The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1901-12-12
A COLORADO RAMBLE|
Basking In the Sunshine of the
Realm of Pan.

mere, Wnen ku6 monarch OF the
hills, gloriously radiant in his mantle
Of ermine, sparkling in a cloudless
sun, sits IN unsurpassed majesty, his
attendants in waiting standing mo-
tionless about, foot guards Of his dig
nifty.
1t is not remarkable that the Greeks
gave to the world the name Beauty"
Diome Handiwork, in all its SPLEEN
dor, is not reserved for selfish contem-
platiou of 9 few; without money and
without price we have but to look to
stand rapt in admiration and enjoy
ment of the truly beautiful.
There are weary wastes monot-
onies of landscape deserts, on which
no instrument of travel may carry us
fast enough, but, in land where each
mile unfolds more bewildering beaut-
les than the last, we long to Hnger
longer, fearing, almost hoping, in
loyalty to the picture before us--lest
the next turn may be disappointing.
In this world where civilization
strides forward with such gigantic
haste, unmindful that it is at the ex-
pense Of the picturesque; we are aw-
ed, almost transfixed in beholding Ma.
ture as she is; grandly sublime in her
supremacy.
AS the dawn traces it's parapets of
gold along the summit of the hills, we
behold the Pixies Peak kissed by the
first glory of the morning sun, mant-
ling with roseate halo his hoary head;
which leaves one only with ones life.
Within this golden region no place in
vites us with such a wooing mood as
the city of Colorado Springs.
The sign Rum for Resande," which
in Norway causes frequent remons-
trance from the enthusiastic prohib-
itiorist,we encounter here, but trans
lated into a more familiar tongue,
Room for TTaylers."
Rooms rooms, everywhere it is
easy to find desirable quarters, for the
citizens Of Colorado Springs are most
hOspitable to the stranger within his
gates. Guides there are innumerable
to conduct one to "all points of inter
est-"from "Old Reliable" who tells
incidentally-of his years of similar
service in the Alps; to the clumsy
sleepy looking little Burro who defies
alike mental telegraphy and the branch
from the mountain tree; and also de-
prives us of our wits, insisting on
travelling the very edge of the noun
tain trail, beyond and below which one
may look hundreds or thousands of
feet realizing one misstep, or one
boulder shaken may mean an unwel-
come fastening of acquaintance I'M
known. We are for the moment thor
oughIy in sympathy with the travel
er in the Alps, who said Thank God
we don't raise such hills as these in
New York."
While following the paths of the
many canons, with their savage cliffs,
and looking upward to those towering
pinnacle of granite, the patch of blue
sky far above seems like a perfect tur-
quoise, in a setting all natures own.
These wrinkles on the face of
mother earth"-"pins that hold the
world together" are never less allur-
ing, whether tempting toward adven-
ture, or holding us in awesome admir-
alton.
Bayard Taylor writes of this view
from Colo. Springs:
an variety and harmony of form in
effect against the dark blue sky, in
breadth and grandeur, I know of no
external picture of the Alps which can
be placed beside it. If you could take
away the valley of the Rhone and
unite the Alps Of Savoy with the Ber-
nese Overland, you might attain a
tolerable idea of this view of the Rocky
Mountains. Nowhere destroyed or
grotosQuG never monotonous, lovely in
form and atmospheric effect.
The picture of the Mesa drive six
miles distant, discloses the sublimity
Of the mountain chain silhoueted
'gainst the sky all along the horizon,
And Lord Byron's lines occur to us:
Our outward sense
Is but of gradual grasp and as it is
That which we have of feeling most
intense
Outstrips our faint expressions,
Till, growing with its growth and thus
dilate
Our spirit to the size Of that they con.
template"
At the end Of this drive we see the
strange conglomeration of distorted
shapes-the Garden of the Gods. To
many imaginative in temperament
others beautiful.
lyon rising moon that looks for us
again
How oft hereafter will she wax and
wane,
How oft hereafter rising look for us
Through this same Garden, and for
one in vain"
A little further on, is the hamlet of
Manitou in picturesque mountain
setting, world-famous for its health
giving springs.
Above Manitou. is located the depot
of the Pixies Peak Cog r. r.
We always marvel at the achieve
ments of men, and this stairway
of surprise. mounting to Paradise,
winding up, up, creeping sometimes
along the edge of awful precipices or
shut in by towering canon walls. the
music of the mountain stream Turing
us with exquisite harmonies of melo-
dy, while here and there, from almost
hidden corners, peep some unimpor-
tant lowers. which always have a lit
tie knack of knowing welcome waits
them, impreses us singularly.
We remember those American Pho
neers, sons of the east" who in a
dauntless spirit Of adventure. travelled
our deserts and cloud enveloped
mountains. enduring hardships, dis
appointment, often death in their am
bition toward wealth and fortune.