The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-04-09
Ghe Grareller,
From the N. ]. Sua.
OVER THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC.
A Travellers Experience in Crossing th'
Continent.

A Travellers Experience in Crossing the
Continent,
Orer the N0uataias ef California and
Through the AohdEc DeseTt-T through
.4rizoHa by Steans-T he Death TailCg and
the .SereH Cues Of Cibao- GebeHHd an
NetC Aerico.
The new trauseontinental route was
opened by the departure OF the FIRST through
passenger train from San Francisco March
Is. | started some days before this date,
aud had to ride part of the way on con
slruction trains and TO lie over At several
points. The consequence was that saw
something more of the country than will
be likely to fail uudeT the eyes OF the or
diuary thr ugh Passenger. Among other
things, had a good view of that "hell
upon earth, the uascent town OF Deming.
The new route Is irum San francisco b.
the Southern Pacific Railroad TO Demiug,
New Mexico This town Is on the plsseau
of the Sierra M4dre, about thirty miles
north Of the Mexican border aud eighty
piles west northwest ct FL Paso del Norte
From Dsmiug the route Is by the Atehi'
sou, Topeka aud Santa Fc Railroad to
Kansas City, Mo, aud thence eastward by
either one Of several lines. After leaving
Saa Francisco you travel along the S4n
Joaquin Valley. Thus is a wheat country,
Aatter and richer thsa an Illinois prairie
Then you enter the valley Of Kern River
and begin the ascent OF the TehaehCpl
Mountains The railrOad here performs
several extraordinary evolutlons- IL dOu'
bles upon itself; il ties itself iato "loUp,
il gUes over itself aud under itself aud
arOuad itself, and, after boring itself through
a number Of mountains, eaergcs irom onC
OF these as tboagh nothing had happened
aad il had been as straight as a string ali
the time, Below Tehachepi Pass il crosse.
the western arm Of the Grea iMohavC
Desert, aud then descends 10 the Amol:
huer;as aud orange groves Of San Feraau
do, Los Angeles, Riverside, aud SAa BeE,
nardino
This Is seni-irOpieal California. Herr
1 il Is that the Spanisrds first settled, that
gold vas discovered aud gold mines woFked
years before Marshall unearteed his histor.
/ ical nugget at Co.oma, that ths orange, tbs
lime, the grape, aud the Ponegranats Wers
planted by the AisSioa Fathers, and that
/ Spain found its Arcadia IN the New World
/ Nothing can exceed the natural beauty and
resources Of this wonderful region. II /
more than 100 miles from Sac Fernando
/ to San Gorgonio. There is an average o.
thirty miles between the San BernardinS
range and the sea This Is the size o
Paradise. The air is balmy, the skies ar,
clear, the earth teens with vegetable rich
es, the mountains are full Of metals, anc
the sen swarms with fish. " hen We pssseS
I through the vale Of San Bernardino th,
trees we're laden with oranges, which weri
I offered for sa through the car window
at 10 cents dozen. An excursion paTsl
of editors aud reporters from Sau Frau
cisco were loading each other with oraog,
sarlauds 4 wonderfully rich gold min,
had recently been discovered in the noun
tains, coal mine was beibg opened it
Cajon Pass A couple Of poor FrenebmeI
had amassed s30,0U0 by herdjng eatIl
near FONT Conception. Some British
noblemOn were Wintering at Los Angeles
and a number Of New Yorkers were cur
ing themselves Of rheumatism at the bo
mud baths Of San Beruardiuo.
This was the news of the neightorhood
When you thread the pass Of San Gorge
nio you hear no more news. You are OF
the desert. The earth has turned TO sand
the orange trees 10 leafess and deforme,
eacti, the grass to seant aud withered sag
bCsh, the rivers to dry arroyds, the sun L
bonfire, the air to a furnace blast, an,
men TO blackened stones You descen,
from a thousand feet above the sea leve
to three hundred feet below it, The skel
etous of many animals lie bleaching in tn
sunshine to tell of the past enterprises an,
suffering and miserable deaths; aud tn
crow and vulture sail silently through lh,
air, starving TO death for lack Of fresh vic
tins But their day is over. The rail
road has changed and is still more chang
ing the face of the country. " ater an,
eoaling stations and wayside restaurant
appear Artesian wells are being bored
water is obtained, and with water every
thing is possible 1t took twelve hours t.
pass through the Colorado Desert. At il
eastern extremity We beheld the Colorad
| River
THROUGH ARIZONA.
Crossing by tac great bridge at For
Yuma we stood upon Arizona Territory
The river at this point is wide, deep, rapid
and muddy. Several large, high pressur,
steamboats, lay below the bridge bound 70
points above. On some Of these the Goa
beavers were Mohave Indians, tall, well
shaped, sinewy fellows, nearly naked, will
coarse black hair, sometimes yard long
beardless, beetle-browed, british, and de
graded One of them had his hair don,
up 10 mud. The women were employed
as pack animals. An Indian had three
sacks Of -four to convey from the railreac
to his camp, six miles distant. He loadet
three squaws with sack apiece, thel
mounted his horse and rode leisurely be
hind his tottcring harem. Upon being
asked why he did not load some of tn
-four upon his horse, he replied that thC
horse was worth money, while he got wo
men for nothing.
At Yuma the Gila River falls into tn,
Colorado. From this point eastward Il
New Mexico your journey lies in the val
ley of the Gila. Near Yuma the bottom
lands of this valley are cultivated. Be
yond this the Gila so often fails of waite
that cultivation is neglected and the coun