The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1868-09-22

/ Ol snOW UcSluc AHc tidCh, uilu iHO tram
was stopped while some Of the employees
sprung ont, and shoveIed out large "chunks
of snow," which were put into the
water-cans, and furnished us with the
cearest, coolest, and sweetest water |
have tasted upon this coast This is
treat passengers will always enjoy upon
this route, for suppose the SUBMITS of
these mountains arc never wholley desti-
tute of snow Glistening in the sun Of
this August day, clad in drapery Of Ma
ture's own providing, green pines, gray
rocks, and milk white snow, these noun
tairs were grand beyond the power of
description. As looked from the win.
dows of the car out upon the mountain
tops, stretching miles away in lonely gram
deur, forgot the wondrous works of
man in scaling their dizzy heights, and
them accessible TO the locomotive with its
lreighted train, IN contemplating the still
more wonderful works of God, the Divine
/ Architect, whose handiwork is seen, not
only in spreading the foo ofthc oceans
and building the starry skies, but in rear-
| ing the everlasting bills, which stand before
! him as 'altars of inscense and monu-
ments Of praise Amid these scenes /
found myself involuntalry and almost un-
consciously repeating over and over TO
l;yself line vr Whitiers, where he
speaks of.
'Awiul Sla'ta> icy shrine
The Sierra Nevada range constitutes
really an extensive mountain district or
territory, a belt of land running nearly
parralled with the coast for thousand
miles, and even at iho,point where it is
intersccted by the Pacific Railroad, in
Guiding the foothills or mining district,
nearly a hundred miles in width. Thus
in the general Outlines of the district,
| Nature has prepared the way for Il grad,
ual ascent and decent, in crossing the
mountain chain, The grades of the rail-
way are injgeneral, with hysomc.f excep-
tons, quite gradual, and was much sur.
priscd at the spec and seeming ease with
which single engine drew Il well-loade1
| tram Ct four or five cars to the summit
The surface OF the ground is very broken
and irregular, presenting the most lorml-
allie obstacles to the buiding of "A railway,
until the Truckee, river is reached, bc-
yond the pass, which shoull judge is
some so or GO mlIes from the point where
We first began the ascent. The views
from the windows Of the cars. in passing
up the grade AMI at the summit, are often
OF startling character. Gliding along
the edges of dizzy prccipices, spanning
fearful chasms, whisking around curves,
and dashing throush 'tunnels-fhcen in
all-the longest one over 1000 feet in
length, cut through solii'rock in the face
/ of the mountain.
The finest Of pine lumber, in any guam
tity, can be had for cutting, in many
| places along the route. 1t is seized and
appropriated by the company, and we
found steam mills working it up rapidly
Tor railroad and other building purposes.
/ The rarest view upon the route is unques-
tonably DOnncr Lake, which is cmbos.
omed among the mountain peaks, about
lUUO feet above the sea level, and already
the resort of very many pleasure. seekers,
and tourists. IL is a clear, beautiful sheet
OF water, about the siz. of Lake Dun
more, IN Vermont, and is said to contain
the finest Of fish
Along the route of railroad towns spring
up Ike mushroom in u single night /;
whelhor they will have permanent pros
perity yet remains TO be seen. AT Browns
Station, away in the plains, by tile sink Of
the Humboldt river, saw quite village,
where | was told there WIS nothing bnt
the desert week before but now II con.
tsin' hotel, store, post>otlice and drink
ing saloons too numerous to mention. OF
these mushroom towns two places seemed
to me likely to enjoy permanent prosper
lty-keno and Coburn, being the centres
OF travel and trade to some extent. Tim.
Der for houses Or barns Qhey are built of
boards rough and battered), is brought
along by the trains as fast and as far as
the track i, laid, and it is really wonder.
ful to see the schceming Yankees ''up with
their shanties and hang ont their signs
and get into operations all the machinery
OF village life, in about three days time.
You SEQ thera are other ways to make
money on this coast besides digging fJr
it," or you would see it If you could stop
int some Of these "shops and Saloons"
when SO much money is spent for ''that
which is not bread, for though | do not
doubt that much Of the trading and
bartsring done here Is useful and
honorable, whiskey selling and whiskey
drinking seems yet TO occupy the chief
place,
In crossing the mountains we found the
climate and productions of May in Yer.
mont; little meadows here and there
were fresh and green, and the flowers
were such as you have in Vermont after
April rains, the season is so backward
there.
must not forget to speak of the .now-
sheds, built and braced in the strongest
possible manner by heavy timber, which
in the winter will form a tunnel, " dark
and damp" through which the trains
passing the summit IN ust run. There are
I la aI L