Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-09-03

Gno dlkdIl tTdCh. pUAii3 oiAO oAA"A 70
spective so far as light, shade and col ]
ors we're concerned, would be the
same in the track of the vapor as
above and below it. Such a stratum or
yapor, he said, hung between us and
the distant mountains. It was lifted
up from the earth in like manner as a
fog lifts up from the surface OF lake,
but not high enough to obscure the
whole Of the mountain peaks. We saw
the earth above and below while that
portion in the track Of the alkah was
obscured; and yet that vapor COM
mingled with the atmosphere In lines
SO delicate that it was impossible for
the eye to draw line of comparison
between the two only in the manner
described It was those same alkah
stratums of vapor, he Informed me,
which, under different atmospheric
conditions, caused many of the mir
ages for which those alka1 deserts
have ever been noted.
witnessed one other illusion before
the Humboldt Mountains were reach
ed that was equally interesting. OF IN
the distance in front of me, as LOOK
ed out of the car window, was large
lake. 1t looked to be twenty miles
wide, forty miles long, perhaps longer.
In it were numerous islands. Across
the lake, forming a distant back
ground, was long range OF noun
tains. Out of this distance, and IN
many projecting far out into the wat
er, were promontories and speninsu-
lars, while on my left We're several
bavs. On the surface of this lake the
sun reflected dazzlingly bright al
though always at distance. All was
perfect but the shore nearest me.
Where was that shore? looked and
strained my eyes as the cars rolled
forward, but those shores were never
reached. AS we approached them they
would mysteriously disappear and the
white alkali plain over which we were
passing would slowly rise up and I'LL
their place. For miles we journeyed in
this way and those waters were ever
distant. There was no water. That
whole broad lake was one vast alkal
plain, full of deception, and as tantal-
izing to the eye as when the thirsting
traveller crossed them years ago.
Have you ever been to San Francisco
over the overland route? If you have,
doubtless you have witnessed some
of these same. Illusions; that isl If the
sky was fair and the Atmosphere IN
the right condition. Another thing.
Did it not occur to you that, from the
shores of Salt Lake to the region of
White Plains and even beyond them,
that those vast levels resembled the
bottom to some great body of water?
I was impressed that way, not only
while passing through Utah and Ne
vada and a part of California, but
even as far down as Arizona and over
the table lands of New Mexico. 1t may
be speculative for me to state that
the extreme west was once q sp1lb9lmnerg1
ed continent; but that it has been
terribly flooded knocked to pieces
with earthquakes, stormed and petit
ed with active volcanoes sometime IN
the annals Of the past is beyond
| questionable doubt.
With the exception of the illusions
I have mentioned, the palisades along
the Humboldt river, and a narrow
strip along the mountains of the same
name, the ride from Salt Lake City to
Reno, New, was dismal one. Villages
and towns were lacking. The names
of places seen upon the map terminate
ed in name only A station was there,
usually watering station, and thai
was all. The agent to that station oc-
cupied a house, the section boss an
other, and that constituted the vii
lage. There were few doves around
them. the usual number of black pigs
and in some instances few hens
Outside from such things, and hof
casionally struggling band Of lPlutt
and Washoe Indians, there would no
be house or single living thing IL
sight for a hundred miles at a time
All that those agents could look GU
upon at every point of the compass
was those arid alkai plains or barre1
hills with groupings of sagez brfussll
showing through them; and sif hap
| piness could ever exist in such God
forsaken places as those, then is there
happiness in every spot on earth. l
was all alkaH, alkali. The fumes, OF |
worked into the nostrils and penetrat
ed the lungs. It affected the eyes Q
those not used to it, gave them tn
headache, and raised the misch1e
with the throat; at least, it did wit
mine. and used me up completely.