Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-10-28

Gnu seam BACK past rs IN the other direction.
BACK we turned, through tine alkali mud, the
snow and the darkaess,--tnree as discou-
soiaie ''carpet-baggers' as ever walked. And
again we Were met by our tlntalizing train,
headed once more for Omaha. Th,5 time
taking the chances Of furnishing casualty
Item 20 the Green River press, We dashed IN
across tracks and between cars, threw our
traps upon the moving train, climbed up sou.e
now ourselves, aud remarked Eureka
THIS done, the train stoppe d deliberately in It,
tracks aud dids't more dgdia for hrec hoxrs'
We began TO appreciate that there are som
Draw backs in being at the End of the TIsck"a
night, SUBJECT TO the caprices OF an empty con
structon train, starting from no where 10 par
tlcular, and AT 20 particular lime. Tninys
looked rather unpromsIng when we catered
the caboose car at the end OF the train A
caboose car is at best sort of ameIiorated
freight car, and this cabooSe had had lad luck
Win lts windows, most of which were broken
Il was ulied with crowd of the toughest GUS
TONERS ever brought together probably, except
on prize-fght excursion. There were mouu-
tainsers, railroad laborers, "bull-whackers-'
(feamsters,) gamblers, desperadoes, and all the
dIherent styles Of ''roughs'' TO be found on the
outskirts OF civilization. And think L never
saw so many revolvers, rifles, carbines knives
and other murderous weapons outside of a
gun-shOp. Every body had at least a revolver
and knife conspicuously displayed about his
person. and almost every one wore a Henry
rifle The sight Of so many weapons .handy'
served perhaps as a tranquiiZer in the way that
people are ceremonious'R courteous where
1.-The code" prevails; and though the night was
spent with discomforts calculated to make the
test-tempered quarrelsome, everybody treated
everybody else with the most distinguished
Confederation Two quiet looking men
proved TO be carpenters. They complained
oil the decline OF wages in the m ming country
cansed by the railroad bringing in competition
carpenters wages had fallen from $50 per day
and found" TO "si and find yourself" A
rough-looking mountaneer, whose ragged
clothes Were almost dropping from his body.
was returning TO the States, with barely enough
money 10 enable him TO reach home. He had
been through the mining lottery, had made
S22,O; in gulch mining, and started for home
but concluded that he had not quite enough tn
build such house as he wanted and returned
to the mines, went ino quartz mining and lost
every cent he had made.
UUr train ran slowly up The mountain grades.
IN consequence OF the snow, and the slees upon
me track. Standing upon the car platform, the
outlook upon that mo; desolae of wastes, the
Great Alkali Desert,was dismal in the extreme.
The wind having unbroken range, swept past
with almost unparalleled fury. In The pauses
Ci the Storm the bowling of wolves served 10
give @ddItiOnal un?lr a>antness 10 the gloomy
sur! GuL oii Ss.s ne eye sought III every direc-
uOn through the night Tor a glimmer of light to
show a human habiIa'iOn. A greater contrast
10 East Tn railroadins. where the ira Yeler Is
Whliled tiTough alnos; continuous village,
ccolt 70; well be afforded than by this lonely
hight TIde up the western slope Of The Rocky
IountsIIs. A railroad track IN such p Siberian
aSIg StTGkgS IN a i'm aS rba str
of incongruities. ScTubby Wild sage bushes
and grease-wood bushes the only Signs OF
vegetation, lifted up their scraggy arms loaded
with snow. The skeletons OF horses, the only
signs that any living thing had ever passed
over the same waste, We're outlined as we shor
PAST by wreaths and Crests OF snow. 1t was q
scene well ft'ed in wild gloom and desola,ion
for Dcre illustration OF Dante He'll OF the
WandsTing Jew.
II was nine O'Clock in the morning when W..
reaC he'd Benton. a rude collection OF shanties
hut which afforded az ITS Cal IfOrnia Uenu
Restaurant an excellent brrakia>r. dinner aud
supper, Tor We stopped here through the day
until we could take the regular train eas tward
We have found x-WashIngtonian az almost
every point in the West. and at Benton L me
Mr.. Jamss johnson, formerly a weli-kuown
butcher IN Washington Centre Market lie is
now in the railroad freight business her.,
Benton icing the present terminus of railroad
ireighiiIg, but VIII soon move on 10 Green
River, where the company viii make the
next eighth & terminus.
That night We took the Eastern train, and
again enjoyed the luxury OF a Pullman Sleep
ing Car, ere to be appreciated after 4 night
spent III a caboose car, with broken window,
anc the thermometer al 2>S. The Pullman
Sleeping Car, may say here, is a Western IN
stItutlop, at least an hundred years IN advance
OF anything We have in the same line in the
East. The "Silyer Palace Sleeping Car is an
inferior imitation, tine best features Of the Pull
man Car being covered by patents. Ii was
morning when we reached Sherman, the high
est point of the Black HILLS, and ON this return
trip We had an opportunity of seeing the whole
landscape, with all its sea of mountains COW
cred with a dazzling drapery of snow. On
descending the eastern slope of the Hills, the
snow began 10 waste away under the san and
wind, and Al Cheyenne had almost entirely dis.
appeared.
The Snow Problem.
The Iact OF our encountering snow storm
in September. coupled with the other fact that
1t frequently SHOWS here in June, raises the
question whether trains can be run over the
road through the winter months. 1 find opin-
ion here amongst those who know the country
a good deal div ided upon this question. Very
the trains Will be liable TO serious Interrupt
tons during the latter winter months and
March and April, for the heaviest SHOWS here
are late IN the season. Competent Engineers,
however, who b ave had some winter expert
ence in these mountains, do rot hold to tins
opinion, and utterly discredit the reports of
enormous SHOWS said TO fall here. CuIiously
enough, the scientific men have frequently been
more correct in matters Of fact from limited
observation than the experienced mountain
GERS, who are ap, 10 take things for granted
and deal sometimes in exaggeration without
knowingit.
1t is found that the actual amount Of snow
falling here is not large, In consequence OF the
dryness of the atmosphere; and what snow |
falls Is literally eaten up by the perpetual |
westerly winds prevailing, except such as is
protected by being caught on the eastern side Of
ridges and in ravines. The face Of the country,
except where the cage bush ana grease-wood |
break the force of the wind, is quite bare in wo
or three days after snow storm. In the |
opi MEN Of the engineers who have encountered
some of the severest snow storms known here,
and have seen the rcpidity with which it dis. |
appeared there will be as little interruption |
from snow in these passes, east OF Salt Like |
City, as In New York or Iowa. In the Sierra |