The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-07
A TRAVELLERS IMPRESSIONS.
To The Salt Lake Herald:

To The Salt Lake Herald:
Arriving in your beautiful CITY a few
days since. during your dry season
among the novel features that struck
my eye were the stone dykes or yvalls
thrown across some of your finest res
luence streets at frequent Intervals
sometimes at the intersections of
cross-streets. Being a stranger and
not desiring to appear green to the
Inhd oltants by asking foolish cues
tlohs, l queried as to what might have
been their design and origin. The
regular order in which the stones were
Iald forbade the supposition that they
were natural objects. The first nv
pothesls occurring to me was that thew
might be some of the mysterious works
1 leIt by those ancient mound builders
VINO nave left so many monuments
OF their labors in the west. As they
nave no apparent present use and are
a great obstruction to street traveI 7
marveled that if they were mound
builders remains they We're allowed to
remainsso long, but finally decided that
the great reverence for antiquity wbicy,
INSPIRES the people of your city might
nave induced them to spare these an
cient monuments.
Then another idea struck me. I heard
that many of your settlers were Eng
Iish- had also heard that the Eng
lsh were greatly addicted to hurdle
racing, and Though never saw a. h,Ir-
ole race and should not know a hur-
ole from a hand-car), 1 put this and
that together in my mind and shrewd-
~ eonJectured that they might have
been built to allow the people of that
nationality to indulge in that sport.
But as / saw the people driving
over these dykes, 1 saw that they were
great nuisances to users of vehicles
and wondered that your people would
put up with them But 1 remembered
that western community is the
most patient long suffering people in
the world OF public abuses. and great
lovers of sport. But, though I have
arrived at no satisfactory conclusion
as to their origin or design. vet with
In the last few days, since your streets
have become almost unfathomable
quagmires, such as no eastern ham
let of 1,500 inhabitants would tolerate
and when even these dykes have heen
covered with slime TO the depth of
several inches, so as to be no longer
visible TO the naked eye, it has oc-
CURED to me that these dykes might
be utilized by your street authorities.
If you have any, if they have a bit
of Yankee gumption." for street
crossings for foot passengers, besides
uluCn less OF an obstacle 10
vehicles, by excavating the earth on
each side of them for a distance OF
six or eight yards to a depth of six
or eight inches and filling the excava
ton with macadam on a gradual slope
up to the dyke. which. if valued as
an ancient relic. would be preserved
rather than destroyed by such action
If II Is unlawful 10 walk on them at
present the city council might pass an
ordinance allowing them to be
walked on IN careful manner. in
muddy weather at least. PERHAPS.
though, an ordinance would not mat
ter. as 1 have never heard of any one
here paying the least attention to
city ordinance.
The dykes would thus be protected
from the mad by strips of macadarn
which would eaten it from the Wheels
before it reached the dykes
Salt Lake, Dec T. VISITOR.