The Republican., 1899-04-20
ON HIS WAY TO ALASKA.
Mr.. John Shartzer, of Oakland, Relates
Some of His Experiences Ell Route to
the Country of the North.


Some of His Experiences Ell Route to
the Country of the North.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL, April 10.
left Oakland Saturday, April end.
at 10 p. III. and arrived at Kansas City
Monday morning where it was rain
ing, hailing and showing. We left
Kansas City at 1915 and arrived at
Denver Tuesday morning at 7.30 and
found a bright, sunshiny morning.
Here was the first visible signs of
spring-the farmers sowing oats and
wheat. | was told by great many
farmers that they were sorry that
they ever destroyed the prairie grass
They say that it will grow larger than
any other grass and will dry out and
make good winter feed for cattle
without cutting. They also say that
the seed cannot be gathered and sown
so that when it is destroyed it is a
thing of the past.
We arrived at Pueblo at IL o'clock
Tuesday. This is quite city. So is
Salido, Nth eisyctric lights, street cars
and. water works. We arrived at
LeadVille p. M Tuesday This is
the summit of the Rockies and is
over II, 900 feet above sea level. The
snow is still deep. | saw big sled
loads of wood driven over fences. All
we could see of the fence was a post
sticking out every now and then.
Houses were almost covered with
snow.
We arrived at Salt Lake City 12
o'clock Wednesday. The main at
traction here is the Mormon temple
and tabernacle, also the salt lake with
the piles of salt on its banks selling
for one dollar per wagon load. The
lake is about seventy-tive miles long,
with an island in the middle seven
miles wide and fifteen miles long; this
island looks like a mountain. We
next went through desert of over
five hundred miles. This country at
one time was all under water, and
one can see along the sides of the
mountains how high the water used
to be, but at some time or other the
bottom sprung leak and let all the
water out. The rivers of this country
all sink in the sand after flowing for
miles. AT twelve o'clock Thursday
we reached the summit of the Sierra
Nevada mountains. Here we are told
that over one hundred feet of snow
had fallen this winter, and we still
found plenty of it, AT some places
the telegraph poles are almost COW
cred. The railroads are like tunnels
They build a frame over the road and
board it up. These are called snow
sheds and we find over forty miles of
them on top of this mountain. From
here we go down the western slope
and in less than two hours we are
down to where flowers bloom and
everything looks like the month of
June in the east. We arrived in San
Francisco S.45 D. III. Thursday and
find that the city has wonderfully
changed since we were here eleven
years ago. Business here is good
We We're glad to meet our old friends
w. E. and ID. ID. Boyer, who are get
ting along nicely. w. E. Boyer mar
ried one of the bellies of San Francisco
and | feel that he is to be congratula-
ted on his choice. d. ID. Boyer smiles
as sweetly as ever, and we are told
that he has come to the conclusion
that it is not good for man to be
alone We say go it young man; do
not let your older brother beat you
This is a great country, but our
hearts go back to Maryland Ny Ma
ryland.n How | love to think of my
boyhood days at Accident, and want
to say right here that better and
nobler people cannot be found any
where than at Accident. How well |
remember the morning twenty-five
years ago when | left the little town
to make my home in Oakland, and it
is a happy thought when remember
that when left my old native town l
did not leave a single enemy behind.
| expect to start for Tacoma this
afternoon, and will write again when
| reach Alaska.
JOHN SHARTZER