The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-05
LOFTY MOUNT SHERMAN
 DESERTED BY RAILROAD

St. Louis Dispatch.
 Since the great railroad tunnel through Mount Sherman, Wyo. has been conn.,
 pleted and trains now runNunder instead of over the great steep, there has passed forever what has been for thirty years one of the most peculiar railroad sta tons in the world.
 Mount Sherman Station stood on the very top of mountain 5000 feet hfgn. in possibly as desolate spot as human eye has ever gazed upon. Nowhere IS there ever visible any vegetation Deyono a few scraggy tufts of alkaH wire grass Even this can hardly exist Tn that re- zion. where one may encounter almost any day in the summer rain, sleet, snow and hail. with a temperature that oIten varies from 75 degrees to 40 ana pack again within a few moments; where the wind never ceases to blow from twenty five to seventy miles an hour, ana where the nerves of many tenderfoot nave re ceived terrible shocks during the pass the ground and here and there huriing angry lightning bolts into the minar rock.
 Now the map no longer has, Mount
 habitation remains to denote the past ex- istence of man on that dizzy height and it is very probable that the we1rd' rockclad spot will never again be vis- tied.
 If, however, in some future age sci
 ence or quest of adventure shall lead some curious person over the summit, he will find silhouetted against the sky a massive pyramid shaped pile of chis- eled granite, sixty-five feet high and
 sixty feet at the base, erected three years ago in honor of the Ames brothers. who
 made 1t possible to complete the Union
 Pacific Railroad. feeling of sentiment alism will doubtless now and then creep into the minds of those who have often passed this monument, at the thought that 1t now stands so far out of the path of commerce. so far from the haunts or man, deserted, to remain there almost as long as time shall endure.
 Several years ago two tramp telegraph operators devised a scheme for making few dollars without much effort. They erected small shanty at sherman,
 nations colored some of them with dyes. and over them poured melted lead m
 splits or pounded small bits of copper into
 the cracks. These, when finished, were
 specimens of gold and silver ores." and found ready market. All trains stopped
 just in front of the shanty where the two geniuses held forth, to have the air brakes tested and the wheels examined prior to the descent of the mountain. During these stops passengers were wont to run over to the shanty to make pur- chases of curios.
 If there was ever time when the wind did not blow a gale at Sherman 1t was a period previous to the advent of man up there. and it was this everlasting wind that oddly blew good to the tramp shop keepers. One morning when the over land flyer drew up at the old red depot an aproned man stood at the door of the shanty, beating a gong with a vigor which soon attracted the attention of the
 passengers. Heads popped out of the windows and in a moment people came tumbling out of the cars and made grand rush for the supposed luncheon
 counter. The wind was whistling
 merry tune over the summit, and in very few seconds later were rolling
 among the rocks and down into the gloom
 of the canyon. Of course the recovery of the headgear was impossible.
 When a lot of passengers had been
 "unroofed' it was the signal for the
 man with the gong to disappear. and in
 his stead came another with a string of
 cheap hats and caps, which were easily disposed of to the unfortunates at fab ulous prices.