Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1902-03-20
Interesting Letter from Hot
Springs. Ark.

{. Mrs John MacAl,ister is in re.
ceipt of the following letter from
Mrs George Bills, formerly OF
this city, but now a resident OF
Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Hot Springs, Ark. My Deal
Mrs. MacAllister: L thought AT
was enjoying myself here sc
i thoroughly, that perhaps you
would like to know just what
have been doing, and thus be EN-.
abled to tell the kind friends OF
my life here, as shall not fine
the time to write each one at this
length.
This certainly is fine place, SC
very picturesque. 1t lies i'm the
midst of the mountains, whose
;colors vary as the rainbow. Yes.
terday we climbed to the top OF
Hot Springs Mountain, the Que a
short distance from our house.
The view was grand. The ever
greens were close at hand in their
gowns of green; further on YOU
could discern the various shades
| 7.
of green, red, browns, grays and
at last the whole view melted
away into oblivion in the distance.
The day was an ideal day. The
rocks and trees are covered with a
peculiar growth of moss most
beautiful to behold, i'm all the diff
ferent shades of green. The pine
needles made quite soft bed
wherever they could find ground
to rest upon, for be it understood
they have FEW rocks here.
These mountains are on the
Government Reservation, a tract
two miles square where Uncle
Sam has devoted several millions
of dollars in identifying the city
and mountains. The most com
plete set of buildings in which to
care for sick soldiers and army
veterans is to be found on these
grounds. A fine power house for
heating and lighting, a reservoir
and bath houses lnnumerable arc
also to be found. The rooms in
the buildings look so beautifully
clean in their white trappings
that one would hardly be sorry to
be sick in such q place. Military
discipline reigns throughout the
grounds from gate to gate. These
are opened each morning at 6
O'Clock and again closed promptly
at 6 p. m.
Summer is almost here. Tie
buds are breaking everywhere
and flowers are showing their
faces in every conceivable place.
i noticed many purple flowers,
waxy white, pink and yellow ores
out In their Easter bonnets, peep
ing from among dark green leaves.
A bush covered with yellow, sweet
smelling flowers, and one clothed
in pink and red demanded our adj
miration. We saw holly trees
growing all along the avenue, and
great punches of the genuine old
mistletoe growing on the branches
of frees in the dooryard of the
Reservation doctors fine resi-
dence. Old GLORY waves in tri-
umph from the flagstaff on the
mountain. What a beautiful flag
we have, after all. ] wanted to
carry away all kinds of pebbles,
but each step brought new fields
of exploration, that kept waiting
for the next thing to turn up, like
Micawber.
A fine drive, which winds up
the mountain in serpentine fash
ion, is kept in excellent repair by
the Government. 1t is always full
of tourists out to see all that can
be seen. They ride on horses
brought from old Kentucky, bur-
ros, and IN vehicles of every des-
crption. A goodly number Of
the New York ladies ride astride,
which WAS quite novel to me. The
photographer does rushing BUSH
ness here. Everybody has to Re
photographed on q burro on top
of the mountain. A number of
footpaths wind around the noun
tain and connect old eliot Spring"
with the "West" and North
mountains. You travel up an in
cline for number of yards, then
ascend a number of steps of brick
and rock, whose sides nre made of