Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-10-02
WASATCH WANDERINGS.
A Racy Sketch of Matters I'm In
Mountain Districts.
Correspondence of the DEMOCRAT.

Correspondence of the DEMOCRAT.
With due regard to the prophet Wig
gins prediction of low-down earthquakes
and a proper appreciation of the fact that
the melancholy days had come" (for
the mountain grouse), your correspond
ent, a few days ago, sought safety and
%sustenance in the mountain tops. With
slow and hating steps, by the zig-zag
trail leading from Alta City to the divide
beween Little and Big Cottonwood, the
summit was reached as the trio of steam
whistles at Alta were calling the faithful
to their MONDAY spuds. Near by the
beetling cliffs, stripped for battle with the
elements, which often hold high carnival
upon these awful heights, looked down
upon as gorgeous a spectacle OF sunshine
and shadow, of dark defiles and rounded
hills, of green pines, flaming naples and
yellow aspens as this round globe affords.
Far upward, in the cloudless blue, an i'm
perial eagle winged his spiral course to-
ward the sun. On the Alta side, within
a half circle and at a glance, could be
seen the famous mines, known around
the world. On the Big Cottonwood side
the Reed q Benson mine, with its two
million product of high grade ore, and its
2,400-foot tunnel penetrating the solid
rock, should it jump ten thousand feet
above sea level, and across on Kesler's
Yellow Peak at an equal attitude, the
Carbonate had disgorged its huge
bonanza through an embrasure in the
cnII6 rnoH HOUn q ohnQr nraoInInn tn tho
dizzy trail below. The faint echo of
distant powder blasts foated upward to
tell the entranced observer of actual and
prospectively valuable mines being
worked and opened by the plucky, indie
fatigable miner. All! much abused and
poorly appreciated class! Every little
peanut vender, fawning middle-man,
hair-splitting shyster, and cent-per-cent
usurer, must have his fling at you and
your royal business. To wrest from their
rocky vaults the metallic treasures stored
up by a benificent Creator, is the noblest
of missions, and whether fortune or pov-
erty attend the prospector and miner in
his self-denying path in the high places
of the earth in the legitimate pursuit of
his business, life cannot be a failure.
But hunger and business demand Il
movement to the front, and with
a last lingering look which will remain a
joy forever, the pack is shouldered and
the downward trail is taken. The well
come miners home, with fat grouse fried
to the right of us, grouse roasted to the
left (but little Left of us, and grouse
stewed to the front of us, is reached.
MOnarchs of all we survey, we sip our
coffee and smoke the pipe of peace and
good fellowship, while the Mormon and
various other problems are discussed.
With pick and shovel, and in my case.
with blistered hands, the many-sided
mining problem is viewed from a prac-
teal standpoint. The conclusion arrived
at is that mining in Big Cottonwood
Canon presents first-class inducements
for men and capital. But personal in
spection and application is of vital inn
portance.
The Maxfield mine presents a scene of
unusual activity in preparation for an
energetic winter campaign. Monk, the
Recorder of the District, adheres to his
first love, Dolly Warden. and will soon be
able to slide from his dump to his pala-
tial and hospitable residence. The Reed
and Benson owner propose for bids to
run their long tunnel 100 feet further.
The Silver Mountain folks employ about
eighteen men, and are jubilant over out
coming treasure. The Silver King is
yielding well and shipping gold and sill
yer ore. The Tecumseh and Garfield
group of mines, as well as the Jupiter
combination, in South Pass, are being
worked with good results. Steam and
manual labor work increasingly day and
night In Alta, and big strikes are likely
to be made any time.
Rafting volleys of hail on the roof oil
our mining house last Thursday night re-
minds n that snow might shortly cut
OF retreat over the summit, so amid alter
nate rain and hail, with a hair-scattering
wind, the divide was crossed and a safe
harbor with mine host, Hannibal "
Grlce, was reached. "In time of peace
prepare for war;" so our landlord is de-
veloping a nautical genius in attaching a
triangular bow and bulkhead to his
house. The addition is some twenty or
thirty feet high, composed of upright
timbers, braced and dashed together. with
an embankment of earth inside. 1t pre-
'ents a sharp nose to the oncoming snow
slide from the Emma hill, and its base or
is equal to the width of the house if
s designed to protect the coming winter.
IL was suggested to the modern Noah ,
hat snowslides might come from the .
'ther side of the CANYON, and that he
make a "double-ender" of his house. AS
discretion is the better part OF valor." {.
irlce proposes to retreat to the valley
bout Christmas time, and let his de-
erted house fight it out alone, if it takes
winter.
Starting yesterday from Alta in a cold.
lrizzling rain, the flying car passed
through a red sea of fiery naples and
fountain ash, and welcomed warmth
nd sunshine in the valley. To the
lght-seers and sensation hunters. a trip
p and down the tramway on n of
lese beautiful autumnal days is better
a trip to Europe, with sea-sickness
lrown in. But like repentance, it must
attended to at once-to-morrow NAV