Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-30
REST IN COLORADO.
A Pretty Cottonwood Grove Where
Olive Thorne Finds Peace.
A Rustic Frame Cottage Surrounded by q
Colony Of Pretty Tents.
THE SCENERY OF THE GREAT STATE
rcoRREspoNpENcE or rHE DISPATCH. ]

'CHEYENNE CANYON, COL., Aug. H.
Imagine pretty one-story cottage, set down
in grove of cottonwood trees with gnarly
oak and tall pine here and there to give it
character, and surrounded, as hen by her
chickens, by tents, six OF eight, in every
conceivable position, and at every possible
angle-except right angle. Add to this
picture the sweet voices of birds, and the
music of water rushing and hurrying over
the stones; let your glance take in on our
side the grand outlines of Cheyenne Mount
ain,
Made doubly sacred by the poets pen
And poets grave,
and on the other, the rest Of the range,
overlooked, by the snowy cap of Pixies
Peak, IA, 900 feet higher than the streets of
New York. Do this and you will come as
near to realizing Camp Harding as one can
who is hundreds of miles away, and has
never seen Colorado camp.
Do not think, however, that camps such
as this are common, even in this land of out
of-doors, where tents are open for business,
even the business of education in the streets
of the towns, and where every householder
sets up his canvas in his yard, for invalids
to sleep in from June to November. This
little settlement of tents is an evolution,
the gradual growth Of the tent idea in the
mind of
ONE CoMFORT-LOvING WOMAN.
She came here seven or eight years ago,
bought this grove under the shadow of
Cheyenne, put up tent and passed her first
| summet thus. The next year. and several
| years thereafter she gradually improved
her transient abode in many ways that her
| womanly taste suggested, as wooded floor,
high Dashboard, partitions of muslin or
| critonne, door and windows of wire gauze.
The original dwelling has thus, step by step,
grown to framed and rough plastered
| house, with doors and windows, while
grouped picturesquely around it are some of
the most unique abiding places in Colorado.
They are in effect handsome hardwood
boxes three feet high and of different sizes
up to 14x16 feet, with platform in front
and canvas roof. The ''boxes' are without
tops; and each side is surmounted for its
| whole length with q wire-gauze continuous
window, capable of being tightly closed by
the under canvas of the two which form the
roof, or opened for the air to sweep through.
Inside these structures are models of COM
fort, with regular beds and furniture, rugs
on the floor, gauzy window curtains, drap-
cry wardrobes, and even tiny stoves for
cool mornings and evenings. They combine
the comforts of house with the open air
and delightful freshness of tent, where
one may hear every bird twitter and see the
dancing leaf shadows in the moonlight.
Over the front platform the canvas cover ex-
tends to form an awning, and WIRE
gauze door, in addition to one OF wood,
makes them airy or snug, as the weather
demands. &.
THE CURE OF REST
In one of the rooms of the original house
your correspondent is delightfully."- domi-
ciled, enjoying the comforts of the East
with the freedom of the West. Better
still, she was perfectly rested and refreshed
before the end of week, and since that has
been laying in new stores of life and energy
for the coming ten months of care and work
in the city. Magic? No; only little clear
whosoever will may profit by also. Here is
her method, her crest cure" her 'foun-
tain of health;" tired reader, GO thou and
do likewise!
AS her train rolled out of Jersey City one
Saturday night her only desire was for rest.
She had been hurried and worried up to the
last, but the moment she was alone, with
her "section" to herself and no one to
speak to, she ''took herself in hand" All
her affairs, all her interests, all her respon-
sibilities she shook off, with the dust from
her feet, and left in that busy city where a
few burdens more or less would not matter
to ANYBODY. With her trunks checked, and
her face turned toward the far-off Rocky
Mountains, she left the whole work-a-day
world behind her, departing, SO far as she
was able-a liberated soul, with no duties
excepting to rejoice and recruit.
IrIe A 1,1rErCr7Ir rAsu
This is not so easy as it sounds. Done
thoroughly it is like rending apart of ones
very life; but it can be done, it has been
done, over and over, and it is a charm
more potent than magic to bring restoration
and recreation to the brain and nerve-weary
worker. To bring herself fully into the
restful state of emancipation from her habit
ual environment, she interested herself in
the study of her fellow passengers as
if they were a new species, their
peculiarities, their little idiocyncrayies,
indications of character all from
which the close observer may know what
manner of persons they are. Above all, the
car porter, who is always an amusing study,
the most imposing parsonage on the train;
an autocrat, who rules his small domain
like Gar; whose gracious permission is
necessary before one can open wi ndow,
with the dust of ages, to keep out cinders,
and fresh air as well; his carefully studied
evolutions in opening and making up the
berths, conscious of being the cynosure of
all eyes; lastly, the struggles of the subdued
and meek passengers with the difficulties of
undressing behind curtain in a space one
foot wide, and then the lulling to sleep by the
monotonous rattle of wheels over the rails.
Behind the friendly curtain, moreover, is
freedom. Windows may be opened Cif one
has strength to manage sleeping car win
dow). Sweet country air and cinders may
be enjoyed together; the eye of the dictator
is not upon you.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
So she went on, day after day, night
after night, till she entered Kansas which
was new to her. By that time she had
succeeded in banishing to the farthest cor
ner of her memory, behind closed and locked
doors, all the anxieties, all the perplexities
and problems, all the concerns in fact, of
her home life. She was like anewly-created
soul, fresh and eager to see and enjoy every
thing. She refused the morning papers;
she wished to forget the world of strife and
crime, and to get so into harmony with the
trees and flowers, the books and the breezes,
that she would realize herself
To every wild-born thing that thrills and
blows.
In one word she wishes as nearly as
possible to walk abroad out of her hinder
ing body of clay, for only in this way can
one truly rest and recreate herself. She
looked out of the windows to see what the
Cyclone State had to give her 1t offered
flowers and singing birds, broad fields of
growing grain, and acres of rich black soil
e1 - Al IL.