Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-12-20
FOLLOWING FANCY.
How the Up-to-Dats People. Find Pleas
urs In Winter

|
| urs In Winter.
People are fanciful and It Is Fancy,
J after all, that is happiness, and the mo-
! tive which dictates to the world. Some
one fancies that the cozy fire at home
and the environment OF favorite books
is enough to make life worth living dur
| ing the winter months. That will do
for the way worn, weary, easily salts
| fed, old fashioned man and woman, but
| the up to date cavalier and the new
woman require change-many
changes in fact, and they seek In the
dull winter days to find the climate they
wearied of in spring and wished would
pass away in summer. Sitting behind
| frosted window panes and gazing on
the glistening snow crystals they sigh
| for the warmth and brightness they
love better now than few short
months ago and, in no other country
may these whims, these fancies be so
easily gratified as in America. Abso-
Lutte comfort in these days, and in speed
and safety, too, instead of the wasted
| time and discomforts of the not distant
| past. Ponce de Leon who sought the
| fountain of Eternal Youth on the shores
OF Florida consumed many OF the pre-
cious days of later life, and died before
attaining the great prize. De Soto was
lured in the same direction and found
| at Hot Springs, by the aid OF Ulelah,
the dusky Indian maiden, the wonderful
| product Of the Breath of the Great
| Spirit" but before he could return home
and apprise his friends of the great dis
covery and enjoy the certainty OF gold
and youth, which he believed he had in
| his grasp he fell a victim to the miasmi
of the Great River and found grave in
its muddy depths. To-day the seeker
after health simply boards one OF the
cific System, and after something to
eat and nap, wakes up to find himself
in this delightful winter Resort, ready
to embrace health which seems to be
| invariably renewed by the magic of the
air and water. In De Soto's time the
secret of the Fountain of Life was sedu-
lousy guarded by the savages, but now
hospitable people opens its arms to
receive the tourist whether his quest be
| for health or amusement. Fancy some
times tires of Hot Springs, strange as
ii may seem, but Fancy says the fields
beyond are greener" and the climate
of San Antonio is more desirable and
| thus another ride in another palace, and
new scenes and new faces please the eye
and satisfy the restless cravings OF this
master of man. Thus from the Father
Of Waters to the waves which wash the
western shore of this great country the
tourist is led by whim, but most de-
| lightedly captive. Mexico has been
described as the Egypt Of the new
world, and the comparison Is fitting,
and he who dare not face the dangers
Of the deep, and prefers to retain his
meals as we'll as his life. should make
the journey to the land OF the Monte
ages within the faces Of people which
change less in the passing years than
any other on the Western Continent.
This is the land of Sunshine and Color;
| of history and romance: and as bright
eyes will smile at you from under be-
witching head gear as may be found in
CASTLE or Arragon.
| Fancy carries one to California of
course, and this journey, as it once was
termed, is now so easily performed as
to have lost all OF its terrors and left
only a most emphatically delightful
trip to be the subject Of many future
conversations. The land of fruits and
! flowers and fair women Fancy can ask
| no more after this tour unless it has
| been satisfied for once; and still 1t is
| Fancy which takes the wearied traveller
! back to the home and the familiar sur
roundings and the friends and loves OF
home There he may contemplate new
Journeys and new advertisements, but
there fingers in his memory pleasure
he would not part with, and he hopes
soon to again enjoy the comforts af-
forded by this Great System Of Railway
which has taken him safely out and
brought him safely home and has not
robbed him OF the joys which Fancy
brings. L. p. BAKER.