The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-11-02

=
it an hour or more every day without
any feeling of lassitude, or bad effect
whatever. The analysis of the water
showed it to be almost.exactly like that
of the Arkansas hot springs. All sorts
of apparatus is provided for sport, such
as toboggan slides, shooting the bathers
out into the water: dugout canoes, wa
ter horses (a key with horse head on,
worse to ride than a Texas broncho),
spring boards, rings for swinging, etc.
At night when it is lit up by arc lights,
and a lot of bathers sit around among the
rocks of the grottO enjoying the steam
ing hot water, the effect is not unlike a
! play in theatre; it is great resort for
the Helena people. The night of our ar
rival reception to Secretary Hoke
! Smith was in progress at the hotel, he
was on his way to Yellowstone park, and
| it afforded us opp 'rtunity to see the prom
inent people of Helena Smith Travelled
in private car, which was brought close
to the hotel, branch railroad tn one f
the mining camps passing close by. Hele-
| ma is quite lively place of about $4,000
| people, with many fine business blocks,
mostly of stone, and plenty of band
some residences The main street winds
up through a little valley from which
narrow streets run up the hills on each
side to the plateaus above. on one of
| the level plots stands the court house
and jail, the largest school, the free Ii
brary and several churches. The court
house is handsome structure Of
stone, and the architecture very credit
able. The best residences are scattered
about the hill back of the city, and from
the lack of regularly graded streets in
that districr, they appear to be set down
without plan, in a field. There is not
tree any where, all the pretty growths
about homes at lower level are in Hele-
Ma conspicuous by their absence. A
height of 5000 feet above sea level is not
conducive TO the growth of such things.
Helena is built ON one side of valley
many miles in width, SO wide that it
looks like great plain, the mountains
rising steeply from the opposite side; II
gap in them 20 miles away is the Gate
of the Mountains through which flows
the Missouri and the Helenites go there
for their water excursions. From the
high glound of the city looking across TO
the opposite mountains, one accustomed
to the 1enser air of tile East would prob
ably call the distance to the nearest or
6 miles; it proved to be 10. The air is
so crystal clear, distances are very de-
ceptive. was reminded of the story of
the young man who started one day
from the town where he was staying to
90 to Pixies Peak; which was apparently
within easy walking distance. He jour
neyeL until late in the afternoon and
then could not see that he was any netr
er the peak than when he started. 50 he
begun to retrace his steps in very cross
frame of mind, and presently came to an
irrigating ditch, perhaps 6 or feet wide.
into which he proceeded to climb
carefully and out On the opposite side.
A resident who saw the performance
looked on in establishment and asked him
why he did not jump the itch. Jump
it," said lie, show can | tell in this blast
ed country that the thing is not IL nile
wide.' The little valley Though which
the main street passes, was once the IA
nous Last Chance" gulch, and out of it
was taken twenty-five million dollars al
gold and silver. The lodes are now ex
hausted and no mining is carried on any
where near the city, but whenever Gel
lar for IA new building is excavated in the
old gulch, the contractor is glad to do
the work for whatever amount OF prec-
ious metals he can wash out of the earth
excavated. The homely but, useful cent
has not yet reached Helena; they have
no use for it there, the nlckle. is the
smallest coin in circulation! NewSpa
papers are cents, and electric car fal 3
10 cents. If the price of any article
should be, for instance, 124c, there being
no small change, the buyer either pays
ID cents for one, or takes two for quar-
ter. 1t is a wealthy city, no mushroom
growth there, but everything solid and
substantial; the July panic scarcely
caused ripple. The hunks are rong,
and capital is plenty, so that invest
ments are made at home, the proper
place, and instead OF sending great sums
to the East for interest on loans, as most
western cities do, the interest is kept at
home; the life blood of that city is not
being slowly drained away. All the
tough resorts of the place are confined 10
one street, gambling places are licensed,
plain sign over the door says, LII
censed Gambling" We lie t Helen by
the Great Northern railway, lessee of the
Montana Central, which connects at
! Butte with the Union Pacific branch line
, running to Salt Lake City. The route is
south through the heart of the noun
tains, ON slowly rising grade, the great
peaks towering far above us, many OF
J them white with snow. The road wound
in and out among the hills, passing
through a number of tunnels; at every
J turn almost, wei silver mines, just at that
, time mostly shut down; while prospec-
tors holes, some very small, some OF
large size, were as thick as wOod-chuck
, holes in Vermont pastures. About the
/ only other business seemed to be the
telling of timber along the slopes of the
J mountains; the trees seemed to be grow
} ing so far apart it was almost pity to
l cut them; the thin growth cut away left
, the great mountains looking more bare
4 than ever. Suddenly right in front of us
5 the ground fell away, and through the gap
} we looked into great bowl'of valley
} hundreds of feet below. Before we had
, time to wonder how the train was going
7 to get down into it, we turned suddenly
to the right. through small tunnel aud
= then by great circuit on steep down
: grade clear around the end of the valley,
| we reached Butte,-the place was named
3 from lone butte close by. The tran
| travels seven or eight miles to get dowI
9 to the city, from the place where il
> fairly hangs over it; hardly mile dis
| tant: looking across and up to the TUNE
t passed through, we could better realize
| the great height from which we hat
( come. The whole place was the picture
of desolation: it was like looking dow
Q into sheol, for the clouds of black smok,
n from the numerous smelters gave it ;
(; weird and uncanny look. Nota tree, {
. bush nor blade of grass; just the bare
r brown hills and the plain below; thu
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