Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-10-30

Mr.. VIM. A. Strother, of Walhalla,
has recently received lengthy and
very interesting letter from his
nephew, Prof. Williams Welch, an
employee of the United States gov
ernment, in the Philippine Islands.
The letter is full of information and
to the point. Mr.. Strother has
kindly consented for its publication.
1t is as follows:
Manila, p. l., August 80, 1901.
Dear Uncle Willie: In compli-
ance with your request to write you
long letter about this country, etc.,
| take pleasure in mentioning some
things which l trust may interest you.
From Washington a ride of two
nights and day carried me to Chi
cago. There visited the stock yards
and saw beeves walk up a narrow
gangway and get hit in the head by
one man, pulled up by two others,
bled, flayed, washed, cut up and rolled
into the cold storage by others in less
time than it would take to tell about
it. AS each man does but one thing
he can do it almost instantly. Enough
cattle have been received there in
one day (32,000) to make a line, with
one following close behind another,
which would reach from Walhalla to
Seneca and from there almost to
Greenville. So you can understand
why the men work so fast.
On my way here, when l reached
Colorado Springs, at the foot of the
Rocky Mountains, the scenery was
so charming that l stopped over two
days and saw Pixies Peak, the Gear
den of the Gods" and the springs,
one Of which is good soda water, an
other is full of sulphur, while another
is full of iron in solution. The seen
cry in the Rockies is not so beautiful
as in the Blue Ridge mountains, but
it is on a far grander scale. One
gorge through which the train passes
is three thousand feet deep. 1t was
bitterly cold in crossing the summit,
but the weather was delightful on the
other side of Salt Lake City, where
made another stop. The trip from
there is across vast barren plain
which is almost desert. Scattering
sage brush is about the only vegeta-
tion and there are hut few signs of
life except an occasional cayote and
some immense flocks of sheep. Each
flock contained several thousand and
was cared for by two or three lonely
herders.
In crossing the Sierra Nevada
mountains the snow was about two
feet deep and you can imagine my
surprise that very afternoon, in the
Sacramento Valley, to see such sum.
mer-like weather that men were gath
ering strawberries in their shirt
sleeves.
San Francisco is fine city, but
the sight of the place is "Chinatown."
About forty thousand Chinese live
there and have filed it with their
stores, temples, theatres and oriental
customs. happened to sec funeral
in which they beat gongs, burnt
paper and carried a quantity of food
to the grave.
The Chinese religion is vory differ
cnt from ours. They reason that
God is too good to harm us and too
wise to make mistake; so to them
it would be sinful to pray and request
Him to change any of His plans. The
devil, however, is greatly dreaded
They represent him as a dragon and
everything is dono TO please him or
to frightcn him away. TO please
him they burn lanterns or incense,
and to frighten him away they beat
gongs or burn things which have a
very disagreeable odor.
From San Francisco trip of six
days on an army transport brought
us to the Hawaiian Islands. The
vegetation is all tropical and the
mountains are nearly as high as the