The Oskaloosa herald., 1904-09-01

4 WOQueTIul d piece Vi lhCShahAoAA
never saw nor expect to see. BY peo-
pie who have travelled through the
Alps and European scenery, they claim
this short line trip to Cripple Creek
Is yet to be surpassed. Three OF us
1 got out on the observation car. where
we could see to great extent better
than those in the car, and looked un-
| til we were tired before we got to the
i end of our journey. | certainly can
i not do you justice in trying to de-
scribe the trip, as it is one continual
winding around, going through tun-
nels, up steep grades that you would
\ wonder how a train could ever get
| there, and now you look down the
canon for thousands and thousands of
feet below, some Of the rayines lined
with large pine trees and again with
beautiful grass. l might mention
here that the forest fires in some
places have played havoc, and ruined
many a pine forest These fires, /
was told, are sometimes started by a
camper going through and happening
to throw down match, or the spark
| from the train catching the dead
grass or dry material along the side
of the mountain. Every means is
| used to extinguish the fires and keep
them from Spreading / was told they
sometimes use wet blankets. I asked
if fire extinguishers were ever used,
and the fellow didn't know. The
rocks to the side of the track are of
so many different kinds, and that is
one feature of this trip; you do not
| tire of the sameness as you do on the
Ward OF Loop trips. Now you will
see tall, tall peak about half way,
and this has a flag waving from it's
dome. The name given it is St.
Peters Dome,I think getting its name
from the shape, as it looks quite a
little like cathedral dome. The
rocks you will see sometimes are of
easily. This is used for the under
coat of the paving material they use
here in Denver, and it is quite solid
when packed as they do here by put
ting layer of sand with it and some
thing like tar to stick it together, and
then run an engine over it to pack it
good. r..
AS we come in sight of Cripple
Creek it is one of the prettiest sights
you most ever saw, as you are away
above Cripple Creek about 1000 feet,
and this city of $4,000 inhabitants can
be looked over as if it was no more
than town like Lacey.
Tired and hungry again, the ''hun-
cry six" followed the merry crowd,
and I guess we had made friends
enough that there were some more by
this time, and all piled into the lunch
counter and lined up ready to eat a
ham sandwich, piece of peach pie and
drink a cup of coffee all for thirty
I Jon6s,.Ez. ~ reIIraInOd oNoa iounudy.
! cents, tIsasE6 .its5 sEa taste
Il good We tried to get one of tn
8 crowd to take our pictures as we wer
/. there stufing, but guess he was wis
/ and thought he wouldn't waste a plat
D on US. Anyway it was good enoug
!, to stick to our ribs, and then we wen
!. for the trip through the mine.
oil Little train holding about twent!
h five or thirty, two in seat and tn
# outside fellow holding a candle, 20
o are pulled by a donkey into the tut
p mel of the Bonanza King" gold min
}. at a distance of $500 feet and So
X feet under ground. Quite a novelt
q for me and the crowd could be hear
. here and there jollying the driver {
p bowling at the donkey called "Teddy
y till the mine was full of laughter.
d had the pleasure of seeing the me
!. at work digging the ore in which gol
q. is contained, and their method of ge
~ ting it out of the mine. l might tie
T. you of how Anna was the means I
n our crowd having a laugh; we wei
waiting to go into the mine when sh
II was standing with her back to tn
# donkey as he was hitched to a pos
n in the rear, when he let loose h
n braying, and jump,-well, I shoul
# say she did, and another concourse {
I, shouts. .
n When the crowd all got out Of tn
e mine we then took the low line tri
d to Victor, viewing all the while th
If hundreds of gold mines that line tn
II trip up here. This is done on a tro
y ley car, and one of the prettiest on
r would want to see. ! was told tina
o the richest mine up there is Gale
o "The Portland" mining about So
S tons per day, and while there are oil
O ers that put out lots more per da!
r yet the ore is not nearly SO valuabl,
}. You arrive in Victor and it is now ge
ting so high that it is quite cool an
E at no time of the year do they thin
e of wearing thin dresses and have t
d have a Jacket at all times. Here 1
d Victor is quite business section an
f although the mining region is goin
elsewhere. yet they still are quit
{ prosperous. Real estate is now n
) value at all, as the work Of gettin
e gold out will not last more than eigh
: or ten years longer, and these mic
e brick buildings will then be no goo