The Newtown bee., 1904-07-22

and one has difficulties in breathing for the first few days. We began by sleeping in tents, over which we have now become very enthusiastic. There is no dampness here at night, no more than at monday, and the silent stars look down through these giant pines upon a large army of open air sleeperS. scenery iand it's mineral waters. All sorts of people congregate here, from the college professor to the nobility of old England. The former sleep on pine boughs in the open, carrying their enthusiasm to such pitch that they diSdain all indoor living. They not only sleep without but eat there also, and their extreme good nature is no doubt attributable to their state of health under these conditions. But the place! It is more interesting than the people, so endowed is 1t with all the wonders and beauties of nature. A rushing, roaring river Bear cfeek) runs through this settlement, which lies among the highest pine trees of California. Pines on every side. Noth- ing else meets the eye in the tree line. They often reach height of 175 feet, the common height being about 150 feet. But this, compared to the trees of the Yosemite seems nothing extra ordinary, as there they reach the height of over 200 feet. These we have yet to see. And close by us, so near that on the Fourth of July we all indulged in snow bail fight, is the everlasting snow. Owing to this alti- tude it is unchanged by the fervid heat of the monday sun, and in the great canyons it lies to the depth of a hundred feet. How beautiful it looks lying amidst the pines and verdure of the mountains and glistening on their peaks only youi who have seen it in it's glory can conceive. In the morning light one thinks that must be the fin est, but in the afternoon it seems still comes again the wondrous scene asserts itself, and it is a heart touching, up- lifting experience all the time, morn ing, noon, and night, to look upon it. The wild flowers are every where one walks, as if all were bridal paths, decked out for the bride. They are of the most uncommon varieties, the manzanita, the mistletoe. and myriads of others, enticing one to gather them at every step. The snow plant, a large crimson flower, growing to the height of nearly foot in the snow, is the greatest novelty. One thinks with Wordsworth, leach flower enjoys the air it breathes." Man,is like them, he also enjoys breathing this dry, pine scented, sun lighted air, and it is pure ly clear, and so remain until the set ting of the sun. This occurs at an early hour, and we see it disappear be- hind Castle Graz (which is 5000 feet high) at 4.3O D. m. Before leaving the snow l would state that in June it was at depth of nine feet about this hotel and begins again falling in the early part of October. Owing to it's presence so much of the year and to the streams continually flowing down from it one can hardly imagine the dazzling green of the verdure- every where. II this settlement is not only the tavern with it's antique sign of a deer's head, with the words "Accom- modation for man and beast," and various tents and cottages, but there scale, containing more than dozen. rooms each. The interior shows the giant logs constructing the roof and sides, to height of 30 feet. protest that l could not peacefully slumber beneath so stupendOus a canopy. The atmosphere is unaffected by all this snow, and the thermometer ranges
 from 70 to 80 degrees each day. All
 the evenings of California are cold, but
 they are so clean and inyigorating that
 all hands remain outside, building the
 enormous camp fires and sitting by
 them enjoying song and story. The
 music of the pines and the river fur
 nish us who sleep out a serenade
 each night, the sweetness of which
 will forever finger in our memories
 ic 0f 11
 night, for the COW bells awake us at an
 early hour, long before our usual time,
 to the enjoyments of another day. It
 is the 'scall of the wild" and man not
 loath to obey. Trout fishing is one of
 the features here, also fine shooting of grouse and quail in the early fall.
 The wonderful hue of this river de- serves mention. It attracted us first on our long ride through the woods
 from the station, this welcoming,
 hurrying river, coming down as it were, especially to greet us, and to precede all others in the tales of what awaited us. The bed of the stream looks like particles of stained glass of the richest tenSely clear waterfalls, of which the whole river is composed. One sees no such coloring in the streams of the East. But right here let me say that home is the same beloved place as ever to us, and old Connecticut can hold her own against any other state we have yet seen, even to this great Cali
 fornia, and it will ever be "Home, Sweet Home' to us. Lake Tahoe, only six miles distant, is 25 miles long and half as wide. We go there soon and then to Glen Alpine, where we are to meet Andrew B. Mygatt, Jr. There the mountains are 10000 fleet in height. Then we shall have made the grand tour of the state, from Redlands and Pasadena, in the south, to this point, in the north, a distance of 700 miles. Before leaving my subject of
 Deer Park I wish to add an account of an addition we received here at about midnight. A drove of two thousand sheep, attended by shepherds and dogs, descended upon this spot and located themselves upon mountain in close proximity, where they will remain un
 til the fall. This is lawless country and no one can prevent such depreda- tions. 1 heartily wish, notwithstand-
 ing my enjoyment of this Inew world of the West, that I was going from
 here to the Homeland, fOr1 am on the
 trail which leads directly there. Some hof fxxi11 ho l1acca1