Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-08-25
A COLORADO spa.
To the CHRONICLE.

Sojourning here for season for
the benefit of my mothers health,
/ take this opportunity of commu-
nicating with my faithful old COM
rade. the CHRONICLE. Doubtless
many features of this remote noun
tain watering place will seem very
singular to the summer pleasure
seekers of the South. But to one
Injured to the customs of the West,
and with hint of Rohemianism
incipient in her nature the novelty
is the charm.
Wagon Wheel Gay, $50 called by
& legend hat / will give anon), is
the property of the Denver and Rio
Grande railroad, and lies thirty
miles south of Del Norte in as good
ly favored spot as one may wish
to see. Tall, Yerdure-clad noun
tains slope down to the hotel, and
to the south one way look down a
valley SO well watered and fertile
that the imagination pictures the
village of Grand Pre-, in the Area
dian land. And adoWn this valley
bubbles and sparkles many wonder
full mineral springs. Nature and
Gods intinity standing hand in
hand, battling our inquiries, yet
healing our weakness. The most
abundant spring and the one that
waters the bath-house is walled up
in oblong shape. 1t is boiling hot,
and one needs to sip it as hot cof-
fee. 1t is very pleasant to the taste,
combining sulphur, magnesia and
iron. Not three steps to the left,
there bubbles up clear, cold, amber
colored water, exceedingly pungent
and disagreeable. Thus do the cold
and boiling springs come up in
neighborly proximity all over this
green, vast valley. AT the foot of a
ledge OF rocks, about five hundred
yards distant, there boils up a per-
fectly pure soda spring, and close
by an unadulterated iron one. This
soda water proved very palatable
made into lemonade, and by that
means it became popular with ell
derby people, as it is also trysting
place for the young. The good that
these mineral springs do the poor
miners Is incalculable. Especially
the blasters and drillers, who fairly
live in damp, dark holes. They
contract acute rheumatism, and a
few baths in these mineral waters
generally serve to set them right
again. The cures wrought in rheu-
matism are indeed wonderful. A
case came under my observation
this week. A poor blaster was
brought down from the Summit,
and sent out to the. springs. His
limbs were cramped and swollen
in such manner as to disable him
from everything. The cOlored man
who has charge of the bath house
had to plunge him in and assist
him out, but the third day he was
able to take his baths and walk
around the grounds.
The Hotel and cottages at present
are all filled. There is represented
here England, Scotland, Wisconsin,.
Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania and
California. Notable among the
guests are Senator Thomas w.
Bowen and wife, of Del Norte.
There is Il gay young English lady
here who says, "The evenings are
SO slow, you know" We were
lucky in meeting the Denver ex-
cursion of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and in vain did search
for familiar southern face. Is the
old feud never to be forgotten? Is
the dart of defeat to rankle in our
hearts forever? 1t would seem that
a sufficiency of years, with balm
upon their wings had passed to heal
the wound. Very grand and gall
liant they looked in their uniform,
and it set me to thinking what an
sight they must have
made in regiment.
The general regime of each day
is as follows: Nearly all of the
guests rise to Z O'Clock breakfast,
and then one may see different
fishing parties materiaIizing. For
there are very few ladies here who
do not enjoy trout fishing in the
upper Rio Grande. Any lover of
the rod and line could not fail to be
delighted with this place. There is
a Scotch laddie among us whose
luck, or rather skill, is wonderful
to see, Three successive days, In
two and half hours, he consigned |
to his basket from sixty to siXty-five. |
The dining room at noon is "a ban
AucO HAL dSSCItClt buG NAO CACCA~ |
lent hostess spares no pains in pre-
pairing these luncheOns. The fish
ing parties all endeavor to get back
IN time to battle before tea. The
of these baths vary as
he heat of the water increases or
At times when you
enter the water you feel that the
heat is quite unbearable, but if you
plunge in boldly and stand for
you are at once cOmforta-
Die. The water is very buoyant on
recount of the mineral gases, and
f you are careless to let the
'ope slip from you, you are likely
O lose your footing. There is very
title dancing here. The guests
AVE the good taste to let that oft.
inevitable winter amuse-
nent have IA rest. The sweet sum-
ner evenings speed swiftly by with
upon the wide veran-
las, music in the parlOr and biziquo
nd whist.
1t was returning from a fishing
late one evening that we
rst heard the legend of Wagon
Wheel Gap. at was a number OF