The herald., 1896-01-19

| characteristic little place, containing
eight or ten thousand people, With,
perhaps, as many of the luxurles and
modern improvents as you could we'll
expect in a raw western town. 1t has
electric lights and water works and all
such as that, and the hotel accommo-
dations you are offered are not such
as to detract from the pleasure of your
visit in any way. And these pleasures
are not few, for there are, at least to
the man whose head is not quite en-
tangled and wrapped up in thoughts of
gold, other interesting things in Grip
pie Greek besides it's mines.
One of these is the superb view which
may get from the top of Gold Hill,
which lies just at the back of Cripple
Creek There, from an eminence to
which you may drive in a couple OF
hours you may look over tumultuous
and trovbled eXpanse of country, rib
bed and rugged, and challenging the
eye to hundred exclamations Of Won
der and delight. You look far away
over the great valley of the Arkansas,
which cuts its way down through the
very heart of the Rockies, across the
vast depression to the bold range of
the Ssngre de Cristo, whose cloud
piercing eeights are wrapped in per-
petual shroud of snow and ice. No one
could begin to put the splendors of this
scene into words. 1t might even
battle the brush of great
artists. But, if you have soul for
such things and grow weary Of the end
less talk of "strikes" and "fnds," and
how much this mine or that will pro-
duce this year, and what that total out
| put of Cripple Creek will be, and what
! this prospect sold at, and what this
stock is worth, you may take surrey
and drive out in the clearest and
purest air that you ever breathed, and
drink in all the delights of view that
is beyond human tongue or pen. There
! is this to repay you, or, if you view it
otherwise, add to your pleasure of a
visit to Cripple Greek.
There are other things [ might tell
you of, and one Of these which
thought quaint enough in it's way was
that Cripple Creek should 60 very near
unanimously in favor of woman's suf-
frage. Ioa see that in these rough and
hardy miners breasts, hidden beneath
an exterior which tells you little of
what may lie within, there are odd
touches of chivalry that crop out in
the most unexpected way. So, if you
visit the little camp at Altman, where
General Joe Smith fired his last shot,
they will show you little woman they
have elected to the town council, and
who, l believe, is a very potent voice in
the affairs OF this unique municipality.
[ might tell you, too, of the gambling
houses and of the places where the
workers in the mines find relief and
relaxation from the dreary and dead
ening labor in the dark depths of
shafts and tunnels. But, truth to tell,
they are not such as seem, to my eye
at least, to possess the element of pic
turesque. l confess that it does not
seem to me deeply fascinating sight
to see men seated at long gam
ing tables, with sullen and
frowning faces, cursing at each
loss as the wheel goes
round, or again throwing away their
wages for drink in the sitting little
dance halls that abound everywhere
1t is picture that seems to 60 along
with the thought of the men and wo
men who will take the little savings
they can ill afford to lose, and put
them into the pockets of some cowardly
swindler, who, as an acquaintance ol
friend, lures them to invest in a fraud
ulent and worthless mine.
| Sometimes, when I recall the fac