The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-08

IDAHO



Catholic hear little aboue this thinly
peopled district. During a recent tri
through this state 1 was pleased to fin
our excellent Salt Lake weekly in man.
! a home by the Snake river or in tn
mountain villages Of central Idaho
The Idahoans appear to know us mucl
better than we know. them, but surely
it is our loss to be so unfamiliar will
our promising and fertile neighbor
Idaho, 1.-The gem of the mountains
Modesty is the prevailing virtue in thi!
state. 1t has a tendency to retiremen
and obscurity, keeping hidden it:
wealth and greatness and fertility, a.
though jealous, mistrustful of man Oh
fearful of exciting his greed of gain
1t hides its richest treasures far bach
among the rugged mountains. Its
choicest fruit fourishes along the
winding river from whose banks
stretches a wilderness of sand, of lava
rock and sagebrush. No, one would
look for vegetation here. You might
think you are in an American Sahara
as you journey across those plains
when suddenly you drop down slope
I and the Snake river makes the wilder
ness blossom as a garden. Trees and
flowers and fruit spring UP as If by
magic at your feet relieving the eye,
refreshing the thirst, delighting the
Imagination. These spots are like the
i GASES which Gods providence has
/ planted in the deserts of Africa-SO
many fertile islands in a dreary ocean
of sand
The capital city of Idaho is very
/ modest and retiring, too, but there. are
/ in its modesty all the charms of ro-
nance. It's name, its site and sur
roundings breathe the poetic air of soil
! tude and silence. Boise means the
wooded city; it is no misnomer. The
business portion of the town is small
and not very noisy, while stretching
on all sides in regular square blocks
are churches. public buildings and the
palatial residences of the wealthy. The
houses are literally buried among green
shady trees, and almost every one of
those squares is a vast orchard. AD-
pie and peach trees droop their laden
branches to the ground, and welcome
on the evening air comes the rich fra
GRANGE of ripening fruit. On the north
eastern side a low ridge of hills skirts
the city, rising abruptly from the
fringe of green, and away back tier
above tier the mountains lift them
selves in beauty and perspective, lead
ing the eye captive, to play with the
clouds or the last lingering rays of
summers sunset. Boise lies far from
the main railway line, shrinking back
against the hills as though it hated the
hurry. the noise and the hustle of your
cannon ball" or flyer Though this
cannon ball does not make a mile a
minute and l have known said flyer
to be eight hours late, Boise would
have none of them. 1t allows cars TO
run on one of its streets, but surely
those cars are no ornament to the pic
turesque city; if they go on increasing
and multiplying. all the poetry will be
knocked out of Boise.
This wooded city is calm and quiet,
but in my opinion this peaceful air is
its greatest charm. There are no huge
smokestacks belching forth their black
clouds like the gasps of dying demons
in the earth There is not that mad
race for gold where the poor are tram
pied on Scarcely a sign of poverty or
wretchedness is to be seen. He who
longs to make wealth in the sweat of
his neighbours brow will hardly find en-
in Boise, but he who seeks
for a charming city, where life may
be spent calmly happily and honestly,
will find few spots as beautiful, as
healthy as inspiring as the peaceful
capital of Idaho. During the summer
Boise is a paradise. The air
YOU breathe has the vigOr of life. 1t
is not poisoned with smoke or malaria,
but it is freshened by the green leaves |
of thousands of trees, sweetened with
the perfume of flowers. laden with the
heavy scent of ripening fruit. A few
days may be rather warm. but the heat
is never continual and never distress /
ing. 1t is generally tempered by a |
cool breeze as refreshing as the breath |
Of the ocean. The skies are blue. al !
most Italian blue. and the'long summer |
twilight tinges the mountains with a |
hue such as l thought could be seen |
nowhere but in Ireland. There is nei- !
Their time nor space to describe the |
in detail but in general they !
are handsome, clean and imposing. All /
The dwelling houses have an air of ease |
and wealth and happiness. / really be- |
ieVe the people having so much of the |
goods Of this world must be strongly |
-empted to be rather forgetful of the |
next life.
The state capitol and grounds are
/ bright ornament to the city. The
Central school, just by. would do credit
o any city in the land. It is right that
,ur Catholic readers should know there
s a cathedral here which, if not very
eXteriOrly, is still beautifully
decorated within. The Sisters Of the
Holy Cross have an excellent Academy
or young ladies, and within stones
hrow is another institution which all
,lasses are glad to know and willing
o patronize-St. Alphonso's hospital.
dodesty reigns here, too. The build
ng is not large enough and the good
Sisters never try to make themselves
lnown Boise is so healthy that peo-
lie hardly ever get sick, much less die,
till the surrounding country depends
N this hospital to recover new life and
igor The sick need peace and cheer
illness and kindness. and here no noise
isturbs the ears of the patient, while
he eve can catch the stars and stripes
loating gaily from the capital, or wan
Ter over a forest of trees broken only
" green lawns and gardens. An oc-
asional chimney. a gable or two min
lie with the tree tops The whole is
,eautiful varied picture The kindness
f the Sisters is proverbial. A nom
'atholic lady told me she never knew
What kindness was till she entered st.
Alphonso's hospital. l believe the Irish
lex boy who said the Sisters cured him
ven though he got for breakfast only
little white tablet and a smile. To
II the readers of Ire Intermountain |
ay if you are well. go to Boise for the
ummer and you viii never get i'll; if
ou are sick. even unto death, go to
3Oise all the same. and you will never
ie
Idaho, Idaho, praise afar,
Boise. Boise, rah, rah, rahi
J.T.
IN MEMoRIAM.