The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1877-07-21
TAHOE.
The Gem of the Sierras--A Lake that
Never Freezes, and Never Gives Up


The Gem of the Sierras--A Lake that
Never Freezes, and Never Gives Up
It's Dead.
From the Salt Lake Herald.
Truckee is thriving railroad town,
and the starting point for Lake Tahoe
called the "Gem of the Sierras" The
road from Truckee winds along Truckee
river up canon bearing the same name,
1t is fourteen miles long, and a succession
of fine views the whole length of the
road. The snOw-clad Sierras are on our
right, and beautifully timbered hills on
each side of the river. A few miles up
the cannon a successful fish farm is in
operation, where tens of thousands of
trout can be seen in every stage of a
trouts existence. As we reach the head
of the canon we find we are also at the
outlet, or head of the Truckee river
whose waters, like all the other rivers of
Nevada, are lost ir sinks. None of them
have an outlet into the ocean.
The view as we emerge from the canon
is beautiful. The broad expanse of the
majestic lake lies before u.s. cncircled on
all sides by towering mountains. Half
of the lake is in Nevada, the other half
in California. 1t is twenty-eight miles
long and from twelve to sixteen miles
wide, and has been sounded to depth of
sixteen hundred feet It's waters are a
beautiful ultramarine, and it may be call
ed the purest water in the world, contain
ing by analysis only four per cent. of inn
purities. It is so light and mobile as to
be easily lashed into foam, or Gained in
merror-like surface. In the early
morning it is like looking-glass, with
surrounding objects reflected in it with
surprising accuracy. Several steamers
of small tonnage are used in navigating
it. Its altitude is about sixty-three hun
dred feet; it is always cool and pleasant in
the hottest weather. The lake never
freezes and never gives up its dead. No
person that has been drowned has been
known to rise to the surface. Wood, as
soon as it is saturated, sinks to the bot
TOM The water is as clear as crystal,
and huge rocks fifty feet down are plainly
discernable. In fact, it is marvel, and
the very contrast of our own Salt lake
for this is so dense and sluggish as to Of
fer great resistance to the human body,
and everything else that will float.
The finest place on the lake is Emerald
bay. Ben Holiday owns beautiful
place at the head of it-a very neat resi-
dence in a shady nook with the snow
clad SUBMITS Of the Sierras for back
ground, and magnificent waterfall for
the middle distance. The foreground is
everything an artist can desire. Near
by is the beautiful islet called the
Emerald isle, on which an old salt called
Sailor Dick built home and a grave
where he intended to be buried should
he die on land, but | am credibly in
formed thaa he got on a drunken spree
and sunk, to rise no more, in the lake
The property is now in charge Of another
seaman called Sailor Jack. He may
properly be called the hermit of Emerald
bay, for there in the deep recesses he
lives without the society of any other
human being, his only companions being
three dogs and four cats. He is indeed a
curiosity, but the soul of good nature.
Old Dicks fate seems to have set him
thinking, for he is a total abstainer
The story of his conversion is worth be-
ing told He relates that on one occa-
sion, when crossing the lake, squall
upset his small boat. Down he went
with it, he says, seven feet. He swan
to the surface and grasped firmly his
demiJohn of whisky in one hand and the
upset boat in the other. He thought,
"now this might be my last drink, and
as it is cold | will take a swallow" He
then took look at the favorite bottle
and hesitated to throw away 50 much
good liquor, and thinking it was cold
thought he would try yet another, and
there on a cold dark night, with the
prospect of death staring him in the
face, he vowed to take his last drink of
frewater. His resolution he has firmly
kept.
A cascade of surprising beauty is seen
at the head of the bay. 1t is over one
hundred feet high. The towering masses
or rock ON each side make beautiful
setting for this shower of pearls.