Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-11-30
cllmpsE AT COLORADO LIE.
Experiences at High Attitudes in The
Treasure Quest Graphically Told
The Deceptive Mirage of the
Centennial State.

Three times have / visited the beau,i-
full San Juan country, and to-day. when
I realize the vast Improvements since
1879, the date of my first visit, both in
the manner of "getting in" the noun
tains and living in comparative lnxury
when gotten there, makes mo turn to
the future with prophetic soul, to read
the greatness / see written there. Four
years ago at dark-and by dark mean
the all pervading, almost tangible kind,
in the month Of May--I landed at Ala
moss, to find myself clutched on every
side by invisible hands and surrounded
by voices eager to guide me, they only
knew where. This where happened to
be the Perry House. knew, after
wards, it must be called hotel, but
knew it only from the changes. l was
told the building was Of wood, and port
able, whose owner, kind host, folded
it up, like the Arabs their tents, and
moved whenever interest and inclina-
ton prompted. This, ! thought, out.
rivalled some OF the Bible miracles |
delighted In when a child. / believed,
and thought 1t not improbable, that a
man might take up his bed and walk,
but to take down his house and put it
together when and where he pleased,
was a convenience wholly Nine.
teenth Century and funny in
the extreme. | kept thinking Of the
-homely little ditty, This is the house
that Jack built" In everything | saw
the builder, These are the stairs, these
are the chairs, &C., that Jack built,
until was reminded of the sad fate Of
Mark Twain's passengers and broke the
spell with a mighty effort. The floors
were undulating like the waves of the
sea, but here the resemblance ceased,
for water these swells had never known.
The cook, or rather Mr.. Cook, he was
one only in name, made his power felt
all over the house. Autocrat OF the
breakfast, dinner, supper and earl table,
with something of the old Druid priest
in his nature, he kept fires seemingly to
appease the names OF murdered food;
the incense of which surrounded and en-
yeloped both guest aud guest chamber
with q smoke thick, redolsnt and blue,
but beyond was the S,ngre de Christie
range of mountains. glistening with
snow and ice, possessing charm and
grandeur far removed from personal dis
comfort or the kitchen aroma. If must
have one in the house 1 could enjoy the
other by looking or going out, and SO l
consoled myself, realizing fully that
Mahomet must go to the mountain. One
hardly appreciates, even with the knowl-
edge of past sad experiences and
dissppointments that distance in Colo
RADIO is, TO use an original
and, as hope to be forgiven, not very
familiar line, $50 near, and yet SO far"
The story Is told of man who startod
out for walk to the nearest mountains,
and finding them apparently no nearer
after walking for several hours, con-
cluded to return. But profting by his
experience, however, and determined
not to be fooled again by taking things
as they looked, he made elaborate pre-
parations to swim across the next brook
he arrived at, but was prevented in time
by some one suggesting to try stepping
across first. Truly. experience was never
a kinder teacher. You may laugh,
my dear HERALD, every time you
hear this story. Ipromise never to tell
it again, and tell it now only for the
home-bred youths, to save them from a
like fate, and 20 illustrate the deception
of distance. The Spanish peaks, the
school children know where they are,
look but few hundred yards away,
when in reality they are something like
hundred miles from the road going to
Alamosa. Even the stars twinkle
brighter and seem larger seen through
this rari6ed air than through the mnrki-
ness of an Eastern town. There never
was such blue sky. l bravely as
sert, and to one given to moralizing,
to art, to religion, to philosophy, even
politics, these mountain cations, streams,
lights, shadows, mountain homes and
hardships. men and mines, afford abuud-
antly an always new and rare material.
1t is not my purpose to tell here In de-
tail of my long journey, BY wagon and
blackboard, on foot and on burro to
Silverton; how we stopped, first at Del
Norte, after crossing the San Luis valley,
bathed in the warm water at Wagon
Wheel Gap. then on in the morning after
feasting on mountain trout and elk meat,
to Antelope Park, and away past famous
Galloways, the handsome hunter of the
Rockies, Lost Trail and Grassy Hill, and
up into the mountains until we stood on
the watershed of the continent, and
watched the waters separate for differ
ent parts of the world; one crystal drop
to wend its way to the Gull of Mexico,
while its twin, born among the clouds
and snow, runs swiftly down to the
great Pacific Ocean, or, maybe, stopped
before it reached its ambitious goal and
used in some Chinese laundry.
The ways of destiny are inscru-
table and sometimes it is q water way.
In an unwary moment l drank of the
tabled waters of the Rio Grande Del
Norte, to learn, when too late. that he
who drinks is doomed to return and
drink again, whatsoever his circum-
stances, or whether he has any or
not. And, true enough, here we are q
third time returned. Tho Spirit of the
Waters makes no exception. Entering
every vein, it.rules despot, and return
we must. II you could look in upon
this lovely park, surrounded by fourteen
mountain peaks, and see and realize its
beauties and business Importance as a
mining camp, you weuld envy, for mo-
ment at least, be you possessed of every
luxury, the dwellers here. want to
tell you some time, of this town; and of
the wealth of silver it so modestly hides
away in its hills. Something too, of its
people, almost new race in themselves,
and of many things in general. Iwant
every one to see these wonders as I see
them, and seeing them in the minds
eye may realize them In the flesh. To
be real candid, the only drawback see