The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-09-20
about one half its height and its summit
is II 500 feet above the sea

is IL 500 feet above the sea.
AS you pass around Dump mountain,
there are places where you can look
down and see nothing but the ends of
the ties and few feet of stone work be-
tween you and the boulders in the valley
thousand feet below. If you are ner-
vous, note for moment the great eau
ton shown by the train men and your
uneasiness will leave you; but ten to
one you are carried so far away by the
beauty and grandness of the scene you
forget that railroad accident ever hap
pened. You begin to find out that your
lungs are entirely too small; you cannot
breathe long enough, and you may be
troubled considerably with bleeding at
the nose. An exhausted feeling comes
over you and you find yourself draw
ing long breath every few minutes.
For the last two and one half hours you
have been ascending a grade which fire.
quently reaches as high as 217 and in
some places 800 feet per mile. The
scenery is SO grand that you do not take
time to speculate on the chances of the
little coach turning over and making
your will an interesting document to
your friends Look ahead and you can
see the engineer or fireman sitting with
his legs dangling out the cab window,
looking down into the gulf below as cool
as If he was at circus. As the engine
leans over in passing around a sharp
curve, you see his feet swinging out
from the side of the cab and he looks as
though little jolt might send him into
eternity; but we suppose he knows his
own business. He passes over this part
of the road twice every day; why should
any one else feel uneasy in passing over
it once or twice in life time.
Just as the sun ceases to shine in the
valleys, and the shadow of each noun
tain rests on the side of another noun
tain, our train turns its upward course
and begins to go as suddenly downward,
and we stop at Veta Pass, $50 feet
above the sea. There is neat little
stone house for depot, a side track and
turn table. We are introduced to Joe.
Joe is the station agent, and although he
dwells nearer Heaven, and occupies the
highest position of any railroad tele-
grapher on the continent, he is jolly
good boy, crack shot, and a natural
born Nimrod. His friends lower down
in life have often been reminded of his
craftsmanship by receiving nice veni-
son. Foolish deer often question Joe's
right up here, and he is always ready to
settle the matter. In some places around
the station the timber is so dense you
can hardly see any distance among it.
1t is principally pine and quaking asp.
To one accustomed to the elevation, it
must be rare sport hunting up here; but
any one just arriving could not keep a
cook in stove wood, much less hunt over
the mountains. The air is so light you
become exhausted doing nothing.
AS we leave Veta Pass we feel some
thing like kitten which has run up a
tree, but is rather doubtful about COM
ing down. A brakeman has control of
every car in the train, and the engine
alone is capable of holding the train in
case of accident. They do not use the
air brakes in going down the hill be-
cause the grade is too long, there being
nineteen miles where the train boys
must keep at their posts all the time.
| Occasionally we strike straight piece
Of track and the boys allow the speed to
increase until we get little uneasy, but
as we near curve they hold up, and we
are convinced that they know what they
are doing. Three miles down on the
west side of the mountain range we stop
at Sangre De Cristo. There is a large
hole dug near the water tank and forms
the basin for the most magnificent spring
we have ever seen. The water is so clear
you can see every pebble in the bottom,
and is so cold that even after being used
to ice water you cannot drink any guam
tity of it without stopping. 1t has the
flavor of, and is said to be soft water A
spring at the roots of an old coffee nut
tree, in one of the middle states, has
haunted us during feverish longings,
and has been the subject of every thirsty
dream through our whole life, but San.
gre De Christie will probably take its
place in the future. AS we pass further
down the mountains cold clear streams
tumble down the bottoms of the ravines,
and we almost get the buck ague as we
think that this is the very paradise of
the mountain trout. No better fishing
can be had any where than here. We
were once told in good faith that in
Colorado they could and did make wa
ter run up hill in bitches; here is a
proof of the statement. You see dam
across stream of water in the bottom
of the canon below you on one side of
the track. A ditch starts out from it,
nearly full of water, running in the
same direction with the train. 1t rises
rapidly toward you, and you can see it
running very fast. It runs alongside of
the train for few minutes, crosses un-
der the track, and soon you see it wind
ing up along the side of the mountain
on the opposite side of the train. For.
get for moment the laws of nature, and
you could swear solemnly that the water
in that ditch is running up hill. 1t is
the ditch leading to the Placer Mines.
The descent of the road is SO rapid that
it leaves the ditch far above you in a
mile or two. Night is fast setting in as
we REACH Garland Garland was for q
time something of station, but as the
road was completed further west, Gar.
land, like Joe in Bleak House, was COM
PEELED to move on. The mountain en-.
CINE deserts us here and the one that
takes her place pulls out, and as we
leave the mountains, she skips out at a
reckless speed, and for thirty miles the
moon lights up whirling sea of sage
brush, but nothing more. At 80 p. m.
we cross the Rio Grande river and stop
at Alamosa. AT the hotel we are de
lighted to meet Joe Perry. Joe is an
old timer of the west He has built six
teen hotels at as many different points
on the plains. Every time a railroad
builds mile or two OF track, Joe picks
up his bed and walks. You viii al.
ways find him at the end of nowhere,
ready to furnish you good meal. AT