The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-12-13


A Readable Hook.
fson Onlo 10 InE ItOcNT MOUNTAINS Editorial
correspondence u The Dayton tOhiol JsunlL b
wm. b. HgLhIm, author II "ILlsCTAn' 9Th The
IoanSehth Army tOtpa," Dayton J9,r1si h't
and Job Printing lI0uss. is;y.
This Ia the title Of a neat little volume
Of less than two hundred pages, made up
rs the brief preface informs us, "oi cdito
rial letters written originally Tor the ihy'
VA Journal, With no expectation when they
were written that they would face the per
iIs Of perusal in any other form" They
are now presented to the public "S a
souvenir Of delightful excursion in June
1917 with the Ohio Editorial Association,
from Ohio 1.-THE Rocky Mountains.
We hayea few pleasant pages OF intro
dactton, devoted to theihistory Of this Asso'
cation, 10 the members Oi which the vol
ume is dedicated its organization aud IT,
various reunions irom time to time,
all given in particularly happy, OIL
hand Style Of description, which furnishes
suitable introduction to the fresh and
pleasant pages which follow.
A light across the Missouri plains from
st. Louis to Kansas City, ut the rate Of
seveuty-tivc miles An hour, does not leave
much time Tor sight seeing or sentimental
reflection. The writer makes 10 pEeten'
sions in either direction, but Is content to
look out Of his car window, cShiIarated
ny and sympathetic with swift changing
panomInS which fly before him with
this onward rush to the gates Of day.
lie enjoys himself like school boy out
on his tist vacation. They all enjoy them
selves "llencc 1t was no unusual thing
during our flight across Missouri, on the
Chicago and Alton Railway, for them to
rlsein body and fairly yell with exulla'
non at a mile-G.minute DASH 1t maybe
that his brain Is u little dizzy with the inl'
petuOus speed, at llst, when he tells us
that the majestic space you span on rails
with eyes and ever roaming imagination
seems measurable only by multiplication
VI the Elusive horizon by deirou,
fancy" We can readily imagine one pen
ming sentence like that, after looking
steadily ont Of q car window for II few
moments, while going ut the rate OIL
'adliyfrs miles an hour. The speed /!
not 80 great, however, but that Mr. lick
ham can see u school house on every hill
top in Kansas having missed them all it
Missouri) and an OhiOan wherever he il
to be found west OF Central City. The in
,ernal evidence going to prove that ,h'
writer is Republican in politics and az
Ohioan by nativity is very strong.
At Topeka, "the first free State capital
Of Kansas" he encounters the first coloret
pilgrims Of the Exodus, and from there
hccrosses the Golden Bell" Of which v,
have fresh and glowing description, anu
then come the plains, "a dead sea trans
txed in solution by fiery sun, ant
baked into sterilIty." At Monotony, tn,
mostAptly designated locality in geograph
zeal nomenclature, the winds blow al
furious rate. The plaiumau WHIT
persuaded the credulous philosopher o.
tho7fib'nr, in his Overland journey, that
The prevalent cyclones blew Off the tire,
Of wagon wheels, and then Strengthened
them out on the plains, as Il on a vulcaniC
anvil, scarcely exaggerated. 1t IL a little
tiresome to digest the story, but We may
readily believe that the author OF II did
his "level best lnthose chapters on the
plains the best writing in the book is
found. Puns aud iestS are dropped for
the time, and the style yisibly sobers to
the subject. In the "InnQCents Abroad,
when Mark Twain stands before the lonely
Sphinx in that stretch Of solitude where II
stands guard with the Pyramids
he iorgets to laugh, and leaving hi.
nonsense far behind rises into onC
VI the finest strains Of apOstrOphe and elo,
quent description that the theme has ever
inspired. The presence Of these vast soil
tudes Of earth aud ocean awe even the
ordinary human being into something
like sympathy with them, and We can well
imagine that the traveller Of finer suscepti
Gilities and more poetic fancy might rise
10 cloIuence, II ever, inspired by the soil
tudes Of the American Sahara.
Denver, Getty Of the Plains" Pixies
Peak, the Gold region, Central City, are
all explored, and doubtless there will he
something new in these descriptions to
many readers, as there is certainly great
deal that is fresh and interesting For in,
stance, the historical fact that the first
ladies' who scaled the mountain to the
PGak were Yankees, under the escort oil
the late A. D. Richardson, Of the New
York 7tiGuns, in 1860, will perhaps be
new TO many persons. One Of these ladies
was from boston the other from New
Hampshire.
The New York Tribune, by the way, es.
tablishcd an early interest, through liz
correspondents, with the Rocky Mountain
region. More than thirty years ago the
gifted Margaret Fuller wrote great deal
OF raphsody and line description from
there. A little later Bayard Taylor was
writing for the same journal from ovel
the then almost unknown plains. The
newspaper correspondent has his illusIi,
Gus predecessors, and although the
letters Of many Of them have
passed into something like per.
mauence aud will remain, they do no,
remain for an cnsAmplc," for the news.
paper correspondence OF thirty years ago
as To that Of today what the delicate aud
elaborate pcncil.sketch is to the vivid
photograph. There ia less time for pen,
cil.sketcheS, and the photograph is the de.
lnaud Of our day. We lay down these
letters from "Ohio to the Rocky Noun,
taius," with feeling Of real pleasure that
'rersuasiOns Of partial friends" have in.
duced Nr. Bickham to give them to us in
a more permanent form.
hNtr;mOny by MIcFosrOpr.
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