The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-07-08

pies of natures inartistio work. The
country is broken and cat into
ugly, awkward slopes. Deep Ia.
vines and gulches. lofty towers of
that same dirty chalk-hued sand |
stone, wonderfully designed castles
with turrets and bastlOns, windows
and portfolios, fantastic rock and
grotesque shapes of clay and stone,
follow each other in such quick
succession and are thrown together
with such th9ughtless irreguldrity
as t. at 6rst inspire the beholder
with reverence for their antiquity
and grandeur; but The feeling IS
soon dlsptlled by one of WEAKNESS
and finally by downright disgust
and real madness. A mile or two Of
strangely ancient castles and so on
as have been mentioned, are well
enough, but passing through and
among this sort of country thirty
miles an hour, for hour after hour,
does not have tendency to excite
respect for the land.
hope the section of Castle VAL
ley through which the railway runs
IS not Iair example of the whole
valley. 1t is sad there are some
good people in Castle Valley; if this
be true, their reward after death
should be greater than chat of Ordin-
AIRY Christians elsewhere; their cross
GU earth Is worthy of crown in
heaven. l always thought there
was more dirt between billiard and
Green River on the Union Pacific
than in the same area of territory on
any other part of the globe. Castle
Valley eau discount the Muddy
country for werthlessness and dirt.
There IS nothing out dirt, and dirt
that one would blush to call soil. 1t
is milky yellowlsh gray, hard
substance that extends in every
direction as far as the eye can see,
a veritable desert of vile, a5omnable,
impudent, staring dirt, its only
quality being OffensiVentss. No, it
has its uses. Here and there in
other sections we ran across spots
that are so utterly sterile as to he
capable of giving life to the prickly-
pear variety of the cactus. In
| Castle Valley there are hundreds
L believe thOusands-0f acres
of prickley-ppars, and they
are larger anu thriftier than
ever saw them elsewhere.
For miles the ground is carpeled
with cacli, and now their bright
yellow and rich scarlet Uloom most
graciously relieves the painful
mohOtOny of dirt plains and Chalk
table lands. The only other vegeta-
Ton that thriVes here is the gredse-
wood that has 50 h I'd a struggle to
survive west of the Jordan Here
it grows to perfection, forming a
green, thrifty and shapely tree
The sour, alkaline, SubStanceless
soil OF the jordan plain is too rich
for the greaseWoud and cactus
Here and there daring and 4ll-too.
confident agriculturlsI has def ed
nature and Draved the forbiddine
earth by sowing grain and planting
garden seeds aud vegetables. His
challenge ras only provoked the
scOrn and contempt of The yellowist
gray dirt which IN its serene vim
uIctIvunesS disdains ali Idea of allow
lug itself To be utilized BY
man. Some sickly blades OF
gram are vainly struggling fol
: lie, and though aOundantiy
irrigated, the shoots are Yet 50 THU
; and scarce as TO fail to Iiyen th,
: dreary prospect by even Il fain
tinge OF green. Ii some transfer
nation coul take place that wOul(
put life and virtue into this mos
miserable and unhappy gr und
there IS territory enough i'll tint
valley to feed and employ hundret
t thousand people. We roll alOn;
. over this broad waste until lowe
t Price River crossing is reached
/ When The sun sinks behind tn,
: mountains, big, round, fiery bal
D that llluminate3 the lower cloud
Z with IA savage. heartless, 0ufnln
g Ted, and sheds braZen, dingy vel
e low glaze over the sky. Never wa
@ | better pleased at the going down
9 of the great orb of day, for thOugl
L with its departure there CD ne "a hal
g suffocatlng sense, and a feeling tha
hC0NOh 40 DCuiCO hHdluSb III
}, piteous appeal of the baked parche
!, and burning earth, darkness shu
t out one IF the dreariest, saddles
8 prospects that nature has ever pre-
pared. Better the black gloom G
d night than this wearying OF the ey
d to catch the glimpse of sOmethln
q besides banks and mounds an
# plains and mountains of dull, lif,
J" less, glaring clay. AT night th
= imagination may relieve the tedi
n GUS monontony by sancying gree
n trees, meadow patches, clear water
3, and thrifty fields. Daylight dispel
q fanciee, by showing things in the
s real, true cOlors. We will sweltt
d through this burning, motionIes,
20 airless night, fondly hoping th;
l. morning will bring us beyond I'll
le barren waste, or at least show NO
70 and then an oasis In the desert.
,e G.