The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1898-07-28

mountains and many of lesser note. in
fact the hills and mountains are so nu.
merous and close together and the val
leys are so narrow that it was here that
necessity became the mother of inven-
ton, for it is said that the first pegged
shoes were made in New Hampshire be-
cause the hills are so close together
that there is not room enough for a
man to draw WaXed end. Vermont
the Green Mountain state, has also a
claim to Lake Champlain noted for its
particular beauty and charming scene
ry. Massachusetts, may we'll boast of
her Berkshire hills as we'll as her nu.
merous little inlets dotting her coast
for hundreds of miles.
New York looks with pride at her
great river Hudson which is affected
by the tide for one hundred and forty
miles, and whose banks on either side
are one grand panorama of beautiful
hllltops and mountains, prominent of
which are the famous Catskills. Then
she has her far famed AdirOndacs
The great Mohawk valley and last but
not least the great falls of Niagara, a
sight so grand that when one first looks
at this wonderful gift of nature it
causes him to stand in awe-s .ricken
astonishment.
we Will now take balloon ascension
and next take view of the other side
OF the continent and the first thing that
strikes our notice is the famous range
OF Rocky Mountains. Thisarange said
to be the longest of any on the face of
the globe also possesses innumerable
places of rare beauty, its snow crowned
peaks with green fertile valleys lying
between its precipces, its canon's filled
with swift rushing streams,.its lakes of
high elevation its Yellowstone park
with its geysers, these are all gifts of
nature the moulding of which was done
by hands far greater than those of NOR
tai man. California comes in now and
says she has trees so large that six sets
OF cotillion can dance at one time on
the stump of one of them.
But it was not the purpose of this
article to go into details:and write up
the whole country, to do so would re-
qulre volumes, so we speak of the above
only in general way and having given
faint outline of what is grand and
beautiful on the two sides of the conti-
nent let Us now give our attention to
what in my mind is the greatest gift of
nature bestowed upon our glorious ma
ton. refer to the great Mississippi
river and valley. This great waterway y
which has rightfully been called. the
Father of Waters pursues a direct
Course from north to south, dividing
the country in nearly two equal parts
and draining fully three quarters of it
mot counting Cuba, Alaska and the
Philippines.) The upper Mississippi riv.
er, say from St. Louis to st. Paul, is
one continuous panorama of landscape
scenery and the fact is attested by trav.
elers and pleasure seekers who have
visited all countries and climes on
earth that nowhere can four hundred
miles of travel be found to compare
Wlthit. Let person take trip acroos
the continent from east to west or west
TO east and when they arrive at the
point where their train is going to
cross the Mississippi river, sudden
~ there is rush for the platforms and
the windows are raised for the people
are all anxious to get view of this
great wonder of the world.
This great waterway is noted for two
things; first the swiftness and uniform
speed OF the current, and second for the
clearness thereof, and of course this
pertains to above where the Missouri
river enters. On either side there is a
continuous range of high hills broken
here and there where some tributary
enters. Sometimes these hills are a
mile or more from the channel and
again they come very near, they are
thickly covered with growth of ma
tive forest trees which adds charm to
their prominence. The banks of the
Mississippi are dotted here and there