The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1872-04-04
IDAHO WORLD.
LAKE BIGLER.

of Mark Twain's lecture, and also one
of the most polished, is description O
Lake Bigler, in Nevada. 1t is situated
many thousand feet above the level o
the sea, and yet it never freezes. No
the thinest film of ice is ever seen upon
its surface. And yet Lake Donnor
which is at about the same latitude, anC
not far distant, is covered thickly will
ice every winter. Here is a nut fol-
scientists to crack, said the humorist
The question is not why Lake Bonner
freezes, but why Lake Bigler does not
freeze. Silver mining not furnishing
the seeker after wealth with very staedy
employment, a large portion of the time
was spent in boat on the beautiful
lake. 1t was so clear that the pebbles
on its bottom were visible at great
depth. The extreme depth of the water
was about one-fourth of mile. The
audience was asked to imagine the
number of church spires that could be
placed one above the other before the
surface was reached. The curative prop
critics of the water, and the atmosphere
of this region are most remarkable.
Every consumptive invalid was urged
to throw physic to the dogs, and make
their systems strong and perfect by a
little camp life at Lake Bigler. Said
the speaker: "If | don't cure them, |
will bury them. | shall be glad to bury
them-I will give them funeral that
will be comfort to them as long as
they live. But it will cure them. |
met a mamie had been man once
now he was nothing but a shadow, and
a very poor shadow at that-and that
man had come there deliberately TO die,
and what sickly failure he made of it !
He was in dead earnest. He had heard
that this air was easy and soothing 10
breathe, as God knows it is, and he
simply came there to have what com
fort he might whilst life ebbed away
And he had brought along plan of his
private graveyard, and had pictures
and drawings of different kinds of cof-
fins and hearses, and such things, and
he never did anything but sit around
and study that graveyard, and figure at
collins, and such things, trying to make
up his mind which kind he liked best,
or which kind would be most becoming
And when | saw that man three months
afterward he was chasing mountain
sheep over mountain seven miles high
with Sharp's rifle He did not get
them, but he chased them all the same
And he had used up all his graveyards
and coffins-all his plans and pictures
for wadding, and sent for more.
"When | first saw him, his clothes
hung about him-why they did not fit
him any more than circus tent fits the
tent poles-but now they chung to him
like court plaster. He could hardly
breathe without starting a.seam. He
weighed ton-he weighed more than
ton. | throw in the odd ounces
eleven | think it was But know what
/ am talking about, because took him
to the hay scales myself. There was
lot of us stood on there with him.
"But, really, that was a remarkable
cure. | have exaggerated it a little
You might not have noticed it. But still
it was a remarkable one. | wish you
would not heed my nonsense, but simp-
ly take note of my earnest words. |
think if | could only persuade one in
valid to go there | should feel as if |
had done one thing worth having ac-
complished. am really sincere about
that.
eff there is a sportsman in this au-
dience, | say to him, shoulder your gun
and go out there. 1t is the best hunt
ing place on the face of the earth. You
can hunt there year after year, and not
find anything. You can find mountain
sheep, but you cannot get near them.
70 can see plenty of them with spy
glass. But that was the only game |
saw that was worth speaking of, when
! was there, except 'seven-up."
A CALIFoRNAN's PRAYER FOR RAIN