitely happened as La Vida water was marketed heavily throughout the West Coast in following years, peaking in 1931.

The president of the firm was C. [Charleston] A. Kleinman, whose signature is on the certificate, along with the company's secretary, whose name, however, is largely faded and indecipherable.  Information about Kleinman was included in earlier posts here from 2012.  This is certificate number 500, dated 2 September 1930, and 20 shares were issued to Charles E. and Lulu Rose.  It is not known what the par value of the stock was

The front panel of the stock certificate--likely the Roses did not receive much in the way of dividends and equity from their shares.

The stock purchased by the couple was preferred stock, which means that any dividends or any payments made on dissolution of the firm would go to holders to this type of stock before those who held common stock in the firm. La Vida Mineral Water issued a quarter million shares of capital stock, with half being preferred and the other half common.

As to these stockholders, they were not wealthy investors.  Charles E. Rose was a native of Illinois and was about 47 years old when he bought the stock.  He worked as a streetcar motorman, probably for the Pacific Electric system.  His wife Lulu Evans, who hailed from Michigan was a few years younger, and the couple resided in a modest bungalow north of downtown Long Beach.

An ad for the firm in the San Bernardino County Sun, 19 June 1931.
Even though the Great Depression began a little under a year prior to the Rosses buying their shares of stock in La Vida Mineral Water, the company's rapid growth and breathless promotion of the many health benefits of its product obviously convinced them that it was worth the expenditure.  But, it is unlikely they ever got much out of their investment in terms of dividends or equity.

What happened to this certificate is uncertain--Lulu Ross, who was previously married, had two children and it is likely the document passed to them.   However, items like this can wind up in other hands in any number of ways.  For example, perhaps a later owner of one of the homes the Rosses lived in found it.

A testimonial to the myriad health benefits of La Vida Mineral Water from another Sun ad, 26 March 1931.
In any case, many thanks to Dorothy for passing this along so that it can be shared with readers of this blog.

13 May 2017

Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council Brush Drop-Off Day a Success

Today from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Canon Lane next to Fire Station 64, north of Carbon Canyon Road, there was a steady stream of Carbon Canyon residents from the Chino Hills portion who took advantage of the Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council's brush drop-off day.

The first bin was set aside and the second one was put into place during today's brush drop-off day.
This program, with the support of the City of Chino Hills and Chino Hills (Republic) Disposal, has been held for the last several years, often in the spring and fall, and allows for local residents to dispose of their brush and help keep the fire risk in the canyon down.

Several Council volunteers were on hand to help with off-loading and piling of the debris into large roll-off bins and there were sometimes three vehicles at a time waiting to drop off the material.

Local residents participating in the drop-off day; in this case, this vehicle made several trips to drop off material.
By mid-morning, the first bin was getting full and, fortunately, the disposal company had another empty one nearby in Chino Hills, so it took just a few minutes to bring it and haul away the first one.

As 1:00 neared, the second bin was just about full and one late arrival had to be turned away as the bin was being hauled out.

With something on the order of 7,500 pounds of brush dropped off, that means that much less of a fire risk in the canyon.
In all, an estimated 7,500 pounds of brush was brought down and then taken away.  With the deadline of the 15th looming for local residents to remove their brush by order the fire department and with the weather being just about perfect, this was the time to get the work done and it was great to see those residents who took advantage of the project.

There may be a fall date for a second brush drop-off day this year, so look for more information here, on the Chronicle Facebook page, on Next Door Sleepy Hollow and on the Chino Hills Connection site.

08 May 2017

Dangerous Left Turns Into Left Turn Lanes on Carbon Canyon Road

Last Wednesday, the Chino Hills Planning Commission meeting featured a presentation of the first phase of a Carbon Canyon Road traffic study.

More on that in a coming post, but there was a statement made by the traffic engineer for the consultant, KOA Corporation, that there are too many cars on the state highway for the type of road that it is.

When it came time for ten canyon residents to express their concerns during public comment, several of them stated that turning left onto Carbon Canyon Road can be a stressful and frustrating experience, which is true.  The road mentioned most often was Canon Lane and concerns about accidents stated.

However, just forty-five minutes ago, while I was heading east on the highway, a late-model BMW 5-series sedan turned left from Canon and, because the road was not clear for that turn, the driver used the left turn lane on westbound Carbon Canyon to southbound Canon Lane as a collector lane.

Sure enough, a black sedan entered that left-turn lane to go south onto Canon just as the BMW was starting to exit it and cut in front of the driver ahead of me to get onto the eastbound lane of Carbon Canyon.

This is the second time in the last several days that I've seen/experienced this.

Last week, I was heading the same direction and a new-looking Mercedes SUV made the same maneuver and was looking to enter the roadway from the westbound left-turn lane, but I happened to be there, so the driver stopped and had to wait in that lane before heading on to Carbon Canyon Road.  In this case, there was no one turning left, but what if there had been?

Residents of the canyon know all too well the frustration of waiting long periods to try and turn left (or right to a lesser extent) onto Carbon Canyon Road during busy times.

Risking injury or death by making dangerous turns onto the roadway using a left-turn lane others might use, however, is lunacy.

In both these cases, these weren't young, inexperienced drivers, they were mature adults in their 40s to 60s.  They really should know better.

Among the comments at last week's meeting was that traffic signals at intersections like Canon Lane and Carbon Canyon Road would make turning left onto the state highway a great deal safer.  It's hard to argue with that, though there are many other factors about such issues traffic flow and delays to bear when considering these changes.

For now, though, people have to be more patient.  In both cases, when I looked into my rear view mirror after those maneuvers, there was room for those vehicles to turn left behind me within seconds.

Is it really worth it to try and shave off a few seconds of time to make a dangerous and illegal left turn?

07 May 2017

Brush Drop-Off Day Next Saturday the 13th

Next Saturday the 13th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council, with significant support from the City of Chino Hills and Chino Hills (Republic) Disposal, is holding its spring brush drop-off day.



Residents of the Chino Hills portion of Carbon Canyon only can bring their cut brush to a roll-off bin on Canon Lane next to Fire Station 64, just north of Carbon Canyon Road, where Fire Safe Council volunteers will help load the material into the bin.

Remember, there is a Chino Valley Fire District-imposed deadline of the 15th to remove brush from properties in order to reduce fire risk, so next Saturday is an opportune time to take that material down for disposal.

02 May 2017

On the Skids in Carbon Canyon #25738

About twenty minutes ago, while heading westbound on Carbon Canyon Road at the eastern end of the S-curve in Chino Hills, I came upon a single motorcycle accident.

It was not clear which direction the rider was headed, nor if there were any injuries, but a tow truck was getting ready to haul the pocket rocket away and two Sheriff's Department vehicles were directing traffic in one lane each direction.  The backup for eastbound travelers extended to Sleepy Hollow.