The Penn's Grove record., 1884-06-28

Tucson, the leading city Of Arizona,
although not its capital, is one which
gives the impression at first sight Of
being peopled by wIde-awake, indus
trious men. Djsputing with Santa Fe
the distinction of being the Oldest city
in America, il has none of the attraC-
tions Of its rival in the shape of eUrious
houses and ancient churches, but its
location in the midst Of a mountain
guarded plateau, is even more pictur-
esque than that Of the town in central
New Mexico. If Bayard Taylor lavished
his highest encomiums on the view from
Denver of the Rocky mountains he
might well do the same upon the
view from Tucson Of the ranges and
Isolated spurs that press around the
city. Various, varied and picturesque,
they lift their pointed cones and
serrated heights with startling abrupt
ness from out of the level of the plains,
and are at all times softly outlined
against a sky which is proverbially free
from clouds. In whichever way n
looks from Tucson the mighty hills ap-
pear tossed into e~ver-varying shapes,
deeply colored, full of dark ravines and
fantastic shapes. From any one of the
heights Tucson is seen nesting at the
base Of a hill, which rises near the town
while beyond it toward the south
stretches the valley of the Santa Cruz.
the tortuous WindiHgs Of which, as it
fades from sight, are marked by green
trees and the huts of the Papago
Indians. From such a height the city
does not look unlike a town of Mexico
having narrow streets lined with fat
rooted adobe houses and out lying
cabins with brush-Jhatched roofs scat
tered over the glazing sands ard sage
dotted plains on which the busy city
! stands. And, indeed, Tucson at all
times closely resembles the metropolis of
our near republic. There are but few
frame houses to be seen and the Mexi-
can style of architecture is closely fol
lowed. Nearly all the h|abitations are
but II story in height and the walls
are of that huge thickness which expert
ence has proved the best calculated to
keep out the broiling heat Of the summer
and the often too raw winds of winter.
Some of the better homes are surro und-
ed by grass plats and trees and others
bave gardens about them which have
been worked over until they are filed
with shrubs and Il and have become
indeed veritable bowers of beauty and
shade. Socially the city has much OF
that refinement supposed to be charac-
teristic of the east, and it it is far from
being a hardship to have to live here.
While pleasures are limited, perhaps,
and n cannot bask at all times in
aesthetic joys, there is still an out-of-door
enjoyment which more than compen-
safes for the loss of operas, theaters,
balls, and dinners. The horseback
rides to the canyons in the mountains,
to Fort Towel. to miniature ponds
that have been made, and up the valley
Of the Santa Cruz to the old mission of
San Xavier are neYer-failing enjoy
ments, taken as they are in air that is
eyer invigoratlng, and in sight OF
mountains that cannot but be inspiring.
The ride to San Xavier is especially
delightful. The old mission, nine
miles from town, still preserves traces
| of its former grandeur. and is located
in the very centre of the valley, under
the highest cultivation. The church
bears a century of age upon its whiten-
ed walls, crumbied and stained and
Clipped by passing time but its
towers, with their melOdlous bells, are
stately yet, and from them a view is
had which is a revelation to all who
know but little of Arizona. Brightly
cOlored fields, green with alfalfa or
yellow with grain, stretch far away
toward the city and to the distant hills,
while nearer at hand are the quaint
houses of the Papagos and the grazing
cattle scattered about the grassy fields
down by the shining rivers side, Dull
and void of perception indeed must be
all those who cannot, at least from
San Xavier, indorse the assertion that
Arizona, instead of being a desert, is far
from being a region of great unlnter-
est.
East india Corsets,