The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1894-05-13

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and distinct report, followed by the
"ping-swish" OF the bullet through the
disturbed atmosphere, and it dies away
and all is still. Then it comes back, the
report, the "ping-swish" and the still
ness, and over and over again, fainter
and fainter and further away until the
last report ia only distant rumble and
the "ping.swish" is too faint for the ear
to catch. A blast is blown from a
hunters horn. The echo comes clearer
than its parent, for the rattle is lost in
the distance, and echo follows echo
round the circle OF the vast basin and
grows mellower in the fainter echoes till
the last far pipe is lost to sound.
OF course, this is ali very nice and
seems real enough to simple folks who
have never been around much and
never have had the advantages OF
travel, but when you come to understand
how it is done, it takes all the beauty
out OF it and makes it fall flatter than
hole in the ground. A gentleman, with
nice fringe OF bright red whiskers on
his face that give him somewhat the APP
pearance of clover patch in blossom,
who came way out here from Kansas
two years ago, second-caes, and conse-
quently saw a good deal of the country,
besides getting in with whole lot OF
people who told him number OF things
he didn't know before, and which are
not generally known. anyway, he says,
volunteered to explain to me how this
business 10 carried on, and | am right
glad he did, too, because | can now pat
it in print for the first time.
Directly on the other side OF Echo
mountain there is mighty chasm, and
then ON the other side of this, where
the mountains rise again and tower far
above the tip of Echo mount
ain, they are circular and concave
in form and the Sides very pre-
cipitous. The echo come from here.
This gentleman, recently from Kansas,
informs me that Prof. Lowe has men
stationed on the line in a series OF caves,
the mouths of which are concealed from
view by rocks and underbrush. These
men watch for the man with gun and
horn on Echo mountain, and the man in
the nearest cave starts the first echo,
and so on down the line. It's very sim
pie, when you come to think of it. Prof
Lowe, who is an old balloonist, goes
over there at night, once in about 80
often, when the wind is right. in his
balloon and carries provisions and pays
off the eehoists, and leaves copies of the
HERALD to let them keep posted on the
movements of Ooxey's army. Some
time ago, it seems that one of the echo
lists got ratified or someting, aud chippsd
in too quick with his echo, which ought
to have come in about laet, and the
effect of little, faint echo in be-
tween two loud ones was quite
startling. 1t made him more fdgety
than ever, and the next toot the
Echo mountain man gave on the horn
he mietook for rife shot and let off
his rife echo right at the tail end of the
horn echos. The hermit had to explain
to the visitors that the echoes did some.
times get lost that way on account of
the queer formation OF the rocks, and
come out at the wrong time. Week be-
fore last the echoists all struck one day.
The wind had been blowing in the wrong
direction for several weeks and the pro-
fessor didn't get over with the kopecks
| on time, go on Saturday morning every
last one of them decided to go on a
strike. When the first carload of visit
ors arrived at the summit, the hermit
invited them around to hear the echoes,
and fred off his rife. A stiffness that
you could skate on ensued and kept on
ensuing, much to the aetonls hment OF
the hermit. He knew something was
up right off, and hemmed and hawsd
around awhile and finally said he
thought there was a mountain cyclone
raging over on the other side of the
range, which carried the sound up over
the peak. But everything went off very
nicely the day was up there.
l will never forget how thoroughly
one of the men who went UP in our car
enjoyed his STAY on Echo mountain.
The most hardened wretch on earth
could not have failed to be affected with
the tagion of his joy. He seemed as
happy as a mortal can we'll get in this
life, sad ss it is at best. His cup of
pleasure was trimming up and running
over all day long. 1t was net the echo,
maintained at such enormous expense,
nor tho grandest picture the eye OF man
ever beheid that lies in the westward
view from Echo mountain over the YER
dure-clad, home-dottsd valley, fringed
with isles in the shimmering sea be-
yond. No; it was not these pleasures,
nor yet the scenes in the mighty cafons
or on the sleeps. These were nothing to
him. His was a bliss beyond any of
them. He had found little
brown monkey backing in the gun on
top OF its cage and soon he discovered,
to his great joy. that by pokiug the
monkey occasionally with stick he
could rile him up and make him tug at
the chain and grab at the stick for hours
at a time. Obi what grand sport Mr..
Darwin, once was almost ready TO &C
cept your theory, but lately somehow,
it seems to me that you gave up too
soon, great deal too soon. You were
on the right track, grant you that, out
pshaw you didn't go back half far
enough for the origin OF man.
A magnificent caravansary is even
now in process of erection right on the
very tip-most top of Echo mountain and
in the dome of it's turret will be placed
Prof. Swift's great comet-searcher.
Comets are all we'll and good in their
place, | suppose, and have no fault to
find, but l have met with two
great reverses of feeling in regard to
comets in my short lifetime. When in
my early youth learned that comets
tail didn't reach near enough to Milwau-
kee, Wis. where l then was, for an av-
erage sized boy to catch hold of it. 1 lost
a great deal of respect for comets, and
later in life, when 1 read somewh here
ayers almanac, most likely that only
about one comet in q thousand has any
tail at all-well, | just don't care for
them, that's all. Some horses don't
wear tails now, notice, and a few dogs
worry along without them, but the ratio
of tailless dogs, or horses even, isn't ten
Thousand to one.
There is great deal the visitor on
Echn mountain can do and aaa during a