National Republican., 1880-08-23
ACRoss rHE CONTINENT
Sights and Ref sotions on a Trip from Boston
to san Francisco.
FLORENCE, TERRITORY or ARIZoNA, :
August o, 1880. J

EIks II was III NNntNflllt .fllNttt lllAI re-
cciycd your letter from the seethiug caldrOn
of political aspirations, which evaporntcd nll
of the factious elements Of the great republic
can party ut Chicago during the convention
held the first week Of June The splendid
work Of that convention | can add nothing 10
or take anything from. Tho country, from
the Atlantic 10 the Pacific, says "well DONE
aud only hope that when tho roll Is called in
November next the response will be in accord
with tho enthusiastic expressions have heard
from Bunker Hill TO the Golden Gate, aud
still further down in these desert and bald
mountain districts of Arizona.
James A. Garfield will. ii indications hold
true, be tho next president of the Uuitgd
States, and my prodi .tion is that his admin
istration will be cminently impartial and wise.
Leaving Washington the first part Of June,
| spent four days in the commercial metrOpO-
lis Of the country. For ten years | had not
seen New York on Now England. Tho mas.
sivc piles Of brick and stone that have sup
planted the old rookOrios Of New York city
are n marvel
A trip to Coney island and drive on Man.
haitian beach was one Of the enjoyable features
of our visit before starting for the scenes Of "a
New England childhood 1t was refreshing to
see the thrift enterprise and business OBJ
served everywhere from New York to Boston.
Those snug villages seen all through tho Coun-
try looked brighter than over before, and
Boston, Sure rs you're born" Is the hub"
More evidences Of culture wealth and refine
mont cannot bo found in any American
city. From tho top Of Bunker Hill we
looked out upon The Atlantic whose waters
washed the border of my native state.
Now for trip across "Uuclo Sans FARM
rs DIR. Sunderland has it. We'll, We have
made the trip. Something over 5000 miles Of
travel have wo made since leaving Washing
ton. On through the states 10 Chicago was all
q beautiful country, and that country In its
spriug-time dress. In Chicago we stopped 10
take u look at the magic city. Its business
houses, hotels parks and residences are good
illustration of American vim and goa.hcad.
atvcncss. The cattle yards, embracing nearly
300 acres Of ground, which wcro formerly
out on tho prairie" are now adjoining the
city. These yards are something worth
seeing just for once. The Thousands
of cattle, sheep aud hogs brought
| there for slaughter must bo seen TO cOmpro.
bend the extent of the business. / suppose
no better farming country can be found IN
| the world than in Illinois and Iowa. The
ride across this part of Uncle Sans farm
| gave us a better idea Of the productive ca
| pacity of our country than anything we saw.
| Upon reaching Council Bluffs, n place | ro-
member hearing much of during the Kansas
| troubles, we were beset by the railroad oii-
| cias, all trying to persuade us to stop there
ONtl HlGll luluNI llldll W ~ ONbI " Dhlttutt'
These are rival railroad tcrnini, or rival towns,
and as all passengers have to stop over for the
| but one train Of the Union Pacific day, all OF
| us had to find lodgings somewhere for the
| period of sixteen hours. Such nuisance on
| the part Of railroad men / never experienced
before. Omaha is growing steadily, aud Is
| fast becoming thriving business place. Two
| thirds OF the distance across Nebraska, up the
! Platte valley, is smooth rich prairie, but
| when a. uNplsp morning unl IDunI
selves in desert, and still in Nebraska we
| were much surprised. / had never heard that
any part Of the state was desert but
| SO it is Then on and on for hundreds OF
miles, it was desert and rocks desert aud
| rocks. Gradually we usCcuded tho Rocky
mountains to the highest point, at sherman,
| and rs We looked to the south tall mountain
peaks appeared in the distance covered with
snow 1t was refreshing to see this snow after
the heat we had loft behind us at Omaha. Tho
atmosphere in this high altitude was delight
ful and pure, but the miserable desert country
we were riding through was repulsiye and
| dreary. We kept going and going with only
here and there u little SPOT fit for habitation
As we reached the borders of Salt lake aud
rode for miles along its shore we were dc
lighted with sight of vegetation induced by
irrigation under the guiding hand of Brigham
Young Soon we passed into darkness, and Oh
through the desert we glided, passing rocky
cliffs, bald peaks, alllal plains, lava beds, sal
bottoms sinks, rivers that rise in the noun
tains and disappear in the deserts
now and then a struggling, Indian
an occasional antelope, prairie dogs
sage.bush, greasowood and desert.
When you reach Reno and commences
climbing the Sierra Nevada mountains, thel
the country exhibits change We rode RICH
up into the mountains OF snow and there w
needed our overcoats. Snow, rivers, lakes
forests, mountains and valleys, all through
aud down into the Sacramento valley, was th'
agreeable change we met with after leaving
Reno. Although there was no scenery hal
so pretty as is seen in many parts of New
England the contrast with the Humbold
valley was such as to mako everything ap
pear beautiful. All along down the Sierra
we took ON fresh vegetables and fruits al
nearly every station, shipped for the Sal
Francisco markets. The yellow wheat fields
the live oaks draped with moss, the garden
and orchards, all told us of richness of sol
not seen for n thousand miles behind US
Tho Sacramento valley is said to be ono ofth
best wheat-producing sections in the world
This grain stood just ripe for the harvest ant
in many places the reapers were gathering !
in.
As we struck the bay wo noticed decidet
change in the atmosphere, the valley beinI
level and hot, and as we crossed over int
it was rs cold rs March in Washington. Thi
is curious city and in many respects pleasan
one but the climate is vllainous. We neede
all our winter wraps and then scarcely coul
keep warm. The town was built on san
hills aud rocky cliffs, and is on the bay, fou
miles from the sea, and fronts cast. Th
houses are constructed mostly of wood, on az
count of the dampness produced by the heay
fogs constantly floating in from the ocear
The drive through tho park to tho sea is on
of the best roadways | ever saw, and tho par
itself is fast becoming place Of beauty. w
drove out along the beach and enjoyed tn
sight of the Pacific, with its waters rolling u
around our carriage as though we were float
ing of in our own team. out of tho waite
we trottcd along tho beach and up to tn,
Cliff house TO sec the sea lions baskng in the SUI
and sporting about tho rocks off the shore
These sea lions arc quito q curiosity. The
are of the seal family, grow to u considerabl
size, but arc Of no special value, not being ful
bearing
1t was Just two weeks before this that W
were looking out from tho top of Bunker Hi
monument upon the harbor Of Boston, and th
Atlantic ocean toward the "old emerald isle,
that we stood above tho breakers on tho Pa
citic coast gazing toward tho land of the lit
tie "Japs" and the "pig-tals' Of China.
Now to the "sand.lots' and chinatown.
Dennis was gone but the lots exhibited tn
ground on which this son of the "old emerald
isle" has worked up such hostility to TN
hGathou Chimeo A visit to the quarter occupied
by these despiscd mOngOliaNs revealed non
Of those hideous pictures one from the east