Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-04-27
ALetter from the West.

leaves the West Penn depot and we are on
our way for the long journey that Is ahead
of us In due time we are IN PlttsDurg at !
the Union station, occupying perth IN
sleeper bound for Cincinnati. BY 9:3o the
train moves out, and in charge oi the ialth
ful trainmen who have waten ana Walu
over the mass of human freight they nave
In charge, we retire to our berth ana Dy
7:30 next morning, find ourselves IN the
suburbs of Cincinnati, 362 miles of our trip
left behind Breakfast over we are soon
on board the train that takes US south
across the Ohio river into the dark and
bloody ground" of the far-named state oi
Kentucky, noted for its pretty women
some of ttem-etivalrous men. blooded
horses, s,and-Congressme who need 10
be supplied with chaperous to protect them
from the very merry maldens known as
''school girls" On our train bowls al
rapid rate taking Us across the iar-iameu
blue grass region, into and through lne
mountains, across rlvers anu oy evening
have passed through twenty-seven tunnels,
| and emerge into the valley In which Is 10
| located the beautiful city Of Chattanooga,
| Tennessee.
| Our getlemanly ticket agent, Mr.. ogden,
having so arranged we have stop-oH at
this place for one day to see some OF lne
| important points of interest here ana VI
cinity. We retire for the night and ID the
morning find a former Butler county boy,
| Mr.. Fred Weihl brother otthe clever old
NJ. W. eihl of Zelienople IN your county.
We leave for the bald heights OF Look Out
Mountain and by street cars ana incline
railroad are soon on the brow OF LOOK Gut
$50 familiar TO the boys in your county
| who were in the gallant 18th Pa. Regt
fine view is here to be had OF Moccasln
Point. Chattanooga, Waldrons Ridge, MIS-.
sionary Ridge and many other points OF
| interest We can picture to ourselves the
scenes of MANY wears ago where Hookers
| gallant men swept the face OF Lookout
Mountain. planting cold Geary" on its
rocky peaks above the clouds on that men,
orable day of long ago We return 10 the
CITY and leave on electric cars ior MIS-
| sionary Ridge, some tour miles across tne
vallev-soon we are ascending by gradual
r;se its rocky side and in time landed at
| ito southern end. We then start atoot
along its summit or, as the ''boys" called
| it. along the hog back, we came TO the
| nlace where Bragg's headquarters were at
| the time referred to, Nov. 25th, 1898. We
have fine view Of the valley and city be-
low. Orchard knob to the right OF us, the
nointIwhere Fort Wood was located easily
seen We can in our mind picture the
scene that was there watched, when the
| command OF the gallant Thomas was or
dered to take the rebel works below where
we stand, the troops moved across the val
| lev. on and on till the first line of WORKS Is
| carried, then to the next, Whicn ioIo"
snit Ry this time the blood is red, ex-
citement runs high, the men in the ranks
take IN the situation, they know from the
| fighting that has been going on against
| Sherman around by the tunnel, that the
enemv's line at the top of the ridge (where
we now stand) must have been weakened
| To send troops against Sherman, so without
orders they start for the line at the top.
| On and on and on they go, and soon with
the yell of triumph ringing out loud ana
| long they sweep oyer the rebel works ana
| land the game completely IN their power.
| What a day that must have been TO the
.sbovs of vore" who were the actors in the
frav. but TO our journey. We return to
the CITY, have supper and at 500 p. m. are
on our way towards the land OF lazy, long
haired white men; negroes who follow the
example "set by de boss" and razor-back
hogs that are charged with roofing the
third row of sweet potatoes through the
tumble-down fence By morning We are
whizzing along through cypress swamps and
yellow pine forests and see many inter
esting things along the way, among them
is the long luxurious Spanish moss that
grows ON the trees all through this swampy
region, strands Of moss five and Blk leet
long hanging from the limbs OF trees. To
wards noon the waters of Lake Ponchatrain
loom M in the distance, soon we are whirl-
ing over its placid surface on q trestle road
about ten miles long across the lake and at
D. m. we are landed in the city OF New
Orleans llS0 miles from homo. We have
day here and "do the city" Alter we
have been two miles or more down through
the French and Creole part OF town We
conclude what God-send it would be TO
have another Ben Butler or some one like
him put in charge the city for time. The
Old story Of he deacon who was MAKING
his way through the city for the first time
and found and identified eleven distinct
stinks ia more than double discounted IN
this part of New Orleans. We visited the
north, or American, end Of the city aud
found quite contradictory houses, hne
residences, well kept lawns every where, and
il seems pity the people OF this section
should be ieopardized by the inducemsnt
held out by the old part of the city for
visitation from cholera, yellow fever, or
any other disease the result OF nlthy sur
roundings We leave on the Southern IA
cific at 9:0l a. IN. following our arrival, and
are soon out in the fertile part OF LOUISIANA,
a region very rich in natural soil, and from
the Gulf north to the Bed river and west
for two hundred miles region that under
proper, intelligent cultivation, would pro
duce sugar and rice enough to supply the
market of the United States and keep at
home the $i50, 900, 900 year We pay to Tor
eign countries for these two commodities
Since we are having a genuine Democratic
administration and the profits of these old
southern gentlemen ~ are being curtailed,
they are beginning 10 think a Ilttle lor
themselves and will refuse to be led By the
long-haired broad brim hated, chival-
rous y southern politician, whose principal
song and stock in trade is"dam the nGgar,
do you want your dotter to marry mig
gar7" A lesson is being learned by eXpe-
risnce, all over the south, as well as the
north that will in the end do good at
though we may hay" trough sledding" while
the school is going on but TO our journey
We continued on west and at dusk crossed
the Sabine river into the great state OF
Texas all empire within itself, larger than
all New England, New York, Pennsylya'
MIA, Maryland and Delaware. A person
has TO cross it TO realize the SIZE. For a
distance OF 960 miles we travel from the
time we enter the state, until we leave II
few miles west of Ell Pago. After we
leave San Antonio we enter the arid
region, a section for 200 miles or more
west. on account of lack Of water, ID no
good al all and the same can be said OF the
southern end Of New Mexico, Arizona, and
for two hundred miles in southern CalIi0r-
MIA We could not help but think, about
as good a thing as we could do would be
for the United States tn kick up another
row with Mexico and make her lake back
this region of country. At Ell Paso we
have an hour and iorty-iive minutes OF
stop 80 we utilize that by going outside the
United States into old Mexico. We hire
driver and carriage-four Of us--aud are
driving across Grand river into the quaint
old town of Ell Paso Del Norte--n0ted for
dirty houses, crooked streets, lazy Mexi-
cans and generally dilapidated condition
of things After drive around we con
cluded we did not want TO buy the town
or any part of it, and returned to our train
which was soon on it's westward journey.
From this on till we cross the Colorado
into California nothing of importance Is 10
be seen Cactis Of all sizes, form, shapes
and kinda in the catalogue can be seen on
this ride OF over 1000 miles-.so one gets
tired looking at caotis, When we cross
the Sultan desert in California, 228 feet be-
low the level of the ocean and over the dl-
vide we enter the fertile lands OF southern
California which IL a veritable paradise
compared with what we came through.
We pass orange groves with their golden
fruit in abundance, fruit orchards, and
many other interesting things. and arrive
at Los Angeles. After a short stay we
continue our journey north, across the
mountains ia the night, and in the morn
ing find ourselves IN the head of the San
Juaquin Valley; continued CT down the
valley till in the evening we round ne