Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-07-17
In THE FAR WEST
Prof. S~ensberg's Vivid De-
scriptions Of
coLoRADo's GRAND SCENERY
The Needles IL the Hottest Place N ~
unsted Stsses-- Details of the
Long journey.

The Needles ls city located on the
west bank OF the Colorado river. The
town WAS named after . series Of small
mountains. They are sharp pointed
CRYSTALS that appear like - many
needles carved out of the solid rock.
and are decidedly interesting ohjects-
In fact the slgnt OF them ss one Of the
things that make such tong and ted
ious Journeys besrsble. There 10 =
peculiar pristine beauty about The
whole place that makes one absolutely
glad lac is there. The climate 10 dry,
arid one. aud should you ever b
asked, "Mhat 10 the hottest place N
the United States you may safely an
swer 1.-The Needles"
Our journey now Is toward the land
OF the setting san. We are stiil coo
miles from San Francisco. First over
the line 10 Arizona and the remainder
of that vast area once known ~ the
Great American Desert, the greater
part Of which has been converted by
irrigation into fertile productive land.
la our journey from the Needles Ne
have constant use for our eyes. With
a succession Of ever changing glanoes,
from left TO right and from right TO
left. We see the gradual unfolding Of .
grand panorama OF iordly mountains
covered with snow, whose brilliant
sheen stands out in bold relief against
the darker green of the intervening
valleys. We swung around sharp
mountain curves at the rate of City
and even slxty miles an hour. Noun
tains and plans followed each other
IN quick succession.
blended aud SHADED.
Landscape colors are blended by the
speed. black and white, green and blue
being shaded into each other IN inde-
terminable confusion. Now we are
above the clouds and then we are be-
low them. Now We are blinded 10y the
dazzling RAYS OF the western sun, and
the next instant We pass into utter
darkness ss the train flies around and
through great masses Of rock and gran
tie. Before We reach our destination
the train has made n spsrai-ilke circuit
OF the mountain. We dashed through
tunnels and held our breath ne the tram
plunged along, increasing It's speed at
every revolution of the wheels. We
few around curves. and faced an sue
cession ali the different polnts Of the
compass. Again We see the other slde
OF nature--the little adobe houses, dug
outs and even tents. OCCASIONALLY
Pueblo or q Wallupi Indian might be
seen flying BY on a pony.
We passed through seven small
towns and stopped at Siberia. We
then stopped at Ludlow and came to
another hault at Bars:ow. Here our
watches were turned hack one hour 20
conform TO the variations OF standard
time. THIS WAS the second change
since leaving Cnicsgo.
At Barstow we were met by = delega-
ton of Californians. They came IN .
special train of three cara, each loaded
with flowers OF almost every variety.
Oranges and other fruits OF the season
were there In abundance, together with
all the varieties OF wines made IN the
golden state. IL was q superb coilec-
ton of flowers, fruits and nectArs.
The party here was divided into three
sections OF seven cars each. There
were 200 editors IN TIE party when ne
left Barstow and mere Joined nj every
stop,and we made a number IN fravers-
ING the 450 miles OF country lying be-
tween Barstow and San Francisco.
There were over one thousand IN the
party when We reached Golden Gate.
a