The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-07-02

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w. Il. Logan, Independent, MARKINGS
). w. Bishop, Preston Journal. Kings
George II. Wild, Times. winehes ter.
Frank +. Burr, Cor. n. Y. Times.
FROM KANSAS TO CALI
FORNIA.
DEAR News: / nave a fancy to
while away the tedium of travel by
writing few desnltory notes for
your pages. am afraid they will
be scattering aud fragmentary
enough. L begin this chronicle on
Friday afternoon, June IL, as our
train is whirling up Platte valley.
Onr last view of Emporia was a
bright and pleasant one. Kansas
was enjoying her June holiday, and
appeared in her brightest colors.
Among all the throng at the depot,
every face seemed good and kind.
The train started; the picture, too
precious to ever be forgotten, van
ished into the background; and
soon the stately figure of "Shep"
appeared upon the scene, punching
tickets as leisurely as if life had no
sorrOwful partings.
Burlingame- Topeka-Atchison-
st. Joseph-were all duly announc-
ed by the official voice. Along the
line of the Missouri, the grasshop-
per was evidently burden. Large
tracts were thickly thronged many
corn fields were devoured, and the
air was full of them flying toward
the east. L think the worst is over
for Kansas. Outside of limited To-
calities, crop prospects are all that
could be desired.
The junction at Council Bluffs is
truly wonderful sight. Several
railroads centre there, and the
amount of business is enormous.
Huge emigrant trains, each having
seven or eight coaches crowded with
passengers, came rolling in from the
east. We crossed the Big Muddy
on high bridge, above the tops of
the smoke stacks.
The depot at Omaha is the scene
of a most bewildering activity. 1t
was painful to reflect that somebody
must be responsible for all these
freight trains, checks and mountains
of baggage. l felt truly thankful
that Providence had caused my feet
to journey "alOng the cool, seques-
tered vale of life," instead of max
ing a railroad man of me. 1t makes
ones head ache to think of it.
We left Omaha on Friday at noon.
All day and all night we rode up the
beautiful, lonely Platte Valleys
broad river, strangely on level
with the immense grassy plain. The
continent has not more beautiful
landscape, in its way, than this. But
the strange feature about it is the
absence of human life. The Platte
valley, beautiful and fertile as it is,
is no such hive of industry and pop
ulatiOn as that of the Kansas or
Arkansas.
This Pullman car is the poetry of
travel. We climb the long gradient
between Omaha and Cheyenne, as
cendin9 more than a mile of verti-
cal height, utterly unconscious that
we are climbing. We rest on luxu-
rious sofas and couches, eat, sleep,
and gaze, passing in day over
ground which years ago cost q
months travel over a wearisome
road. Let us no longer wonder at
the pyramids Cheaps must doff his
hat to the peddling Yankees, heroes
of Credit Fdncier and Credit No.
Gilier, Cakes Ames and the rest, who
carried through this stupendous en-
terprise.
Away in the Eeart of Wyoming l
resume these notes. We entered the
mountains Saturday at noon, about
twenty-four hours out from Omaha.
The diff culties of construction here
were much less than were expected.
l had fancied something Alpine or
Andean; but we find few deep cuts
or grades along dizzy precipices.
The long snow-sheds obstruct the
view in many places, but since we
entered The mountains, we have
never been out of sight of the grand
sn ow peaks TO the southwark. AS
l write, we are riding parallel to the
Uintah mountains, which rise like q
long white cloud on the south.
: Longs Peak was passed yesterday.
All around are rugged hills, canons
: and alkali pools. The summit level
of the road was q little west oil
Cheyenne-over 5000 feet above the
sea. There are dwarfish pine forests
and innumerable trout brooks. The
buffalo does not range so far to thu
west, but we saw many antelopet
: from the car windows. But after
passing the Rocky mountain range
we have seen only barren waste
lO sag
and cactus. For seven hundred mile,
it is worthless desert of clay anC
alkali, scanned with granite. There
are soTe mining settlements alons
the track, and large amounts of Goa
were to be seen piled up for ship
ment, the fossil vegetation telIins
l. of the great tropical palm forest
i that once filed this basin.
1t is beautiful Sabbath morning
The air is clear and bracing. W.
have not suffered from cold, though
often riding close to the snow fields
The landscape improves little a
we approach the great Salt Lake
Through the rugged plateau, numer
Gus streams are flowing down to In
}. Green river, destined to enter tn
J. ocean through the stupendous gorg
of the Colorado. Almost on the leve
of the waters, is little hand-breadtl
of fertile land, irrigated by tn