The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-04-06
THE AMERICAN HADES.
REALISTIC DESCRIPTION OF A PART
OF THE ALKALI DESERT.
Place Contrived by cold Nick" - How
He Built It-Legend of the Foolish
Curlew.

EDITOR STAR Before the adj
vent Of the Sunset Limited" that
climax of modern railway trains,
the journey from Hell Gate" to
Golden Gate, and through it tc
the Paradise of the Pacific" via
the Southern Pacific Railway, was
neither "a thing Of beauty" nor "a
Joy fora minute. In those old
days, | mean before November,
1894, when the passengers scram-
bled out of the Palace" cars al
Yuma for dinner, and-er-refresh-
ments, after a three days run
through the desert plains of Texas.
New Mexico and Arizona, their
persons, their clothes and their
tenpers were covered by beauti-
full combination of sand and alkali
which, if properly treated by a
glass worker, would have made
them quite transparent, but which,
mixed by the speed of travel, only
made them acrid from their tenn
pers to their toes. Now It's all
different, and the flying globe grid
Ter can give himself up to the
divine pursuit OF disinterested
benevolence and personal cleanli-
ness.
One hot, dry, dusty day back in
August, 1890, the Overland, "
from New Orleans to San Francis
co, came to a stand before the depot
at Yuma in a cloud of dust and four
hours late, and the dirty, jaded,
grumbling, hungry passengers
shook themselves out Of their sand
hills aud fastened toward the din
ing room. No one waited to wash
or brush his clothes, and The as
semblage Of travellers which took
possession of that depot was a
caution.
When the clouds had cleared
away, SO that l could make out
who my neighbors were, found
myself seated opposite particularly
hot, hurried and hungry specimen
of the genus traveller. Waiter"
said he, what have you got, that's
good ~ "Yas, sub Yves done
got ros beef, con beef, ros mutton,
bile and fry ham, an Drilled cuhlu,
sub. well, what's curlew p
queried the diner. "Cuhlu-why,
dat air am bud, sub; suffin lake
er snipe, sub" Had it wings?"
"Yas, subj oh, vas, sub" Gould
it fy?" "Oh, vas, indeede. u
WELL" said the dusty one, then
l don't want any curlew in mine.
Anything that had wings and could
fly, and didn't leave this confound.
ed country, l don't want for din,
ner." Then we all smiled.
This weary passenger was moi
far from right. Birds, beasts and
men able to leave that portion o.
the United States through which
the journey by rail, is made from
Houston to Yuma, and who do not
are quite too rough to eat, to say
the least of it. | have covered
much of the distance on the uneasy
back of a bronco and assure the
readers Of THE STAR that they will
find it as follows;
The American Hades.
Long before Christopher Colen wa
known,
Before the big trees for the main-masti
were grown,
Which were used in his three caravels,
The devil, SO legend of Mexico tells.
Took up large claim long the RiC
Grande.
To have some new quarters more roomy
and handy
And provide space enough for the crowd
which aspire
To travel the way to the devils bonfire
And. surveying his land, he pante,
sage-brush,
Raised up some mountains and thei
with rush,
The old boy went in for improvement
and made his
Plans for roomy, respectable hades.
Then, improving his land, he put thorn
on the trees
And he mixed up the sand with mil
lion of fieas;
He put thorns on the cactus and horn
on the toads
And scattered tarantulas long all tn
roads;
He put an addition on each rabbits ear
And heightened the horns of the will
Texas steers;
Then he poisoned the feet of the swif
centipede
And put a small devil in each bronze
steed;
; He made rattlers to bite, gave tn
scorpion stings,
And peopled the air with mosquitoi
buzz-wings:
He flung sand. burrs around and bushel
of ants,
So that he who would sit must half-sol
his pants;
Then the old boy, to keep up his ow
DEVILS brand,
Throughout the sage-bushy plains c
this land,
Said all should be mavericks" unles
they bore
Scratch marks, and bites, and thorn cut
by the score
The heat in the summers a hundre
and ten,
Hot enough for the devil, but too h,
for men;
Here the boar wonders wild throug
the black chapperal,-
It's an ideal SPOT for an orthodox hel
Ii.
Band Concert.
The Hawaiian Band, under tn
leadership of Professor BERGER. wi