Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-01-18
A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA.

very pleasant journey all the way.
The weather was fine and we found
pleasant company. The country
through which we passed in reaching
Ka nsas was very level and the con-
ditlon of the farms denoted pros
perity. When we reached st. Louis
some of the effects of the food were
still to be seen; many of the houses
on the rivers bank were lying on
their sides or standing on end in the
washo uts. The train passed the
Worlds Fair ground and we caught
glimpse of some of the buildings.
We arrived in Topeka at 900 p. m.
Friday, being two days and four hours
on the road.
Topeka is a beautiful city. The
streets are broad with two lines of
trees on each side between the side
walk and street and one between the
walks and yards. The streets cross
at right angles, making it easy to find
ope's way. 1t has some magnificent
DuIlOluS5 anu pa nc3 OAiO VI " AASA
was so badly damaged by the food
that nothing has been done to restore
it. In the Auditorium the mud had
filled to the top of the seats. Walks
and fountains were washed away.
We went over the worst portions of
the flooded district. Many parts of it
remain as the receding waters left it,
covered in many places to the depth
of ten feet with debris. Many of the
business blocks on the main streets
have not been touched; they were so
badly damaged they are not worth
renovating. The mud washed in in
such quantities that the floors broke
into the cellars, leaving cavity to
fill with the wreckage. Some of the
houses had side or an end washed
away, some so badly undermined as
to be worthless. Pianos, organs,
beds, stoves, and all sorts of debris
filled the yards and streets. They
finished cleaning the streets while We
were there. Saw children's garments
1uttering In the tops of trees higher
than the houses they were standing
near. In the suburbs the houses were
small and many of them were washed
entirely away and their inmates with
them. Ruin was visible everywhere.
My sister was out of the food district
but was near enough SO that she
could hear the calls for help from the
tops of trees and roofs of houses for
two nights and days before the peo-
pie could be rescued, and many
succumbed to the cold and fright. 1t
was heartrending experience for
them all and the people have not
recovered from it yet. A general air
OF desolation pervades the city;
almost every one had some friend
lost. They are still finding bodies as
they clear away the mud and wreck
age. 1t is estimated that it will take
five or six years to entirely obliterate
the effects of the flood.
The 3rd of November we started for
California at noon. The ride to Den
YER was over the prairie most of the
way and seemed dead level, but we
actually climbed 1900 feet. Before
reaching Denver the ground was
white with snow and the first glimpse
of the Rockies showed them to be
covered with snow. Longs Pes'r
was the highest point in view. The
mountains were many miles away
but they we're grand sight. We
reached Denver at 900 a. m. Wednes
day and cheyenne at 100 p. m.,-
. $3.50 feet elevation. Cheyenne il
quite a large place with some fn'
buildings. The depot Was larg'
stone structure. From the ca
window I could see five salool
i, signs. We left there al 500 p. N
Until dark we rode over apparentl,
:. level ground, but were still climbing
e The highest pint was at Sherman
9 bot night ha d shut out the landscap
and some of the most interesting paI
il Of our Journey was lost to US. Whe
! mor ming dawned we were in Ech
Canyon. You have all heard of tn
=, famous rock forms of this and Gree
+ River Canyon, and know they al
N formed of red sandstone, the elemeD
a eroding the softer portion of TT
= rocks and leaving the harder part
IS, the most fanciful and grotesqt
shapes imaginable. The first OF
at that greeted our vision was a hug
"a giant hugging bear in bis arm
=. One will need to use the imaginati'
"a a little to make out the bear to pc
lection, but the giant is there
n right. Upon the crest of le
W mountain was an imaginary fort wi
or, soldiers standing upon the parap
hu with deep embrasures and it was ca
u