The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-03-21
WIPED OFF THE MAP.
Mt. Sherman Station, Nine Thousand
Feet High, Deserted.

rect hlEns DeSerteO.
Since the great railroad tunnel through
Mount Sherman, Wyo.. has been COM
pleted and trains now run under instead
OF over the giant steep, there has passed
forever what has been for thirty-fve
years one of the most peculiar railroad
stations in the world. Mount Sherman
station stood on the very top of noun
tain 5000 feet high, in possibly as DESC
late spot as human eye has ever gazed
upon. Nowhere is there ever visible any
vegetation beyond a few scraggy tufts
Of alkali Wire grass. Even this can
hardly exist in that region, where one
may encounter almost any day in the
summer rain, sleet, snow and hail, with
Il temperature that often varies from rs
degrees to 40 and back again within a
few moments; where the wind never
ceases to blow from twenty-five to sew
enty miles an hour, and where the nerves
Of many tenderfoot have received ter
rible shocks during the passing of
storms, with the clouds touching the
ground and here and there hurting light
ming bolts into the mineral rock.
Now the map no longer has Il Mount
Sherman station. Nothing in the way of
habitation remains to denote the past ex-
istence of man on that dizzy height, and
it is very probable that the weird, rock
Clad spot will never again be visited.
II, however, in some future age science
or quest of adventure shall! lead some
| curious person over the summit, he will
find standing silhouetted against the sky
Il massive pyramid-shaped pile of CHS
eled granite, 65 feet high and 60 feet at
the base, erected there years ago in hon
or Of the Ames brothers. who made it
possible to complete the Union Pacific
railroad. A feeling of sentimentalism will
OF those who have often passed this
monument, at the thought that it now
stands so far out of the path of COM
merce, SO far from the haunts of man,
| deserted, to remain there almost as long
as time shall endure
Several years ago two tramp telegraph
few dollars without much effort. They
erected small shanty at Sherman, gath
cred pieces of rock of different forma-
tons, colored some Of them with dyes,
ana over others poured melted lead in
spots and pounded small bits of copper
INTO the cracks. These, when finished,
ana found a ready market. All trains
stopped just in front of the shanty where
the two geniuses held forth. to have The
alrbrakes tested and the wheels exam
ined 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.
IT there was ever time when the
WIND did not blow a gale at Sherman it
was period previous to the advent of
man up there, and it was this everlasting
wind that oddly blew good to the tramp
shopkeepers. One morning, when the
overland flyer drew up at the old red de-
pot, an aDroned man stood at the door
OF the shanty on the opposite side of the
track, beating gong with a vigor which
soon attracted the attention of the pas
sengers. Heads popped out of the win
do"s, and in a moment people came tum-
Ding out of the cars and made a grand
rus for the supposed luncheon counter.
Inc wind was whistling a merry tune
! over the summit, and in a very few Sec
onds hats were rolling among the rocks
ana down into the gloom of the CANYON.
Of course the recovery of the headgear
| YVES impossible.
When a lot Of passengers had been
"unroofei" 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 fabu-
| lous prices.-Cheyenne Corr. of the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.