Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-08-31
Grand Beyond Description.

The writer has repeatedly attempted
a description OF the matcniess museum
Of natures scenic attractions presented
at Sylvan lake, and in every instance
has signally failed to reach anything
approaching an adequate delineation Of
the surprising grandeur fthe charming
environments of this delightful resort.
A recent visitor to the lake, whose de-
scriptive powers bear favorable COM
parison with any Of the newspaper
correspondents Of the west, submits his
impressions Of .he sublime scene to the
peadwood Pioneer, in which he voices
the sentiment Of all intelligent visitors
to that charmed spot, that its transcend
ant beauties are practically indescrib-
able. He says:
The "old timer" who has lived nine
teen or twenty years in the Black Hills
thinks he has seen, admired and ap-
preciated the grand scenery, the lofty
mountains ard the beautiful valleys Of
the wonderland country in which he
lives. If be has been to Sylvan lake,
at the foot OF Harney, six miles from
Custer City, he has but if he has never
visited that wonderland place he is IN !
veriest pilgrim" and ''tenderfoot" in
the country and knows nothing Of the
grandeur Of the Black Hills.
Arriving at the elegant new hotel on
the margin Of the lake at IL m, after a
good dinner / wandered among the
crags, towers, shafts, domes and cathe-
drals Of nature for honys in a dazed and
confused state of mind. The only thing
that could fully realize was my own
insignificance. In the presence Of such
awe and grandeur one becomes silent
all great emotions are speechless and
the greatest are continually buried in
the monument Of thought.
When description of Sylvan lake is
attempted, language becomes paralyz zed
and Imagination dwarfed The world
produces nothing with which ii can be
compared, and words are meaningless.
The unique, solemn, silent, ponderous
magnificence Of your surroundings is a
revelation to you alone and cannot be
transmitted to others. The young lady
tourist, standing on the summit of a
granite shaft, midway between earth
and Heaven, in whisper gasped isn't
IL awfully cute" made no greater failure
in her attempts at a description of the
superb panorama of grandeur spread
out before her than you would If you
tried. Go and see. wonder, stand in
awe and come away. You won't saw
much about il for you can't unless you
talk in an unknown language, and II you
have not an extraordinary good head
piece on you it may cause you to break
forth in incoherant unintelligibility.
lin the solemn hour of night, remote
from travel and human habitation, save
the guests of the hotel, watch the moon
rise over the top Of Harney Peak and
turn the shimmering lake into sheet
Of silver. Listen to "Vulcans thunder
upon his arrival" and hercules tnmblng
rocks from the crest of high Olympus"
the reading and dancing in Juno Hall"
and the bewitching strains Of music that
sound all night long from the "Parlor
Of the Queen" then sleep the sweet re
freshing sleep of good conscience. In
the morning following the charming
maid Of Sylvan lake, the pretty, modest
buskined Imogene, who trips fairy-like
from peak to peak, and pilots You
through the gorges. ravines, grottoes
and paths of awe and danger, but fear
not, she will return to your hotel safely,
after having compelled your admiration
for her fearlessness. and won your graft
tuds and thanks for furnishing you with
q delightful morning.