The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-12-01

for here was place that looked like an
eastern wa tering place, with little of
Baden Baden thrown in, and above all
everything was fresh aud green. A
small stream flows down the valley and
is prettily treated as part of the land
scape effect: small but handsome park
surrounds the house at the principal
spring, the ManitOu, the water of which
has become widely known, and is ship
ped all over the country; the bottling
house is just below the pavilion. Two
sorts of springs are found in Manitou,
soda and iron; the soda tasting much
like Saratoga water, only not nearly so
strong: there are more than a dozen
springs in different parts of the town.
Many of the cottages and some of the ho-
tells are built on the top of the steep
banks which everywhere slope down to
the roadway, and very attractive many
of them look on their perches; level
ground is very scarce article about
ManitOu. With all the fine table waters
found in different parts Of this great
country of ours, and which are nowhere
excelled in quality, if equalled,
it would seem as If patriotic
Americans would drink American
waters, and not pay high prices for
those from various foreign springs, be-
cause they are so laVishly and expen-
sively advertised. A very lie bathing
house is connected with the ManitoH
spring, having beside the bath rooms a
fine plunge bath abOnt 50x60 feet; the
water is warmed to a pleasant tempera
tuTe. Es .st
All about Manitou are delightful
drives, the most celebrated are the Ute
Pass, leading over into South Park, and
which was the former emigraDt route;
the Colorado Central railway also uses
it; then Williams Canon, where in many
places the passage is only just wide
enough for a carriage to pass; water
worn track in the locks, where the cliffs
tower mp hundreds of feet, carved by
storms into all sorts of queer shapes, one
very good representation of castle; the
rocks are full of caves, two large enough
to visit, and then comes the wonderful
"Gafden of the Gods" I'll. q
A very urge amount of land in Color
ado is well fitted for cultivation by the
aid of Irrigation, and if the people of
that State will only give more attention
to such things and not keep almost ex-
clusively at silver mining. they will soon
find. like California, that the agricultural
products are far more valuable than the
output of the mines. The truth is, the
silver mine owners have had, to use a
slang phrase, a picnic with the rest of
the country: silver mining paid such big
profits. that even gold mining had little
attention until lately; when the silver
mines were mostly closed, then gold
mining was resumed. 1t was disgusting
to hear the people of that section talk;
every bodyrin the east was gold bug, and
they showed the meanest sort of spirit
toward the eastern people, simply be-
cause they do not wish to have the busi-
ness interests of the whole country sac
rificed to the greed for gain of few
owners of silver mines; or have the cur
rency debased until it is worse than that
of Mexico. There was not the slightest
use in arguing with them, they could
not, or more probably, would not under
stand. Many times l was addressed on
the subject, but said nothing unless
forced to do so by direct question;
however, it was loves labor lost to try
and show them the real truth of the mat
ter. told them the East was the best
friend the people of the West had: where
would the West have been without the
help of the East; much capital, too, that
they had the use of should have been
employed in the E st. That the East
had hard times as we'll. as the West, but
when such periods came they did the
best they could until better times
dawned; they did not begin to yell for
the Government to come and buy their
products, whatever those might be, so as
to keep trade good in their section; vir-
tually pleading the baby act. They were
reminded that the trouble with the price
of silver was the discovery of new mines
of fabulous richness that could produce
the white metal at profit when it was
so low in price the other miners would
starve specimen of silver ore that
ran 2,700 ounces of silver to the ton was
shown us by a mine owner. l referred
them to the iron mines on the south
shore of Lake Superior, supposed to be
the richest ever discovered; the owners
were said to have bonanza, but 10! ore
is found above Duluth that can be
scOoped up off the surface with steam
shovel, loaded on cars and delivered at
the lake shore for so cents per ton: no
expensive tunnels, drifts, hastings nor
strengthing with heavy timbers as in the
other mines, which were compelled to
close Gown with no possible chance for
COnpObiuSs Wuy ohOulu uOb OuOoO HihO
owners ask the Government to buy their
product at a big price so that they could
keep on digging iron ore. Then, too,
these mines are in a country where min
ing is about all that can be done, for the
soil is of little use, while Colorado can
have the finest of farms. Why may not
the farmer ask the Government to buy
his wheat, or the Southern planter his
cotton; both crops being so very low In
price; then they can go on and grow more.
As the question is probed into more
deeply, the more apparent does the mon
umental cheek of the silverite become.
The fact is, the miners had been earning
big wages, and when silver went down
the mine owners felt they could not pay so
much, but offered to keep the mines open
If the men would work for dollar per
day less, which the mfn would not hear
OF and quit; so most of the mines were
obliged to stop; some Of them filling
with water and requiring an outlay Of
100000 to get them again In. con-
dition for work. The greater number Of
the crowd of men who at once started
east could have had steady work and re-
munerative, at least judged by the east
ern standard, but they would not. This
fact may not be known TO many eastern
people.
At the end of the main street of Mani
tOu, where it was lost in the wilds OF
Pixies Peak, was the station of the cog
railway, which runs to the top Of that
mountain, l4,147 feet above sea level,
and about 5000 above the plain. This is