Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-09-10

snowy mountains, dependents and rela
yves OF the Rockies Then there are
tne excursions one may take to Lakes
macdonald and Pend Oreille, and I'd
the kortenai district in British Column
pia. Inc MOUNTAINS at these lakes
snowcapped the whole year around
rise 1900 to II 600 feet above the deerJ
waters sometimes as blue and as deep
as the water of the ocean, and on these
"aiVeIS leW or our travellers from thes
eastern sedboard have yet looked.
on .he TWO northern roads the
scenery differs. The Rocky mountanis'
anu onav 't ne. c g,. are not the same.
otay thc Iuon water on the GreatI
northern and the Clark fork of the|
ooIuihoia are to be counted as of the|
same nature Of scenery The twoI
mountain ranges change as they gp
south and while one sees the yellow
mus oll inc southern route, the north |
ern runs III the shadow of monstrous|
and fantastic peaks. From the Rockies
on 10 the Pacific one is seldom out of I
slght OF snow and when one arrives at
SECURE there Is lonely Rainier. orI
Tacoma, rising 1900 feet above the
sound and white nearly halfway
down, like How and Baker. lower stiIi
whtc-headed and beautiful Olympians'
From Seattle ono goes through Puget
sound, and, at first cities invite tho
interest of the traveller. for there is a
contrast between British Columbia and
the states Whlch is Interesting and in
strucuVe' Two British Columbian cities
are on the souud-Nlctora and Van
klouver. Victoria is the Oldest settle
ment on the straits / believe while
Vancouver is only nineteen wears old
II is, in reality, only seventeen wears
old. Nineteen years ago il was built of
wodd; two years ailtcrWar0 it was
burned down and then it WAS rebuilf
substantially.
The Canadian Pacific which courts
passenger traffic more than does ii,
Immediate rival, has built a fine hotel
and an opera house here. Victoria
marked its English origin by building
good roads in town and country and
young Vancouver followed it, examine
Every street in the city is macadem-
lied. 1t has unique park consisting
Of 30 acres of virgin forest. Tho big
mrs and pines Of the sound and the big
cedars abound in it. All around IL
runs fine shell road. and plurgins
into its beautiful depths are f1otpaths
that lead to the heart of the secret Of
the woods.
The American cities-for we are called
Americans on both sides of the border
are bigger, buster, more energetic more
admirable in their mental and physical
activities and have more Of promise in
them for the future, but they lack the
essential attributes Of home. As one Of
he inhabitants of Seattle said, we all
look like transients here. but Vancouver
looks as If the people had come to build
homes for themselves. As matter of
fact We are too busy to build streets.
and We want much at the very start.
and the boys VINO run the town are
so expensive that we get too much in
debt before We reach the streets" The
result of this is that the cities on our
side have streets that are dusty trails.
After the cities quickly comes tho
scenery, and certainly there is no such
great stretch of noble scenery as that
which lies along the inside waters Of
tho steamer route from Seattle to Skac-
way. | cannot undertake description
of all the beauty in its varied forms
which one meets on the trip--the Won
derful forests of evergreen. the waters
teeming with fish, who. loaping, show
themselves almost every hoIr, the mag
nitcent glaciers which breath upon you
with their icy breath. the nords-such
as Windham bay-whose wooded slopes
and narrow twisting channels carry you
to Norway. the hamlets built on stilts
along the waters edge or cinglng to
the steep hillsides. the awful stony
mountains clad in snow.
For a thousand miles one sails through
these enchanted northern waters, where
fierce Indians once made slaves Of
southern tribes. where the Hudson Ray
company built its frontier posts, where
the Russians came and where the Rus
sian church still lifts Its Greek cross
and whore now dwells a race Of Ameri-
can fortune hunters, some digging in
tho mountains for their gold and copper.
and some twirling roulette wheels for
the easier winning Of The same rich
metals, Certainly there is no moro
beautiful sail in all this world. and 10
place in ali the world where one feels
so surely that it would be better to sink
beneath the chill waters than to escape
from the peril of shlpwrcck by running TO
the stern, cold beauty Of the land.
The trip is htly ended when one crosses
the White Pass. on whose trail 50 many
thousands Of men and horses have per-
ished not 50 many years ago There
one Crawls ON a narrow gauge shelf ctit
into the mountains, higher and higher.
twisting and involuntarilv gasping, and
looks down upon the cruel path in which
the seekers after gold found death