The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-07-23

trdan it's base and place 70 on the summit ~
Mount DiRblo, and VIC could still look down
byo hundreds OF feeton the double oun
tain height. The snow banks rise high
either side. Two miles more and the
cars reach the entrance Of the great tun-
neil 1869 feet in length. 1911
THE SUMMIT OF TIKI SIERRA.
eve have now scaled the great Sierra at
last, and ne plus ultra might be written on
the granite walls of the great tunnel before
us. We are 1902 feet above tile sea. The
air feels cold and damp, but not oppress-
i've, and we experience no inconvenience
from its ratification at this great eleva-
tion. .-f.r#
The ice and snow, and rocks, and
white, feecy, curling clouds, are al here,
but there is not the shadow. OF a tempest;
and IL there was, why should he face il
baldheaded2 We will not stop TO discuss
that question, but merely to ask it as we
pass, and reserve the point for future dis
cussion. Tile snow lies piled in immense
banks above the tunnel, with sheer precip-
itouB sides, on either side Of the track A
swarm of Cinnamon are busy at the other
end of the tunnel sho yelling away the snow
which has come down in great slides,
bringing with 1t huge granite rocks upon
the track. The water pourH down in tor
rents from numberless cfevices and seams
in the granite walla and roof of the long
dark, cavernouB tunnel, but We struggle
through ON foot, and anxiously inquire af-
ter the prospect of getting the train across
the mountain
1.-Two or three hours will clear the track.
We wait with what patience we may, and ut
last, at four o'clock, the prolonged whistle
of the good locomotive Antelope which
has drawn us to the summit of the Sierra,
is heard All aboard, shouts the conduct
or, George Wood, who has the honor Of
taking the first passenger train across the
mountains, and the train moves slowly n
A halt for another slide; another start,
another halt, and so on, slowly and care
fully. The snow banks come down 80
close to the track that the caves Of the cars
rake them ON either side. IL ~ the closest
fit imaginable. Six more tunnels, ranging
from one hundred to eight hundred and
sixty-three feet each in length, in many OF
which we see great masses of solid blu ice,
hanging down from the wall like stalactites
in the Mammoth Cave Of Kentucky, are
slowly passed through. We have descend
ed six hundred feet already, and, as we
emerge from the last tunnel, the conductor
exclaims: by Heaven, we are over the
mountains This is a new road, finished
this summer, and we shall have no more
snow-shdesp It Is true, indeed, the mighty
task is accomplished, after years % toll and
the expenditure Of millions Of money.
Words fail us 10 describe our sensations;
We will not attempt it.
DowN TBB Eastern SLOPE.
"And now the train with accelerated
speed moves steadily downwGrds toward
the Valley Of the Truckee. The steam is
shut of, the brakes put down, and as the
eagle sets his wings and floats ncisclcssly
down, down, down, through the realms of
mir toward the Garth from his cyrie among
the clouds, we slide swiftly aud smoothly
down the accliyitics Of the mountains into
the Great Basin Of Nevada. Bonner Lake,
n3 lovely q sheet of winter as is to be found
on enTth, lies far below us among the pine
clad hills, its bosom unrunlcd by a breath
Of breeze, and rs blue and calm as the
heavens above It. The road winds around
the prccipitous mountain sides, almost en-
circling Bonner Lake az it desUends, and
following around n long canon, making a
circuit of seven miles to gain advance of
no more than a quarter Of a mile, VIC reach
the outlet Of the lake, u swift, rushing
stream Of blue, cold water, We have tray-
elled nine and n half miles and descended
seven hundred and eighty-three feet since
leaving the Summit.
"Now We descend rapidly, on one of the
most beautifully smooth and solid roads on
the continent, into the romantic valley o
the Iruckee, Whose mountain torrents come
rushing and roaring out Of the mountains
from the southwark, hidden in which lies
the ~lovelest sheet Of water ON the earth
Lake Tahoe. The timber here is immense
and from this source the supplies for build
ing the road for hundreds of miles eastward
are to be drawn. Sawmills by the dozen
driven by the rushing river, line the bank
of the stream for miles and miles, n the
hills swarm with laborers Of every nation
atty and hue-Europeans, Americans, AZ
ricans, and Asiatics (the latter immensely
proponderating in numbers)-engaged il
cutting down and preparing the timber fol
the road.
CAS- the first through passenger trRir
sweeps down the eastern slopeof the Sierra
John, comprehending fully the importanc,
Of the event, loses his natural appearance
Of stolidity and indifference, and welcomes
with the swinging Of his broad-brimmeC
hat and loud uncouth shouts the iron hors,
and those he brings with him. Well may
he shout. Millions Of his ancestors toileC
for years on years to erect against the bar
barian Tartar q barrier over which III
should never break the Tartar wave brok,
over il, and Inundated HIS land at a singl,
surge. Nature erected between the Eas
and West q barrier such as in other land
divides countries md makes enemies o
nations and John, with his patient toll
directed by American energy and backed
by American capital, has broken it down a
last, and opened over it the grandest high
way yet created for the march Of commerce
and civilization around the globe"
Tho whistle sounds a long shrill scream
and the train arrives at Truckee Station
Coburn's-l19 miles from Sacramento, m,
: $500 feet above the SEQ, The portion O
the trip between this point m SUNNI
} Valley had until this day-June 19th-beei
made by stages. AS we pass we see tn
| faded stage horses looking wonderingly
/ and, as II seems to us, joyously, at til
swift speeding train; their weary toi
! through mountain SHOWS and mud is ovel
and now the stagemen will pull down thei
! stables and pack up their traps, the driver
l will 'fold their tents like the Arab" m
E horses and men will 'as silently stea
away" to be seen no more here forevel
The Valley o. the Truckee widens out httl
by little as we descend; the timber grow
, less abundant, the sage brush begins I
D maj Q its appearance, and occusionall
E We see small patches of cultivate
o land. The grain on the western slop
, of the Sierra is already ripe and mostl
I harvested; here it is but a few inche
: above the ground. On one side we say
e summer ripe and warm, and the harvest j
all its nch abundance; on the SUNNI
winters SHOWS and ice, and on this sid
,. the first faint dawn of early spring. Pas
z ing through two more tunnels, and eros
3 ing and recrossing the ''exulting an
' Astounding river, as it leaps full Of fierc,
3 fresh mountain life and energy down t
q ward the desert plains, we emerge at lal
\ into the open, t~reeless country Of Nevad,
!, with the snow-clad nights Of the Washc
e Mountains and the wondrous silver Ian
before us, just as the last faint light