The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-11-11
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
A Letter from Lieut.. John A. Towers
Skething his Trip to his Distant Post.
Preside, CAL, Oct. 3, 1886.

l.
ing to write you at greater length some.
thing about my trip and present situa-
ton. My trip as far as Louisville was
without any special interest. I believe I
wrote you about the narrow escape we
had from being run into by freight
train just before reaching Louisville. l
bslieve it was the only time I was ever
afraid of an accident; as it was, l didn't
see any chance to escape being struck,
and 1 was just getting ready to jump,
preferring to take my chances that way,
for, being on the rear platform, was in
rather dangerous place. In the depot
at Louisville, 1 met Lieut.. and Mrs.
Murray, of the lst, on their way out. We
went together as far as st. Louis, which
place we reached Saturday morning at
o'clock. They left at o'clock, as they
were to go by Omaha. I was going by
Kansas City, and it was necessary to
make stop either there or in st. Louis !;
I preferred the latter, and moreover had
telegraphed Menoher to meet me there
on Saturday. When got to the hotel, I
found that he had registered just few
minutes before. There had been meet
ing of the knights Templar in the city,
and from all appearances, they had been
given o brilliant reception, as the city
was decorated almost from one end to
the other. Saturday was very disagree
able day, as it was raining or drizzling
all the time, and 1 think that st. Louis
can get dirtier under such circumstances
than any place I ever saw. We left at
500 p. m.; while on the train just before
starting VIC met Vim, who was on his
way to Nevada to join his regiment, the
1stInfantry. We were very glad, indeed,
tosee him, as it gave US another travelling
companion for most of our trip; he had
been in the city all day, and had seen
three or four of the boys, whom we didn't
get to see at all.
We came on to Kansas City together
over the Missouri Pacific, the toughest
road think that 1 ever travelled, We
got to Kansas City the next morning
about 8, and were to leave at 11.05 a. m.
Although had through ticket from
Richmond, I could get my baggage check.
ed only as far as Kansas City, as the
Western roads are very particular about
extra baggage. From Richmond to Kan.
sas City 1 had to pay $500 on mine, so I
decided, as had my large valisc inside
my trunk, to take it out and fill it with
clothing, as it would not be much trouble
in the sleeper, and would take off good
deal of weight. Unfortunately, however,
my trunks did not come in, for some
unexplained reason, until just Z minutes
before the schedule timo of departure,
and had barely time to get them
re.checked. The direct consequence of
this was that l had to pay $500 from
Kansas City to San Francisco. Mrs.
Murray had told me that I would need
my o7ercoat before got to Frisco, so l
got it out at Denver.
In Kansas City, we met Smith, who
was going to Montana; he went with
us as far as Granger in Wyoming, where
he left US and branched off Northward.
From Kansas City, we had very pleas,
ant ride through Kansas and Colorado to
Denver This part of the country was
of course quite different from anything
we had been accustomed to seeing in the
East, and consequently we did not easily
get tired of looking at it. The immense
prairies, seemingly without limit, and the
fields of magnificent corn, stretching as
far az the eye could reach, together with
the herds of cattle grazing in the mead
ows, formed novel pictures to our Eastern
eyes.
One thing that 1 noticed one or more
times, which seemed rather incongruous,
was to pass church on one side OF the
railroad, and probably almost immediate.
ly pass lot of men and boys playing
ball on the other side.
We arrived at Denver, whose altitude
is about 1900 feet, at 7 a. M. Monday,
and as we did not leave until ! o'clock,
we went up town to hotel for breakfast,
and here another surprise awaited us.
l am accustomed to picture to myself,
more or less, what new place
will be like, and with regard to Denver
I had thought that it was essentially
hilly place-built right up among the
mountains-and when ] saw it, I found
it to be on an almost perfectly level site.
don't believe there is even hill in the
whole city. The city itself has popu-
lation of about $1,000, and is very pros
porous. You would be surprised to see
the buildings, many of them as large and
handsome as the finest ones of the larger
Eastern cities. The hotel at which we
took our breakfast was an immense one,
and was as elegantly furnished and every
thing about the table as nice and as
nicely served as the most fastidious could
desire.
We walked about some of the most
important streets, and found everything
on large and business-like scale. One
thing which struck me in the city was
the people. To look at any one individ-
ual of the crowd there would be nothing
to attract your attention especially in
him, and yet there seemed to be some
thing about the crowd, viewed as whole,
which differed from the crowd met with
in any other city that l have visited. It
seemed very strange, the change from
Kansas City to this place, The former is
comparatively low down while the latter
il. so to speak. among the clouds, vet in