The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1892-05-19
Las VEGAS. Nav Is. 30

ial Assn, but purpose grew weak as time
progressed and it is only when the for
mer sleepy old town of Las Vegas is
reached that good intention assumes the /
form of activity. A journey across the /
Mississippi Valley Is wholly devoid of in +
teresting features and it is not until the /
table lands. which serve as an introduce /
ton to the lofty mountains, are reached, /
that one begins to scan the country to |
discover something interesting because |
unfamiliar. Northern Missouri presented |
new and startling features. however, due |
to & flooded condition of the country. !
All the river valleys were flooded and |
rushing currents svirled through dense
forests, streams had become rivers, and |
level stretches of country were converted
into lakes agitated by the winds to such
an extent hat waves beat upon the ''ama-
teur beach with a for ce suggestive Of
permanency. Owing TO the foods, the
train had to proceed cautiously and
reached Kansas City twelve hours late.
The rain belt extended through Kansas
and even into Colorado, making unneces-
sary for the time the artificial irrigation
Tor which such ample provision is made
throughout this section.
Western Kansas has, to ali appearances,
a very fertile soil and still appearances
must be deceptive as the country is being
abandonee by the settlers For miles and
miles empty houses and deserted farms
may be seen, and cities have had their
population reduced in some instances
fully one half. The philosopher who
may always be found at the depot whit
ling, chewing tobacco and distributing H.
formation. explains that 1t is eastern capt.
tai which is responsible for this condition
of affairs. Farms were mortgaged and
soon the mortgage with accrued interest
amounted to more shan the value OF the
farm and the owner gave up the struggle
1t may be misfortune, but on the surface
| 1t has the appearance of Incidence and
cowardice. But it makes good soil for
| the growth of alliance ideas. These peo-
| pie want cheap money SO that it may be
widely distributed in the hope that in
the shuttle some of If may drop into their
extended palms.
Eastern Colorado appears to be much
more prosperous than western Kansas.
Irrigation is so systematized that agricul-
| tural interests have received a healthful
impetus. The Irrigating canal which
supplies a section of country is some
times hundred miles in length The
Arkansas River furnishes the supply of
water, and vast reservoirs are constructed
/ and filled from the stream to be used as
necessity may demand. One acre of land
| properly irrigated is as productive as five
acres limited to natures supply of moist
| ure.
Pueblo is the first important town in
| Colorado reached by the Santa Fe route.
1t is growing city and full of enterprise.
| 1t is active in behalf OF its manufacture
| ing industries which are quite extensive.
| 1t is beautifully located on an elevated
| table land. On one side is the snow cap
ped summit of Pixies Peak while the lofty
fronts of the Spanish Mountains risn
stately grandeur on the other. The
| Spanish Mountains seem to rise precipi-
| tously from the vast plane and reach sky
ward in a mantle of snow. They are de-
tached from the man range and appear
| all the more grand for their isolation.
Colorado Springs occupies a plateau
above which towers Pixies Peak aud its
kindred, though smaller mountains. 1t
is beautiful city, beautiful in its sur
roundlngs as in the part man has had in
giving it shape The Garden OF the Gods
| lies near the city and can be easily visit
ed by carriage. The Garden is perhaps
| less grand than curinns as it is on the stu
pendous plan on which nature worked in
| this region. One can easily fancy him.
self among the RUNS of titanic architec-
ture. The mind can hardly deal with the
present while contemplating what seems
to have been the work OF prehistoric men
| and there comes a weird feeling of being
set back to some age Of which geology
has no knowledge, where man had the
power of nature and put Intelligence in
his work. There is, together with the evil
| dence of creative purpose, an expanse of
| desolation whIchis oppressive. The tower
ing battlements which rise abruptly and
extend upward with mathematical exact
| ness, enclose a court in which the sculp
tor seems to have exhausted his ingenuity
| in statues which are scattered about.
Manitou lies close TO the hills and
seems to be a wedge in the mountain
range \ peculiar thing in connection
with travel here is that while gong up
the ascent to the foot of the mountains
you cannot get over the illusion that you
are descending. The streams appear to
flow uphill and even their rapid current
can not cure the mind of this peculiar
hallucination. | found myself stumb
ling along the road as the movement of
my feet were controlled by what the
sense of sight conveyed. No one is free
from this illusion, even those who reside
lHeTe WIN uO"n LII uCtOIuiuB 10 the
sense, while making the muscular effort |
required by the ascent.
A railway runs to the top Of Pixies
Peak. But 1t is not operated at present |
on account of the vast fields of snow !
which cover the upper portion of the /
mountain. A splendid telescope is set /
h., -
ment. [ ventule1 dollar on roulette. I!
lost it in half a minute and then occu- I
pied myself with the telescope. The OBJ /
servatory can be seen by this means as /
clearly as If it were within half mile /
An object the size of man can be easily I