El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-21
MOUNTAIN SCENERY


The Wonders of the Sacramento
Mountains Graphically Descrlb
ed by New York Man.-pAyf
Many Compliments to the
Builders of the Northeastern
Railway.
A resident of New York, who paid q
recent visit to Alamogordo and the
Sacramento mountains, In letter to
his wife describes the trip as follows:
Ell PASO, Texas, Sunday, Sept. H.
My dear wife: 1 will attempt to
give you q word glimpse of trip 1
took on Friday last, with j. w. Fisher,
the proprietor of the Pierson hotel at
Ell Paso, returning Saturday evening.
moRordo, New Mexico, about 85 miles
from Ell Paso in northerly direction.
After leaving the Texas state line
we entered the Sacramento valley,
which is about 40 miles wide; on the
west side were first seen the Oregon,
and next the San Andreas ranges and
on the other the Sacramento noun
tains.
Range on range could be seen,
towering 10000 and 1900 feet high,
and although the clouds we're very
high they barely escaped the tops of
the highest peaks.
Our first stopping place was Jarillas,
This is new mining camp for gold,
silver, copper and iron. / have some
fine samples of ore given me there. I
saw nuggets OF pure gold as large as
white beans, which had been dry sifted
out of dirt in the placers, or bitches,
being the washings from the noun
tsips, was informed They are dry
sitting out 90 to $40 worth of pure gold
from each yard of dirt, which is only
about 40 per cent of the gold contained
in it.
1t is waterless country, hence dry
Sitting Is the only present method OF se-
parating the ore. If the yield CONT
artesisn, well and supply the camp.
There were only two shacks. meaning
buildings made out of pine boards, and
these were combination eating houses,
stores and saloons: alllother hsbitations
were simply tents. The camp proper
is about three months old and has
made quite stir here In FL Paso;
every inch of the site is stake claimed.
This place being off the main line
between Ell PasO and AlamOgordo we
were sent up the mountain in q bag
gage car aud came back on top of q
cylindrical water car, pursuing our
journey up the lovely valley, rising
all the time, so that at AlamOgOrdO
we had risen over ], 800 feet above Ell
PasO, between the two ranges OF noun
tains and at times seeing beyond and
over the San Audreas range, the Col
orsdo ntains, and also within sight
miles and ten to twelve miles wide.
lying at the foot of the San Andreas.
looking like mirror on which the sun
is shining.
The gypsum is pure white sand on
which nothing grows. It has e large
commercial value for plaster and would
be worth millions on millions in New
York; it will be brought into use some
day. It Is also q fine fertilizer, and
would make vegetation jump in the
east
From the rear platform of the car my
eyes feasted on this transcendent view
of mountains. valley, and sand lake.
The valley bears in some places very
rich and abundant hay, which was be-
ing harvested by a moving machine
drawn by mules.
There are great quantities of grouse,
rabbits, jack rabbits, and in some very
ter are only found where water can be
reached by burrowing, they were
very scarce.
We finally arrived at Alsmogordo.
This is town of between 1900 and
1000 Inhabitants, started and conduct
ed by company. It is ooiy one year
old and is already supplied with cleo
trio light. and an excellent supply of
water, which means q great deal on
the Sahara-like plain where rains only
fall during the rainy sea on: in March
and April.
They have laid out q public park one
mile long and a quarter of a mile wide,
with cotton wood trees planted only
one year, yet with dne bushy heads In
fine condition. OF course the park is
watered every day, which is the only
way to keep the trees alive.
Alamogordo possesses fine depot,
containing the railroad and town COM
pany's Offices. It is building about
120 feet long and fifty feet wide, with a
splendid piazza Is to 20 feet wide, all
finished with Texas pine on first floor.
There are eight large brick stores,
eacn one 5Oxl00 feet, two stories in
height. the owner of which is the
banker for the company. He told me
that $50, 900 per month passes through
his hands. There is fine hotel of so
rooms. which was so full that Mr..
Fisher and 1 slept on.a cost in the hall,
an annex of 80 rooms more all full;
about % nice little brick villas, q num-
Der of adobe houses and a great many
tents, fine graded streets and macada-
missed side walks lined with trees, each
tree being protected with the stick
cactus from the depreciation of bipeds.
Two sawmills are also there, and in
full running order, working day and
night to fill orders Overburdening
them. To describe the sawmills
where logs are handled like light
walking cane and in two minutes, by
my watch, cut into boards, palings, or
pickets, plauks, studs, lath. box
boards, ETC., just as the will of a single
generator NAV determipe There he