Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-09

4
do the same thing. The train was
soon brought to a stop and / got on en-
tirely exhausted but to receive the con-
CALCULATIONS of all on board who OBJ
served my chase.
our party is waiting for me, will close
and write you again tomorrow. AS
ever, C. r. Schilling.
ST. Helena, Cal, Oct. IS, 1890
Dear Courier Readers-In my descrip-
ton yesterday of our western trip,
left you at Yolkima, 4 small town in a.
narrow valley, which rapidly focuses
almost to a point, forming a narrow
gorge where nature again unfolded her
vast storehouse of beauty-cliffed and
dragged and assured; boulders stood
erect far above our heads. Below us
the green water of the river which
, gets its name from the color of the.
water, rapidly made its way over rocks
and falls to its final destination. Be-
side this grandeur and adding to the
ecstacy of the scene, beautiful stately
pines rear their heads as if to beclsen
to the easterner to come to this western
paradise. ~:
We soon passed numerous mining
camps and We're directly brought into
Easton, where the clouds had settled
until they rested upon the very tips of
the pines in the valley, thus lobscuringi
our view of the mountains, but present.
ing us with scenes which We're indeed
handsome to one who has been raised
on the plains of Iowa or in the cities.
While our train here paused few mo-
ments, the clouds from one mountain
rolled away. while across the travine it
was as black as night. From this point
We have one continuous ascent, where
nature seems to have spent her entire
force in one majestic display4of grand
eur. By slow gradations we ascend
the cascades, with forests SO dense with
luNuriant foliage that one cannot see
through them. Above and beyond
them tower the mountains. ..s
We are now nearing Stampede pass,
at an elevation of 1880 feet, and soon
come to Stampede tunnel. From our
window we observe numerous places
where gold is being washed and Just
before entering the tunnel we take one
long look beyond the valley below us
and behold in the distance "a grand
spectacular view, as we see through
1.-THE riffs in the clouds the snow-capped
mountains Stampede tunnel, which
we here pass, is the longest tunnel en-
route, being two miles in length, and
from this point we descend rapidly by,
circles and counter circles Of tie noun
tains, crossing glen and sparkling rivu-
lets as they dash themselves against the
rocks in their mad rush to the Sea,
| Now we cross u high trestle over deep
gorge, beneath us the onrushing water
of the Green river, filled with trout.
which leap at times above the surface
lof the water, as il to catch a glimpse
/ of their antagonists pouring themselves
]by means of heavily laden trains into
this western country.
AT our right and far above us, stand
ing on the very edge of the precipice,
( are stately pines rearing their heads
| far into the heavens above, as if 10
guard the western country with its
natural inhabitants from the onset Of
civilization.
| Oh! that I had the descriptive power
OF Howells, a Longfellow or a Dick
ems, that / might portray to topl' this
! picture as it really exists; Tor here God
seems to have paused among these
cataclysms of nature and taken one
long thought into the future, making
provision for the present Happiness
and enjoyment of mankind. .! s'f
Leaving this scenic panorama, we
soon arrive in the city of Tacoma and
take a days rest and see the sights in
! this rapidly growing city on Puget
I, Sound. The first thing we did here was
to take u car to Fort Defiance, and
j view her beautiful geological and nor
| ticultural gardens upon the bluff OF
the sound. As we passed the beautiful
dwellings with lovely flower gardens,
! they so impressed themselves upon nv
little daughter, Lucille, that she at once
began speaking one of her school
pieces, which is SO applicable here that
cannot help repeating it: There are
roses above; There are roses around.
And the petals of roses lay thick on the
| ground" ~,
! have always had desire to see the
huge tree4l such as we have read about,
and here in the heart of the greatest
saw mill districts in the world we had
the opportunity of stretching our necks
to see the tops of them.
The pavement of cedar blocks, placed
upon and in asphaltum, as here put
down, makes the finest pavement in the
world for driving or cycling purposes,
and, am told, wears excellently.
l From Tacoma, we made our way by
night to Portland, Oregon, one of the
great gateways to the Orient. From
this port millions OF the products of our
land are finding their way to China
and Japan. While we We're here the
Montana boys arrived from the Philip
pines. We were very fortunate in be-
ing in Portland while the exposition
was open, and of course we availed our
selves of the opportunity of seeing in a
day what would have required weeks
to have seen elsewhere.
One should never go to Portland
without seeing her geological and hor-
ticultural gardens, for these people Ger
tainly believe in adding to natures
beauty. and also retaining the things of
beauty and curiosity which God has
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