Though both the Paradise Valley and the Glendale properties, secured in 1904 for sanitarium work, were of the type of situations divinely called for, yet neither of them corresponded in all details with the clear-cut description of one particular place which Seventh-day Adventists were to operate as a medical institution. Three years before finding either of these places, Mrs. White had described a certain sanitarium property in southern California which she had been shown in a vision of the night. From her journal, under date of October 10, 1901, we quote:
"I have been unable to sleep after half-past eleven at night. Many things, in figures and symbols, are passing before me. There are sanitariums in running order near Los Angeles. At one place there is an occupied building, and there are fruit trees on the sanitarium grounds. In this institution, outside the city, there is much activity."--E. G. White Manuscript 152, 1901
A Realistic View
So real was the view given to her that Mrs. White wrote, "I seemed to be living there myself." It seemed to her that she saw and conversed with the patients sitting in wheel chairs outdoors under the trees. Some of the sick were working for diversion; others were singing. Some of the shade trees seemed to form tentlike canopies.
Neither the property at Paradise Valley nor at Glendale fully met this description. It was doubtless Mrs. White's confidence that such a place as this would yet be found and come into our possession that led her in later counsel.
In August, 1903, the entry in her journal which we quoted before was embodied in substance in a letter addressed "To our brethren and sisters in southern California." This, it should be noted, was some months before even the Paradise Valley Sanitarium had been secured, and the description of the property described as having been seen in vision was in the minds of some of the brethren as they searched for suitable sanitarium properties.
There was found in the Redlands-Riverside district, a place called Loma Linda--the "Hill Beautiful"--which most perfectly corresponded to this description. The purchase of the property was considered, but when inquiry was made and the price was quoted at $110,000, all thought of securing it was abandoned.
It is difficult to imagine the increasing perplexity of the Southern California Conference officers when, with the Glendale Sanitarium enterprise only fairly launched, Mrs. White began to urge the securing of a third property for a sanitarium in southern California. On February 26, 1905, she addressed a worker living in Redlands, requesting that when he might see a place near that city which could be used for sanitarium work, "offered for sale at a reasonable price," he should let her know about it. "We shall need a sanitarium in Redlands," she said, and she requested that the place be visited from time to time to "see what openings there are." (E. G. White Letter 83, 1905.)
Loma Linda Considered Again
Her interest in and conviction regarding this matter found expression in another letter sent to the same brother only five days later, on March 1. She then expressed her great thankfulness "that there are two sanitariums in running order in southern California," and "in closing," asked him not to "forget that sometime a sanitarium will be needed in Redlands." The brother was asked to "examine the field cautiously" and report his findings. "Now is the time to make discreet inquiries," she said. (E. G. White Letter 89, 1905.)
This instruction led the brethren again to consider Loma Linda. On further inquiry it was found that the sale price had been reduced to $85,000. Even though the property represented an investment of fully $150,000, such a sum was still far beyond the point where it could seem within the financial reach of the people of a small conference already heavily laden with institutional debts, and in whose borders two sanitariums had been opened within one year.
It is but natural for men to be influenced by things as they are, rather than what they may be in the unknown future. But the messages were indited by One who can look far ahead. Lessons of faith were greatly needed, and there was soon to be ample opportunity for its exercise. "Our people in southern California need to awake to the magnitude of the work to be done within their own borders. Let them awake to prayer and labor," Mrs. White urged a few weeks later. "I have a message to bear to the church members in southern California. 'Arouse, and avail yourselves of the opportunities open to you.'"--Special Testimonies, Series B, 3:30, 31.
These words are found in a letter dated April 12, 1905, and addressed to Elder J.A. Burden. Mrs. White urged that evangelistic efforts be conducted in Redlands and Riverside, which had been presented to her "as places that should be worked." She said further: "These two places should not longer be neglected. I hope soon to see an earnest effort put forth in their behalf. Please consider the advisability of establishing a sanitarium in the vicinity of these cities with treatment rooms in each place to act as feeders to the sanitarium."--Ibid., 30.
A Good Place
Such counsels led to a more thorough search of available properties in the region specified. A further and more detailed examination of the Loma Linda estate revealed a main building with sixty-four rooms, four four-room cottages, and a large recreation hall. The buildings were all in excellent condition, well furnished, heated with steam, and lighted with electricity. Of the seventy-six acres of land, eighteen were in bearing orchard, and fifteen in alfalfa. The remainder of the grounds was beautifully laid out in lawns, drives, and walks. There was no less than a mile of cement walk. There were many head of livestock--horses, cows, chickens, and turkeys. There were wagons, carriages, and farm implements. There was an abundance of water, including an artesian well, and this water was piped all over the premises. Everything was in such condition that business might begin at once.
Again inquiry was made regarding price, and it was learned that the place had been running at a continued loss, that the stockholders were embarrassed financially, and had ordered the place sold for only $40,000.