The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-03-09

with . happy and prosperous people.
But the effort to nh It up In = day has
been little short Of lisastrous In many
ways. In Southern California psrtic-
ularly. 1t will take some time for thin 70
to vibrate to . normal aud healthfal
level. aud 1t will be 40 suspicious day
for her when It comes. To people Of
small means my Undertaking advice is
to stay away. The chances now are
decidedly against them. As to climate
and the charms Of landscape those are
matters Of taste. For myself, in pre-.
ference to the eternal languid sunshiDe
and the rest, give me the grass and
trees Of Kansas. her changing seasons,
her cloud and storm, her biting and
bracing winter frosts. her matches
spring-time and autumn. I think I
hear some California friend sarcastic
ally suggest, "And her cyclones, bliz-
card and drought" Yes, my Califor-
mia friend, will take those, too. Some
how it's my taste, and there's no &C
counting for tastes. you know. And
for one thing more, one thing she haa
not, my dear California ffiend-the
ever.present liquor "exchange," the
most foul and damning blight upon
your new Paradise-give me Kansas.
= = = = = =
This letter has turned out to be in
the nature Of notes by the way. At
this writing I am en- route on the
American Sahara, the alkali deserts
of Nevada and Utah. The ascent on
the Central Pacific from San Francisco
to the summit of the Sierras Is very
rapid, and literally enough. nearly
takes ones breath. It Is an ascent,
too, from flowers and green fields and
blooming fruit trees, to frostywinds and
snow-banks deep enough to look into
the windows of the mountaineers.
When after the sinuous climb, the
summit is at last reached, it is highly
exasperating to have the whole billowy
world shut from view by hundred
miles Of snOw-sheds. For that distance
nothing can be seen. except where
here and there board has become de-
tached from the shed, and then there
flashes in the brilliant moonlight
memorable view Of yawning chasms,
spectral pines and distant submits,
cleaning in snow. After this the des-
ert. The amount of desert in this
country is appalling. People who
have an idea las many have) that the
Rocky Mountains are a succession of
peaks from Denver to Sacramento, are
badly mistaken. Here OH the western
coast Of Nevada we are entering upon
it, and with the exception of the II tile
oasis of the Salt Lake Valley, it is
desert for a thousand miles or more. |
And it is just as bad by the more east.
ern and southern routes. It stretches
away as level as an Illinois prairie, |
broken here and there by black. lava
like hills and occasional short ranges
of higher mountains. The soil liz such |
it may be called) is light colored clay
and is sprinkled with ashes of alkali,
and epecked with struggling and
pitiful growth of sage-brush. The
Curse Of God seems to be upon it. It is
the abomination of desolation. Does
live here? Ifyou call it liv-
ing, yes. At regular intervals there
are clusters of h0uses-railroad towns.
And then there are Indian tepees
along the line in Nevada.
At nearly every station squalid and
sodden group of Indians stand on the
platform to watch the incoming train.
The squaws drive q unique and thrifty
business. withal. Each one-that is,
within limits-has q pappoose strap.
ed upon her back a la John Browns
and for the consideration of
) dime che uncovers its face to the
view of the curious. Each town, t0o,
has it's Chinese contingent, and as it is
now their New YEARS. season, they
have been painting the whole line red
,O-day. Some miles back procession
If twenty-five or thirty of them march,
ed to the train, beating brass kettles
Ind cymbals, bearing flags and ban.
,ers of strange deviceJ and carrying
N stretchers of catafalque.like struc.
ure, whole roast pigs and smaller fry
roast, rather), ana firing fire-crackers,
whole bOxes at shot. A group of In.
lians looked on in open.mouthed WON
ler-strange meeting Of the occident |.
nd orient. The funniest thing of all
vas that through all this hilarious
proceeding, the little brown men hip
'ed never hurrah. and smiled never
smile. They boarded the train, and
t every station since small parties of
hem, with . due allowance of roast Il
ig, banners and fireworks, have got
On off and marched with much cere-
,ony, to the Chinese quarter, which .
ill doubtless be the scene of high .
'assail as long as the roast pigs last y
nd the firecrackers hold out to burn. o
ut enough Of the pig tail. y
At the last station the attractions =
,oro c.,Seo o,,o.~n-n.:o- t. -: j.