The Grit-advocate., 1905-08-18
INTERESTING LETTER
w. S. Ball Writes of His Journey
From Julesburg to The
Pacific Coast.
Ashland, Oregon, August 3, 1905.
Editor Grit-Advocate,

surprised at receiving communities
tion from me, but knowing that many
Of your people are desirous OF learning
the actual conditions Oh the coast, and
having promised q number of my old
neighb0rs to write them, il you will
kindly grant me space in my old friend,
"The Grit-Advocate," | would fulfill
nv promises to friends OF Sedgwick
county ia this way.
We had an uneventful run from
Julesburg to Denver; from Denver to
Cheyenne. Wyoming, and from Chey-
enne to Ogden, Utah. except that of
meeting Mr.. Joe Ottman. He is The
same old Joe that we used to rnb up
against on the reservation. Time
seems to make but little difference in
him.
Inquired about Allie McNew, but
could not get to see him. as he was
away on duty. But Joe assured me
that Allie was all right. "I've been
through the MILL" said Joe, land l
talk to him like Dutch Uncle some
times, and he is going to come out on
top"
The South Platte valley is a paradise
compared with some parts Of Wyom-
ing. left sedgwick county, the rich.
green grass waving in the breeze. as
it seemed to me in appearance one OF
the finest grazing countries have
ever seer, unless it is in western Ne
vada and eastern California as We ap-
proach the Sierra Nevada mountains.
We reached the city of Ogden on the
fourteenth, finding some friends here
with whom we spent several days, Mr.
D. N. Smith and three brothers, who
are distant relatives OF Mrs. Ball, and
l wish to say just now that it is nice
thing to "vsit your wife's relatives" "
at least it was in this case.
Ogden is nice little city of near
10000 Inhabitants, built between the
Weber and Ogden rivers from which
they get city water and water for irri-
cation. These are small streams and
their supply of water is entirely ex-
hausted by the city and for irrigation
at this season of the year, so that Salt
Lake is deprived of their inflow ex.
cept when they are not irrigating.
We spent two days in Salt Lake
City. They have made the greatest
success in growing forest trees here of
any city have ever seen. Salt Lake
has a population of about 80, 900; IS alb
solutely city in forest, towering
poplars, great spreading elms and
weeping willows, making perfect
shade seventy.five feet across in some
cases.
The second afternoon we went out
to the military post. The regimental
band was to give concert 10 the
evening. wish some of the old boys
could have been with me. The SOL
diers of today have comforts, yes lux
uries, and opportunities that the Old
Veterans never dreamed of and yet we
see reports continually of court mar
tials for desertion. What do these
men know of hardships? What can
there be- in their service that leads
them to commit such d dastardly, dis
honorable act as to desert their colors?
Is there any genuine patriotism left
in our army of young men? Yes,
surely there must be, but to an Old
Veteran who carried musket from
the summer of 1861 to July 1865 it
looks sometimes as though it was get
ting thinned to pretty near the con-
sistency OF water. We doubtless see
the dark side OF the question only
These soldiers are certainly nicely To-
Gated. This regimental band is one
of the best. In their closing piece
they divided their band in two sec
tions, one going out about one hund-
red yards on the parade ground, the
other remaining on the stand. AT
the tap of the drum they began the
same piece, those on the ground march
ing toward the stand, keeping perfect
time with the first section: marching
up the steps and around the stand to
their old positions. seating themselves,
continuing the music to the end with.
out break in time. 1t was simply
very fine and wanted the worst kind
to take off my hat and yell, but as no
one else seemed inclined to do So had
to simmer down and be good.
While here 1 went through the
Mormon temple block. There was
party Of twelve or fifteen of Us shown
through the various buildings in this
except the great temple. The great
attraction here is the tabernacle,
one hundred and fifty feet wide, two
hundred and fifty feet in length, and