Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-14
pOndence Of The Evening star.

turec III right IN among the mountains But
found myself in quite a little city. set down on
the plains. Eve miles from the Rockies. and
there's not the ghost of a spring about the
town.
There are beautiful. wide avenues running
north and south and handsome cross streets
cutting them into ordinary city blocks. and all
are shaded by cottonwood trees. which are
planted in four or FIVE rows on the avenues and
must be beautiful in summer The cottonwood
is the only.tree amiable enough TO grow in
sand and gravel and it is kept alive by irriss-
ton bitches, which border every street on both
sides. and when filed with snow make hopeless
pitfalls for unwary strangers A false step
across the deceitfully smooth and Innocent
LOOKING space and down you go into what
seems the bottomless pit.
THE DIRT rs TIENpIsH.
There are no pavements Except on block or
two OF the business streetsl. The driveways
are hard dirt. kept well watered. but the side
walks are loose sand and gravel and woe 70 the
polished boot that treads thereon ard the
dainty skirt that sweeps above it, There Is
something positively hendish about Colorado
dirt II gets into the very warp and woof of
/ your clothes. and Won shake and bru.h until
your arms ache and your whisk broom is all torn
to pieces, and there il sticks The immense
amount OF electricity in the air is largely ac-
countable for this. As TO your boots. they are
hopeless after fve minutes walk. and one soon
gives up any vanity in that line The only SEN
sible clothes are those as near dust color as pos
sibie, and all the men wear tan shoes.
TIRE FASHIONABLE STREET.
Cascade avenue is the fashionable street and
has many handsome houses. set back from the
sidewalks, as in our beautiful Washington. Only
what we would call the parking is rallied of
INTO individual yards. In winter some people
Hood their yards and let them freeze over,
making delightful little skating ponds. where
the children have splendid time. This avenue
Is on the edge of the town, running parallel
With the mountains and commanding magni-
hcent view. Here everybody rides and drives
and all the life Of the Springs" centersL
Electric roads run in every direction. and
with an eye TO the future extend far out on the
pralries never can get used 10 seeing this
latest product Of the nineteenth century iying
over the open prairie where there is not a
house in sight. One Of the lines takes YOU 10
the very mouth of Cheyenne canon. and from
your cushioned seat IN regulation street car
you can see some Of the widest and ruggedest
scenery IN this country. Colorado Springs is
1000 feet above tide water about the height of
MI Nashington) and only five miles away
towers Pixies Peak, with its snow-capped crest.
Pixies PEAK AS BAROMETER.
The Peak" is the barometer for all the
| country round about and is a great puzzle to
the uninitiated, for though the sky be as blue
and clear as on a midsummer day, if a little
cloud no bigger than a powder puff rests ON its
summit there Is sure to be a blow or a snow,
and on the other hand. a leaden sky. however
dark and threatening. means nothing il the
giant mountain stands out clearly defined.
There is no rain from October to April and
November and December are usually a long
succession Of glorious sunny DAYS with lust
enough frost IN the air TO give snap 10 il.
Everybody rides and drives the whole day long
and the invalids who are not strong enough for
that sit and sun themselves on southern piazzas
But sick and well live out OF doors and in the
direct rays Of the sun, and even the most
fragile consumptives are tanned as brown as an
old sea captain, and SO do not have the terribly
CHASTITY look which is painful 20 see. Nobody
walks, because II is very tiresome in this aiti-
tude and you so soon get winded. Each house
hold has at least one turnout Of some sort (usu-
ally a light buckboardl, which is brought 10
the door and hitched every morning and if YOU
don care 10 take a regular drive YOU simply
do errands, and never think Of walking SO much
as couple Of blocks. Its dreadfully lazy
place.
THE WINDS MAKE ONE sEAsrck.
With January come snow and biting winds
The latter is the worst feature of Colorado
winter weather. Words fail me when try to
give an idea of those wind storms. 1t blows SO
furiously that the house trembles and your bed
actually rocks under you. SO that people are
often made seasick by the motion. The dust
rises In dense clouds and sweeps down the
streets with such violence that a man can hardly
beat his way against it. 1t Sits through the
windows until every thing You touch feels gritty
and your throat is all choked up. For some
unknown reason these winds are particularly
trying TO the nerves and after a twenty-four
hours blow" one feels all on edge and cross
and irritable to the last degree.
In winter the thermometer often gets down
below zero during the night, but the sun is SO
powerful and the air so thin that by noon
people are sitting on their piazzas. 1t seems
queer to see your breath like steam from tea
kettle and yet feel the suns rays warm and
mild as in September. One does not feel the
cold in this thin dry air TO anything like the ex-
tent We do in the east C'back east they always
say here).
AN INVALID IN EVERY FAMILY
Society is informal and very pleasant and
cosmopolitan. There are Representatives from
all over the world (chiefy England and New
England), and the afternoon teas. which bring
30 many agreeable and cultivated people
together, suggest Washington on a small scale
Every household has the one sad reason for
being here. and you can always find an invalid
in each family, for whose sake a little home has
been made in this wonderful sanitarium The
drives in every direction are most beautiful
and numerous. Turning eastward you can
drive for miles and miles over the rolling
prairie. without tree or a house to break the
monotony. All my life have heard people
talk about the rolling prairies," but not until
/ saw them did real ize how impossible il is for
any descriptiontto give the least idea of their
wonderful beauty. Nothing but miles and
miles Of undulating, dry brown buffalo grass.
with here and there the spiked leaves OF the
yucca" or Spanish bayonet Not a rock, nor
tree, nor beast nor bird is within sight and vet
it is beautiful the sea is beautiful, and as il
stretches in limitless pillows to meet the far-off
horizon and grows soft and blue and hazy in
the distance 1t is SO like the ocean that one can
almost believe the black smoke from a train
miles away is coming from the funnel of a
Cunarder.
MRS roUzALIx's RANCH
Mrs. Touzalin. the daughter of the late Mr..
Justice Miller, owns ranch about ten miles
south Of the springs, and a more ideal spot il
would be hard to find. The place stands on
high ground right at the foot of Cheyenne
mountain and in the midst of beautiful grove
OF pines (Trees are q rare luxury in Colorado
and few ranches can boast of even one.) From
the southeast piazza Of the coy house there is
an unbroken view of the plains, which seem 70 |
stretch on and on to the very end of the world. |
The silence is 30 intense aud so soothing that |
You feel as il under spell, and sit and gaze |
at the wonderful sun-fooded expanse with the |