Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-07-30

1
tain height The snow banks rise high
on either side. Two miles more and the
cars reach the entrance Of the great trin.
mel, 1859 feet in length.
THE SUMMIT OF THE SIERRA.
ave have now scaled the great Sierra al
last, and ne plus ultra might be written on
the granite walls Of the great tunnel before
u.s. We are 7.042 feet above the sea The
air feels cold and damp, but not oppress-
i've, and we experience no inconvenience
from its ratification at this great eleva-
ton.
'The ice and snow, and rocks, and
white, heecy, curling clouds, are all here,
but there is not the shadow OF tempest
and ii there was, why should he face il
baldheadedp We will not stop TO discuss
that question, but merely TO ask it as we
pass, and reserve the point for future dis
cussion The snow lies piled in immense
banks above the tunnel, with sheer precip-
itous Sides ON either side Of the track. A
swarm of Cinnamon are busy at the other
end Of the tunnel shoyelling away the snow
which has come down in great slides,
bringing with it huge granite rocks upon
the track. The water pours down in tor
rents from numberless creVices and seams
in the granite walls and roof Of the long
dark, cavernous tunnel, but we struggle
through on foot, and anxiously inquire af-
ter the prospect of getting the train across
the mountain.
"Two or three hours will clear the track.
We wait with what patience we may, and at
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 on.
A halt for another slide; another start,
another halt, and so on, slowly and care
fully. The snow banks come down SO
close to the track that the caves of the cars
rake them on either side 1t is the closest
fit imaginable. Six more tunnels, ranging
from one hundred to eight hundred and
sixty-three feet each in length, in many oi
which we see great masses Of solid blue 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 new road, finished
this summer, and we shall have no more
snow-slidesP 1t is true indeed, the mighty
task is accomplished, after years of toll and
the expenditure of millions of money.
Words fail us to describe our sensations;
we will not attempt it.
rNo,rr,y n-ryr, or Orr,
"And now the train with accelerated
speed moves steadily downwards toward
the Valley of the Truckee. The steam is
shut of, the brakes put down, and as the
eagle sets his wings and floats noiselessly
down, down, down, through the realms Of
air toward the earth from his eyrie among
the clouds, we slide swiftly and smoothly
down the activities Of the mountains into
the Great Basin Of Nevada. Donner Lake,
as lovely q sheet of water Us is to be found
on earth, lies far below US among the pine
clad hills, its bosom unrufled by a breath
Of breeze, and as blue and calm as the
heavens abovsit. Tho road winds around
the precipitous mo untain sides, almost en-
circling Donner Lake as it descends, and
following around long canon, making q
circuit Of seven miles to gain advance of
no more than quarter Of mile, we reach
the outlet of the lake, swift, rushing
stream of blue, cold water We have trav-
elled nine and 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
the Truckee, whose mountain torrents come
rushing and roaring out of the mountains
from the southwark, hidden in which lies
the loveliest 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 banks
of the stream for miles and miles, and the
hills swarm with laborers of every nation
ality and hue-Europeans, Americans, AZ
ricans, and Asiatics (the latter immensely
proponderating in numbers) )-engaged in
cutting down and preparing the timber for
the road.
GAS the first through passenger train
sweeps down the eastern slope Of the Sierra,
John, comprehending fully the Importance
of the event, loses his natural appearance
of stolidity and indifference, and welcomes
with the swinging of his broad-brimmed
hat and loud uncouth shouts the iron horse
and those he brings with him. Well may
he shout. Millions of his ancestors toiled
for years on years to erect against the bar
barian Tartar barrier over which he
should never break the Tartar wave broke
over it, and inundated his land at single
surge. Nature erected between the East
and West barrier such as in other lands
divides countries and makes enemies of
nations, and John, with his patient toll,
directed by American energy and backed
by American Capital, has broken it down at
last and opened over it the grandest high
way yet created for the march of commerce
and civilization around the GLOBE
The whistle sounds long shrill scream,
and the train arrives at Truckee Station
Coburn's-119 miles from Sacramento, and
$500 feet above the sea. The portion of
the trip between this point and Summit
Valley had until this day-June 1Sth-been
made by stages. As we pass we see the
jaded stage horses looking wonderingly,
and, as it seems to US, joyously, at the
swift speeding train; their weary toll
through mountain SHOWS and mud is over
and now the stagemen will pull down their
stables and pack up their traps, the drivers
will 'fold their tents like the Arab" and
horses and, men will 'as silently steal
away" to be seen no more here forever
The Valley of the Truckee widens out little
by little as we descend; the timber grows
less abundant, the sage brush begins to
make its appearance, and occasionally
we see small patches of cultivated
land. The grain on the western slope
Of the Sierra is already ripe and mostly
harvested; here it is but few inches
above the ground. On one side we saw
summer ripe and warm, and the harvest in
all its rich abundance; on the summit
winters SHOWS and ice, and on this side
the first faint dawn of early spring, Pass
ing through two more tunnels, and cross
ing and recrossing the "exulting and
abounding river, as it leaps full of fierce,
fresh mountain life and energy down to-
ward the desert plains, we emerge at last
into the open, treeless country of Nevada,
with the snow-clad hights of the Washoe
Mountains and the wondrous silver land
before u.s. Just as the last faint light of