Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-04-16
WHAT I SAW OUT WEST.
BY DAVID HILL.

to tell. These stories vary according
to the situa tons in which the traveller
is placed. the incidents that surround
him. and in his own peculiar style or
narration No two see the same Things
alike. This might apply to hill, "a lake,
street brawl, or even dog hgnt.
Neither do all manifest the same IN
terest in the same direction. WnaI
would serve to attract one would
scarcely receive passing notice from
another; and vice versa. therefore,,
an Individual passing through coun-
trv will naturally describe 1t as ne
| himself saw it, with strong tendency
to dilate upon those features which IN
terested him the most; and l, OF
conrse. will adhere to the same prin-
ciple.
Neither can any writer, no matter
how well versed, write up point OF
interest with such exactness as to I'M
press upon the minds of his readers
the correct appearance of everything
he attemp pts to describe We read Of
a city-say Denver, for instance, and
picture out in our own mind just how
the city appears; but when we see 1t,
we are astonished to find how decep-
tive our imagination has been; how
unlike was that city to the picture we
had manufactured out of the nara
tive we had so carefully perused. l
| found this exceptionally true in my
case with relation to Niagara Falls,
Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and in
fact the whole general appearance OF
every thing saw in the extreme west.
Illustrations of places and certain
localities, too, are deceptive; at least
they were to me, though perhaps this
might be attributed, in a measure, to
my extreme ignorance. Also, my ina
bility to exactly comprehend the
length of a geographical mile as rep
resented on paper. For instance,
got hold of a picture giving Niagara
Falls, the river down to the lake, and
the city of Toronto on the opposite
shore. All of these places were in
sight and the whole occupied a space
of only few inches. Of course knew
so great an extent of country was
much larger than the dimensions of
that pi cture; but I did not imagine it
was thirty miles from Toronto across
the lake to Fort Niagara, six from
that point up the river to Queenstown,
FIVE more to the Falls, and that we
could not see the lake only from an
elevated position, but that it was ut
terly impossible to look across it even
to where Toronto was situated. That
picture, to me, was delusive snare.
Again, in the picture Of Niagara
Falls, and you all have seen them, IS
Goat Island, which separates the
American Fall from that of Horse
Shoe Now, it looks in the picture as
if YOU could stick Goat Island into
your hip pocket and sit down on it.
Of course this would be impossible,
and it is natural to suppose that the
island is much larger than the pictures
represent; but [ not only found that
Goat Island was large and fertile
piece of land containing several acres,
out that it took q number Of minutes
after viewing the first Fall before We
could cross 1t, even by walking brisk
Il, to get good view of the second.
merely mention these facts 20 show
how apt We are TO get wrong impress
sion of those places we are about to
visit.
Without adhering to dates, I will
state that my wife and myself left
Vermont one afternoon in September
and reached Montreal on the evening
OF the same day. At Montreal, or
Montreal Junction, they have the fac
ulty of mixing the cars up in pro-
nniscuous tangle, and then, after hav-
ing extricated one Of them from the
mass, Of forwarding it upon its jour
ney in the darkness, and leaving it to
the poor bemuddled passenger to
guess, If he is able, in just what direc-
ton he is travelling. AS for myself,
instead Of continuing west, as was my
first intention, I somehow conceived
, the idea that T was going back East
To divest myself Of this false notion,
| tried the effect Of riding backward
Then I changed seats, reclined, stood
, up. walked the aisle and went out
and stared at the stars. It was nc
use. I was going east just the same.
It isn't q pleasant sensation, as you
are doubtless aware, to feel that you
are going in one direction when you
, know you are going in directly the
, opposite. When we retired to oul
berth 1 was unhappy, and the sooth-
ing words my wife endeavored te