The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-14

! SeCneSS ndQ gwen place 90 beauty ant
| Gelightfulness.
And the term mining camp" was al
ways synonymous with the scraggies
scrawniest sort of a backwoods towI
with tumble down houses, few and IA
between, muddy or snowy streets, Goa
oil lamps or candles. leather breeches
broad hats, and an abundance of horst
pistols and bad language. OF course
Ia the grim gray background of thi:
fantastic mind picture loomed up al
ways the proverbial gnarled tree witt
three or four stubby limbs worn shiny
| by the friction Of an inch hemp blithly
terminating the earthly pilgrimage Of
some highly unworthy" member oil
| society.
And you can find trees around which
are grouped such memories. l remem-
Der one on the trail between Central
| City and Idaho Springs. Where his
| body fell the man was buried-un-
marked. but when. sometime after, the
committee found Il had gotten the
wrong man. due reparatiOn was made
very tremendously By surrounding the
| spot with a white picket fence. Every
| man is entitled TO his six feet OF ground
But these things are only memories
| now-the mining camp Of today is as
orderly as the alfalfa Town" The
Salvation army, for instance flourish
g there, and indeed receives more
marked attention than in many metro
pOlitan cities. Whether this attention
is engendered by worthy feelings or
whether ii is merely a phase Of the
search for novelty and excitement, l
viii not attempt to say; but however is,
there Is no doubt il is very much in evil
dence, with its rythm and swing. and
weird enthusiasm. Pro bono publico,
let no hope.
Cripple Creek IS nearly 10000 feet
above sea level. This possibly is one
Of the reasons that the eaSterner shiv-
ers when he thinks of the winters here
Nevertheless, ii is the most favored
mining district in the state so far as
weather is concerned. The snowfall
is very slight-there is an abundance
of sunshine, as there is all over the
state. The summers are beautiful, the
aHJumns simply delightful. Prospect
ors work on the bare hills during the en-
tire winter with the exception of now
and then few days when il may be
stormy
Cripple Creek and Victor are the prin
oipal towns of the district. They are
miles apart. There are eight or nine
smaller settlements, LOca ted as a gener-
al thing in sheltered gulch or draw
The entire country is a series OF mound
shaped foot hills, covered with grass
and aspen SQuaw mountain and Bull
Hfll are the only hills that show the ma
tive rocks and boulders above the grass
roots. The hill are traversed by num-
erous foot and wagon trails, the wagon
roads being unsurpassed anywhere in
the state, and being far superior, thro'-
out the entire year, TO the average coun
try road In Kansas. A year ago your
correspondent frequently made the cir
cunt Of the entire camp on foot. but that
of course was before Cripple Creek had
reached its present proportions. for the
very frequent strikes" which have
made Cripple Creek so famous, are con-
stantly widening to boundaries of the
district
Town building has kept pace with
prospecting and mine DEVELOPMENTS and
the history of the growth of Cripple
Creek and Victor would make even A
Wichita man open his eyes in wonder
ment., The volume of business in both
OF these towns is large but by reason
or the close competition among the
merchants. the generality of business is
ilOb over pTOICdpIe. Inere are enough
business houses there now for a. camp
where twice the number of men are
employed; and the number of business
houses would be undoubtedly still
greater if it were not for the extremely
high rents that prevail
Two lines of railroad enter Cripple
Creek, the time over either of which
from Denver, is seven or eight hours.
and from Colorado Springs only four
or five hours The result of its EASY
accessibility from these centers, has
been To crowd the camp with men seek
ing employment But, fortunately. it
is as easy to get out as it is to get in.
and the great majority of the seekers
for employment have leave when they
ind there ia no room for them. The
number of miners employed is increas-
ing every month. There has been
great activity in the camp ever since
The early fall in mining, building, gem
Aral business and stocks. In fact there
was too much activity in some things.
but at this time a great deal of the ef-
-eTV escence has passed away and the
>amp is now getting down 70 a solid
oasis. progressive and lively. but not
booming" J. 3. MAYRERRY