The sun., 1892-05-15
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
From Tideway to Tideway.
by RuDYARD KfrLINa.
Cspy,iJhi. 1899. " Rwiydrd Kipfine.

naturally covered with snow says tho con.
ductor standing in the rear car Of the Great
Northern train. He speaks as though the
snow had hid something priceless. Hero is
tho views Ono railway track and limo OF stag.
Cering telegraph poles ending in dot and a
blur on tho horizon. To the lett and right. a
sweep as IL were OF the sea. one huge plain Of
corn land waiing for the spring. dotted at
rare intervals with wooden farmhouses patent
self-reapcrs and binders almost as big as the
houses. rlcks left over from last years abun-
dant harvest. and mottlod hero and there
with black patches to show that the early
ploughing had begun. The snow lios in n
last few streaks and whirls hy tho track.
from skyline to skyline is black loan
: prairie grass 80 dead that It seems as
though no one years sun would wakcn It.
This is tho Rranary OF the land where tho
farmer who bears the burdens OF tho
State. and therefore ascrlbes last ycnr's
bumper crop to tho direct action OF tho Nc
Kinley bill. has also to bear the Ehnsty
monotony OF earth and sky. He keeps his
head. having many things to attend to. but his
wife sometimes goes mad. as the women do In
Vermont. There Is little variety in naturo's
big wheat fold. They say that whom the corn
is In tho ear, the wind chasing shadow waves
across 1t for milo on milo breeds. as it were. o
vertigo in those who must look and cannot
turn their eyes away. And they tell night
marc story Of n woman who lived with her
husband for fourteen years ut IN army post in
Just such q land as this. Then they wero
transferred to West Roint. among tho hills over
the Hudson. and she came to New York. but
the terrors OF tho tall houses grew upon her
and grew till she went down with brain fever.
and tho dread OF her delirium was that the
terrible things would topple down and crush
her. That Is n true story.
They work Cor harvest with sbsam plouChs
here. How could nero horses faco the end
less furrows2 And they attack the earth with
toothed. co.ged. and spiked engines that
would be monstrous In the shops. but here arc
only speckles on tho yellow grass. Even tho
locomotive Is cowod. A train Of freight cars Is
passing along line that comes out OF tho
blue and goes on till it meets tho blue again.
Elsewhere tho train would move Off with
Joyous. vibrant roar. Here it steals away
down the vista OF the telegraph poles with
an awed whisper. steals away. and
sinks into the soil. Then comes
town deep in black mud-a straCgly.
inch-thick. plank town with dull-red grain
elevators. Tho open country refuses to be
subdued even for few score rods. Each street
ends in the illimitable open. and it is as
though the whole houseless outside earth
were racing through It Toward evening. un-
der gray sky. flies by IN unframed picture OF
desolation. In the foreground farm wagon
almost axle deep in mud. the mire dripping
from the slow-turning wheels as the man loEs
the horses. Behind him on a knoll OF sodden.
soggy grass. fenced of by raw rails from tho
landscape at large. are o knot Of utterly unin-
tsrested citizens who have logged horses and
raised wheat in their time but to-day lie un-
der Clipped and weather-worn wooden head
stones. Surely. burial hero must be more
awful to the new ghost than burial at sea.
There Is more snow as We 60 north. and ma
ture Is hard at work breaking up the ground
for the spring. Tho thaw has filed every de-
preston with O sullen gray-black spate. and
out on tho levels the water lies six inches
deep in stretch upon stretch as far as the eye
can reach. Every culvert is full. and the
broken ice clicks against the wooden pior
guards Of the bridges Somewhere in this
datness there Is a refreshing Jingle OF spurs
along the cars. and o man OF the Canadian
mounted police swaggers through with his
black fur cap and the yellow tab aside. his
Well-ftting overalls and his better set UP back.
One wants to shake hands with him because
he is clean and does not slouch or spit. trims
his hair. and walks as man should, Then q
Custom House officer wants to know too much
astg the and
Rress OF India hes - US III IN her keeping; Meth @
s % Z tRs
e ths xsses q shs nav: The K Ssas has I tSTasd
asst Ice shove hove at Montreal. s ''ou. 'n'
They WI not run wa trains on Sunday ct Mon. on.
Canadian Pacific makes ~ up a train to Van. an
Ss eo1s ss 9dss tb5 a
as war eoee so catch f boat
car Is yo9E own; and With It tne services 81 tho
iesvo @ Ts1 hs ourneS
oa wh ths
connective trail as through fiat and hairy land.
sncw eRs ss res Has spffsa pfe WITH
Wind--the land Of Assinaboia. Now and again.
for no obvious reason to the outside mind.
plsss to sectio 80 and So; then there there were We're
trails Of the buffalo. where no once walked In
Bones supposed to belong to tho said buffalo.
and theh tho wilderness. took up the tale.
9he mss seemed to 9en
It twiiishtHaa am unearthly sort OF Of twilight.
wooden town shut in among low treeless roll
ing ground: calling river that ran unseen
ment OF mounted police: little cemetery
Ts Ps Psse1 81 hfns %nf sss
Ses qsa sG o1Sf ID ans
irom the track. cinnamon bear and young
beyoas s S anytkIna Sk that this bald telins csa
RTggsst; openinG do96 96 into bt new ", world
vas It's & RameM dicine Hat whieh struck one one
Instantly ,as the only possible name such u
Pacific Railway as ono reads about It. NJ pen