The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-09-04
SAILING OVER TIE PLAINS.
TINE ferry ASTONISHING SIZED Of
AN ICE BOAT ON WHEELS

IN nut On the BrRke---ome ''l"''''
we.,.rn rowns-iiow "A HOY hh'r "''"'
prNxrR UIrr. Russell county, Kansas
Aug 81 have just has novel ahu e'u'',"t
exoerence n ride In q sail car across TUG p''"'
of Kansas the particulars Of which, iHhc',
,iil lie interesting to- your readers. IL occurred
IN this wisc.
I s,snped ont of the train at Fills Qhe end OF
an, ,hird division, Kansas Pacific Railroad) at
q, rter nat Two THIS morning. In the dtm star
nsbt behold the confused forms OF Diet ched
houses and ,comotiyes, tut not allylng, stirring
hunau creature. g throwing myself down
mon the grass. laid my sstchl beneath my
bs d. pulled NV waterproof over me. and soon
fe into rcfr shing sleep. In such balmv,
dshcious night. the plains OF Kansas are the
hos, resting place IN the world. ! did not awake
MI the sun was several degrees above the hori-
SOD.
Ellis was the first approach to tue Idea OF a
town that had seen since leaving Denver. The
names you sec on the m ps are mere station
houses OF the meanest character, where the
man who uends that section OF the railt DAD
lives with his wife and children. the assistant
Iaboreta peins bestowed In " dus-ouis' around
him. Ellis is a quadrangle Of about one thou-
sand feet each way, two sides being totmth 10y
the railway and It's machine shops the other
sides being aeenuine street with shops. hotel
IT..
Itakr to be Qd.lty how from tue nreten-
tious st lie u twp 90 tne houses tntte"h' "a.
w,ns 10 the restaurant tor break nst Tho
table was neat and decent. Two Of az" rilwnN
eml ioVecs we're ealitg theh meet WIN that
critny. saturnine DIR uch seems tu peri tin to
Their eli -. Two heidsmen ~ ~ u lLhoorng
coiral Z. me In. with 10 mis- ~ jinLhuH of th"tr
heavy SPURS. ana took their ia at the same
table with nN~elt they were t.il, thln' wlry
fellows. and laughed sui chatted III tue most
AIR br, akT st set forth again on m , tramp
my steps being directed toward the next sta
A BOY. driving cows to pasture leaped from
his horse ana picked up dead bird from tue
"Whatsnf" said
"a med lark" he replied.
"how did u get kii.u - said l.
killed u with this" he answered, and pro-
duced the sttaugest nttle death dea1ng machine
ever saw. 10 cross-piece of wood. like the
shout ave inches long nv thiee- quarters 70 d (;
these we're joined tugetnet ~ the top hya round
piece II ieather about the size Of al Old copper
sent
show me how you work IT," said II.
Tbetsupou he produced nom ms pocket a
he -sii; "N"w. will MT the top gIase Of that
lesraph pole; ana aring II lie machine wi,h
crash that must u. We ut a thrlli Il excitement
hruuen the oig hui ann on b'ratwa'.
While was dGulItn- De sNu # this iugc-
bious chilu resrd = r.ttiing an toe rails behiua
NJ. .nu tuning oehei.-wnatt Did uly eyes
deceive ulef Was II acfu.iN IN Ice boat on
wneelsf While vas thus Specializing the thir z
flashed past me Ike hghtutug. However. the
TWO men ON bt ara ieGAOtSu 10 me TO ION the ,
and running up. soon found u yseli on the
deck of a sail-cAr. luis one Is the onlv vehicle
OF the KIND IN the world, md am he first news
paper CORRESPONDENT that mas saIisd upon II.
That l. even better than blooming.
TnIs sail car Is TX feet long. tue width being
tbst Of tue ordinary nand r on a broad guu-c
road The mast Is ABOUT SIX cen feet hign. and
u rugged with triangular saii. Of dark, snuff
oolored cotton, containiug nine square yBrGs.
The sail Is neged lat en-~ise, the lower spar
being ABOUT ten feet long. A red sgual t,s Is
nxed al toe TOP Of the IA 81. Tue wheels are
khOee IN ordinary use Oh filMayS. On edCn SIDE
of the deck Is hxed bench two ieet hign. tor
crew and passengers. he whole machine prob
ably weighs aoou' l.V0 or LOO pounds.
The two men va board sbai caii respectively
the captain and tue pilot. Tue former was. /
found, a plumber. anu mad charge Of all the
tank in this division u the h ilisas | acihc
Railroad. This machine he had devised about
four years ago to run up and GoAn no 70. q and
Inspect the water supply Of hts DIVISION. he
SAID u could Do run ahuosi ,ye,S day. There Is
aiul plateau. which Is l~av- AZ service 20 tnp-i
the machine. lns pilot. Il must be confessed.
swer was a SNAIL. Noticing pair Of erutc he-
on the deck, | regarded MIN more 1ttenuyeiv.
about the middle Of the tnlgh. asked him
how this misfort une occurred. tut ne muihtl-d
svasively. suppose u was some rallruaI -c,l-
dent, and the coWpanN bad pensiOued i,,M oG 10
this very G sN aud agreeable u.itn.
The speed OF tnt s,ll CT depends OF cuuTse
upon the nature u the uoond. Where you are
passing behind tns swelling u the prairie, or
any obstruction there are very few tees IN
Kansas. the speed slackens considerable out
out on he omen p in, " along toe top u an
smbankme {, the veiocty becOUesterrl1c. then
TO swOop round curve or ASH acr i>s b idgs
makes ons shudder. OF grind one tsetn. rns
sverige rae, ne Capt ain said. Is about 0fteen
miles an hour. In passing over en anklnents
10 generally necessary To put on The brake. &c
IL impossible u imaein" any method ol ioco-
motion more easy or deiehtfui. he MA llhe
SKINS along over the snlOo. rails liz, nugs
bird, l reminded 81 Miton's 4iu ION 10
carriages over the plains of Isrtary-Dut Tor
We reached Hays in about forty minutes.
IT'S a lie q. AaulsDma sfuotl
and court houses. ouilt Of tie lisht yellow
limestone OF the district. The one street on the
left seemed busy with trafic. wagons. I'd
horses. Fort Hays lies on tue right, about a
mile irom the town. lhe buildings appear TO
byagroye of tine OAK and cottonwood trees. tue
brst that mad seen Tor many da,. Here. too,
was the q st sire m Of running water that had
ssen since leaving the ARKANSAS IN tniofado.
Never aid before appreciate 80 hlsny tue
whch looked on these. la Il reilly tue htst
town with a genuinely civilized aspect that one
meets with, ON tnis line. after saving Dsnver.
Outside HAYS. also. was the hrst pioIgnIng
that / have noticed in this part OF II aus ;. y
plough and SOW here must De almost hoping
A9alnst hope. In view of tue erhssu ppers.
Trsy seem To nave been a. destructive mere "a
IN other lerts Of this desOlatvd region; but /
did not observe sucn awful millions Of theu ia
the ar As ! did ia the Te-lon eyond smoky
Hili river. mere earth. air. and tho very skies
were ful 81 them. aud 10 you neid up youf nahd
bet cen your eyes and ne sun YOU could see
them sutrOun ing bim Ike a vast gyraiurN neb
MA. nus ubrnom enon l have observed over
how Divine FroVidei &c could have found time
20 create 80 many - the creatures. BEST as
these glorious regions II Colorado aud n ausas
are IN soil ai'i climate. fesr luey con never DO
OF mucu aNaH To man On account Of the incred
Idle ravdges 81 the tasshOp pers aud the want Of
wafer.
From HAYS the ride % Russell was one OF in
tense enjoyment. lLe PLAIN here nre open
ana the free winds sent us along It a rattling
pee. am inclined 10 believe th1t We uct.a
slobalN reached eed OF forty miles an hour
We reached Russell shOrty alter eiguL o'clock,
having performed the journey Of forty-twn
miles IN eXacily two hours.
Russell Is situated IN the middle OF n very ex o.
tsnslNe pl.teau, aud can be seen for many miles
In ever, direction. bunker Hill, from where 1
write tins. Is nine miles distant, out as IL lies
nttle higher II an Russell, the latter can 10 ms
nnct,i seen.
| observe that they are caring vast quantities
Of the bones of bunaioes formerly slauRhtered
In so reckless manner for their hidesl into tho
depOts. Men collect these bones from the
pl.ns and sell them to contractors, VINO manu-
farture them into phosphates for agricultural
purposes.
PERHAPS the most surprising part Of this ad
venture Is that We did not meet any locomo
uves or tTalns on the track. The fact 10, the
uaffic on the Kansas Pacific Railroad seems tu
be confined, by day, to one or two trains sach
vhy. At night the trains are raore frequent.
Altogether pronounce sail-car riding one oil
ths most delightful experiences a person car