The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-07-25
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
bailey in Danbury News ]

ACROSS THE CONTINENT. tl rsH
bailey in Danbury News.J
At Corinne, the second station, be-
yond Ogden, we found the circus had
pitched its tents, and people who never
like to be late, and who never can look
upon cilcus without a feeling of awe,
were already clustered about the cam
vas waiting for the ticket agent and
Monday i -'- arE " -a sEe.
Corinne is purely Gentle. No Nor
mon runs the risk OF, the judgment that
is sure to descend on Oorinne, and so
the place is wholly given to the unre-
generate and their evil devices. There
is not much room for anything else. Co
rinne smacks of the plains. Tt is. sandy,
new, busiuess-like, and comparatively
unshaded No Mormon had anything
to do with building that place. -s
At Promontory was formerly the
junction of the Union Pacific and Cen
trail Pacific roads. Here in 1869 were
the parade and pomp incidental to the
completion of gigantic enterprise, and
perfectly appropriate on this occasion.
The last tie laid was marvel of en-
bellished log, and the last spike was of
pure gold. 1t was dark when we reached
PromOntory. I got off the cars to com
mune with the hallowed associations of
the spot, and to look for that spike. sz-s
D It was not so dark but that I could
make out the layof the country. There
was not a house to obstruct the view.
The faint sound of nothing was heard,
and heard distinctly. I was disap-
pointed. Promontory, which, for a
day was the most conspicuous place in
America, was now deserted wilder
ness if you know what that is-a mere
wooding station. There was nothing
more to be seen of the country. We
were still ascending, but almost imper-
ceptibly, and everybody looked up to
the heavens, because there were more
life and animation there than on the
earth about them. .. Er. gs se.
The next morning we awoke to face
the plains again. And all that day the
only relief to the eye from the interim
nable sand and sage, and low, mcom-
Portable hills, was Humboldt canon,
where some of the most singular rock
formations on the line are seen. The
stations on the road are about ten miles
apart, as near rs I can remember with
the memorandum in the other coat and
an absurdIy insane foreman dancing
around for copy. When you have seen
one of them you are heartily thankful
they don't OCCUR oftener.
There is nothing about them to re-
mind you of the east. They stand out
boldly on the plain. There is not a tree
about them. The only evidence of re-
fined cultivation is an occasional hoop
skirt or a pair of patent leather boots.
The main street faces the depot. In
many instances it is the only street.
The business places are one story and
two stories in height, with gable roof
and square front. Liquor saloons with
Intoxicating names, and boarding houses
with equally high-sounding titles pre-
dominate. Some of the houses are
built of rough boards, others of canvas,
others again of sods, with the floor I'M
der ground, and once in while there is
| q brick structure. la..
Liquor is freely drank by the masses,
but little or no drunkenness was per-
ceived. 1t is so all through the great
west. Boston cannot show as clean a
police record as San francisco. If ]
had the time I should analyze this pro
position, and show you why It is thus,
but I never shall have time, thank
Heaven. -
In one place, five of eight business
places, all the village boosted, were
liquor saloons. Cheyenne has nine
hundred population, and saloon fol
every nine inhabitants. .- G.
There is that unfinished aspect in ev.
cry hamlet that dreary, monotonous
roll and hump to the hills, that inde
scribable barrenness of soil that makes
the trip too tedious for language to de
fine. -.. ia r4s e8as
All that day the sun baked down OF
the alkai and sand, all that day the
sand and alkai inflicted as much dam
age to the sun as it could, and content
edly made up the balance on us. The
air was close, however we'll the car was
ventilated. The sand sifted in anC
percolated through the stoutest habili
ments. aLA ~ a E|f -
Euchre lost its attraction. Novel,
dropped to the floor, and even guide
books and watches grew less popular
How the people stood it in the othe,
cars, having slept one night, in tn,
cramped bed formed by the seat, ant
with another night of similar tortur
before them, haven't learned to 'thi
day.
We saw plenty of red men, and t-e,
are to be found at nearly every statl