Delta chief., 1883-09-05
Experience ON n Blackboard.
WAGON WHEEL GAP. August /

To the Editor of THE CHIEF:
This sheet should have been occupied with
San Juan, but owing to the severe experience
upon blackboard from Lake City to this
place my thoughts are not presentably my
comb my thoughts.
Tuesday, the 18th inst, as our huge globe
rolled over from its couch to greet the sun,
that particular portion around Lake City was
caught in one happy smile. That bright
event rolled me out Of bed so good-naturedly
that was tckled all over. Little spasms of
delight kept time among my nerves, and
rhymes like the following invaded the domain
of consciousness:
How divine the earth,
How divine the sky!
Alas! like children grown up though We be,
our happlest moments are but the prelude to
bad luck if not sorrow and tears. Could
any prospect have been more assuring than
mine in front of the American house, as l
took sole possession of the hind seat in the
blackboard, while the front was relieved by
the presence of the driver and some eastern
school-ma'am, placing me at very safe dis
tance from the little Kansas mule team ahead
that was to draw us over the range to Clear
Creek station. The toll-road leads up Lake
Fork, by Crooks big smelling works, thence
The surroundings grew very attractive; such
a sky, too above only Colorado morn could
disclose. The dome expands before your
gaze, blue melting away into deeper blue,
and the little patches of flleecy cumui We're
turning themselves into expressions of benef-
icence and peace.
The mules were becoming interested in the
ascent; their rapid breathing excited my ap
prehension. l asked the driver if there was
not danger of heart disease. He replied that
they had two and a half days rest after this
half days drive. Such treatment was GER
tanly not cruelty to animals. Still could
not resist the impulse to get out and walk.
At last my aneroid indicated II 100 feet above
the sea level and solid weather at that In
a moment the buckb board was along. 1t was
the pass, and got aboard preparatory to the
descent The way the mules started ahead
satisfied me that they were not as badly out
of breath as imagined. Accordingly I put
the interrogation, "Your mules, driver, are
naturalized after all-guess they are not ten
derfeet?' "Tenderfeet! ~ exclaimed the dri-
yer, "why, they have been on the line nearly
four years" l took advantage of the first
level spell to put on my gloves, the idea
catching me very suddenly that the back seat
of a blackboard could stand more jamming
than my fingers, for it was where some of the
bucking was being done No time was
wasted. A steep pitch presented itself heav-
lily ccrduroyed, bringing an early experience
with mule fresh to my mind-a mule can
run down hill and still walk very slowly up
hill. Going down that pitch l tried every
point Of the seat without sitting on any of
them. My time was wholly taken up in ris-
ing and falling, the seat becoming SO many
points Of quick contact.
Remonstrance agaiIs. high speed was in
vain. Time had to be made at Wagon Wheel
Gap for the Denver & Rio Grande train, the
driver said. The mules, too. were longing
for a two ard half days range in the
fat pastures OF Clear creek. Then the young
lady in frOnt-there flashed upon me a possi-
BILE conspiracy. The proverbal fascination
of drivers came to MY mind. Indeed, / had
been too busy watching where i should light
to notice any Occurrance in the front seat
Putting on my Overcoat to guard against side
bruises, and jumping when passing over lo-s,
added to my comfort. Soon the vehicle ap-
preached the steep grade near the Cebolla.
! The big timbers in the road were nearly bare.
AT every big log the mules sprang down hill
as though they would bound right into the
pastures of Clear creek. got chance view
of the pair in the front seat. Behold the
young lady with both arms around the driver
holding on for dear life, and he whipping the
mules Now, am perfectly willing TO con-
cede the advantages of a man and woman
over n lone bachelor in the ordinary journeys
of life, but to have it presented so unmis-
takeably in this blackboard ride was altogeth-
er too much for my patience. | made a
spring for the schoona' am, calculating to
plead accident in lieu of intention. But how
it happened, the climax of riddles, in contra
yention of all known laws of notion instead
of getting within reach of the lady in front,
i landed very abruptly upon the iron railing
of the hind seat, describing the curve OF
quickest descent 1t was more complicated
than the cycloid that interested those fellows
back in the seventeenth century. Both
curves had wagon wheel in them, only mine
had mule to boot. l shall finish sewing on
my lost buttons to-day. | am laid up at the
hot springs for repairs. ! expect to take my
seat with rather unusual deliberation for two
or three days to come.
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