Iron County register., 1900-06-07
Missouri Scenes!
(sedalia Daily Capital.)

The Capital acknowledges the re-
ceipt, through Passenger and Ticket
Agent j. w. McClain, of a set OF EPIC
turesque Views" along the Missouri
Pacific and Iron Mountain route,
through the Ozark Mountains and fol-
lowing the St. Francis river in Arkan-
sas. The book of views is sent out by
General Passenger Agent FL. e. Town
send, and was prepared under his per-
sonal direction.
AS a specimen of the printers art it
is gem; and while the scenes pre-
sented are alluringly beautiful, they
are but limitations, poor efforts to
counterfeit Natures handiwork.
A scene on the Merrimec river, near
Valley Park, on the Missouri Pacific, is
the first picture in the book. 1t is a
beautiful landscape, showing waving
trees, placid waters and fading hills in
the distance. The Merrimec viewed
by the artist from Glencoe, shows a
clear sweep of water, skirted on the
east by thickly wooded country, on
the west by rocky promotory, jutting
out almost to the river bank, with
JuSb TOO" U6IWO OCA l0k uAO PAC0Sf7o ~
trains.
A pastoral scene near Carthage, a
view of a Southwest Missouri fruit
farm, stock farm in Jasper county,
the quarries at Carthage, the Grant
monument at Leavenworth, the famous
Waconda Springs at Cawker. Kas., are
all shown, then the artist gets to the
real cream of the work-the views in
the Ozarks.
First is shown view OF the broad
Mississippi, as it spreads its many
waters over the level plain south OF st.
Louis, on the Illinois shore, tapping
the feet of rugged bluffs on the Mis-
souri, side at the same time. Winding
along at the base of the bluffs, twist
ing and turning, appearing to run al
most into the river at times, at others
cutting off jagged corners of the bluff,
are the tracks of the Iron Mountain
railway, the picturesque route OF the
Middle West. From St. Louis to River
side the sightseer is refreshed with a
constantly shifting scenery-mountains
and wales, valleys stretching far as eye
can see, river losing itself i'll vapor
miles away-far down through the
hills trail of black smoke marking
the direction of the lines and signaling
the approach of a train.
There is no scenery on the continent
to compare with the scenery OF South
east Missouri in grandeur, nothing
that looks like it in beauty.
From the cave lined bluffs OF Big
river south to the mouth OF the St.
Francis, in Arkansas, there is a kalei-
doscopic effect not found anywhere
else There are higher mountains and
deeper gorges and broader valleys and
finer farms, perhaps, but nowhere in
one country can the various beauties
of Nature be found assembled as they
are in Missouri.
Standing ontop Of bluff overlook
| ing Big river at point on the lines OF
the Iron Mountain-looking down into
| the gorge, man loses sight of self and
bares his head in the Great Presence.
| Climbing by tortuous paths to the base
of the cliff, the river raging in torrent
| through narrow passage sends con-
slant spray of mist Heavenward, and
one looking upward realizes how small
| he is.
The faithful reproduction of such
scenes would be impossible-were 1t
otherwise the country would be ma
| tional resort. Instead, 1t 1s practi-
| cally isolated, visited in summer by
some hundred st. Louisans and q few
who have been accidentally attracted
to it; the magnificent, awe-inspiring
scenery is appreciated but scantily. and
| the efforts of General Passenger Agent
Townsend to get conception of the
beauty on paper for distribution is
commendable.
The granite boulders near Granite.
Vile, in Iron county, are shown in the
book, and they seem mammoth things te
be sure. but not half so large as they
are. A group OF boulders, each al
large as the Huckins hotel resting on q
table land of granite. has attracted
some mention among scientific men,
but the travelling public has not gener
ally known OF them. Standing beside
one of these boulders q man looks like
a pigmy-his utter insignificance ap
pears to himself. The boulders are 81
smooth and we'll shaped as II they hat
been fashioned by human hands after
q design, yet they are freaks OF nature