Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-22
THE RIDE TO MERGED
Glorious Drive Through the
Yosemite Valley.
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
EXCITING EXPERIENCE WHILE
MAKING THE DESCENT.
Foothills That Once Were Alive With
Mining Camps--The Grave
Digger Of Smelling.
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
BY William Z. CURTIS,

BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS,
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
MERGED, Cal. September IA. 1906
We came out OF the Yosemite by the
Santa Re stage line and 1t was a glorious
ride barring the roughness of the road and
the dust Our driver was Mr. Sleeper. one
OF the most famous characters in this part
OF the country. an old-timer who has been
staging and teaming in the Sierras for forty
years and says that the Santa Fe route is
the only one that runs sleeper. He an
swers questions freely and gives the passen-
gers a good deal of Information that Is not
called for by their tickets. A nervous old
lady was riding down a dangerous looking
trail with him once when she noticed
Ratchet lying in the bottom OF the stage
and inquired why he carried 1t.
Il use tibet Ratchet to knock injured pas
sengers in the head" replied Mr.. Sleeper.
The old lady gasped with establishment
and drew away from him to the other end
of the seat. Sleeper leaned over toward
her and, In confidential whisper. ex-
planned:
I'VE have a good many accidents on
this here line. The stages Is allus tippin
over and rolin' down precipices. and every
time passenger gifts hurt he sues the COM
pany for damages. These here damage
suits uses up all the profit of stagin'. and
we've had to stop en- SO every driver car
ries q Ratchet. When a passenger gifts hurt
we simply knock 'em In the head and throw
the body over preclpice. and then there
amt no law suit. Seer
Sleeper knew Hank Monk. the hero of
Mark Twains story Of Horace Greeleys
stage ride through the Sierras. He says
that Monk was fraud. and that marx
Twain ruined him. He became so inflated
with pride after the publication of Rough
Ing It. that he wouldn't work any moro,
and drank himself to death. other people
generally paying for the whisky. 1 re-
ceived q similar account from the son OF
. the man who owned the stages that Hank
Monk drove. He told me that Monk was
worthless fellow. and was about the
poorest driver in their gang. and that Mark
Twaln's story was pure fiction.
Hank Monk never drove Horace Greeley
anywhere, and never saw him IN his life
Mr.. Greeleys driver was an entirely differ
turesque name, and the real driver did
not. so he got all the glory. But 1t spoiled
him. Like many other men. he could
not stand notoriety, and became a town
drunkard.
The Drive Through the Forest.
You go through the MERGED grove of
big trees on your way from the
Yosemite to the railroad. You first
climb long rough road out In the
side OF the mountain, over a pass 1000
feet high, and then enter one Of the grand
est forests you can conceive OF. No
cathedral no palace, no tabernacle was
ever half so inspiring as this great temple
OF nature. = The trees are taller than the
dome OF st. Peters: they are thicker than
an Egyptian obelsk. The hand of man
never chselled more graceful shapes. the
brain of man never conceived more mag
nificent columns. One of the trees Is cut
out at the base that the stage can
drive through 1t. and other means are used
to show how large these giants are. Peo-
pie do not realize their immensely, and
are not allowed to remain long enough to
comprehend 1t. AS told you the other
day the Sierra Railroad Company expects
to extend its line into this grove and build
a $4,000 hotel here. which will be an act
Of philanthropy. The way they rush tour
lists about Is sinful. A daily stage on the
Southern Pacific route makes the seventy
I'VE or eighty miles from Raymond to the
Sentinel Hotel In fourteen hours They
call 1t the Limited" There are seven
relays of horses of six each. and they go
the entire distance. except up the steep
hills. on the dead run. Many OF the
trails are dangerous. The passengers cling
an accident. Neither stage company has
ever killed a passenger The only acci-
dents on record of a serious character have
occurred TO private parties driving their
own teams. The nervous excitement and
the strain of anxiety kills the drivers
however and few of them can drive one
Of the limited stages more than three or
four months. 1t uses them up. There Is
no pleasure for the passengers, either, but
q great deal OF pain, in making the trip
via the limited stage; but the mail con-
tract calls for high speed. and the drivers
have to get through on time.
An Exciting Drive.
Mr.. Sleeper gave US an exhibition of
fancy driving. The last five miles of the
first mornings drive out OF the Yosemite
Is spent in the wonderful forest 1 have
been telling about The trees are very
thick: their branches touch acre after acre,
and the stage road winds around in and
out among them in order to keep q per
cent grade down the side of the mountain,
which Is very steep. You go north for
distance. and then turn and go south,
like switchback railroad, and thus grad
ually descend the mountain. The curves
are short. the trees are so close together
that there 10 just room enough for the
axles OF the stage to pass between them,
and you can see where careless drivers
have scraped of the bark and gouged deep
wounds In the sides of the trees with their
hubs. II Is not dangerous road. but a
driver must exercise care and accuracy to
keep the wheels and the passengers in
their proper places
Mr.. Sleeper knew he had a cargo of ten
derfeet. and that they were In search OF
adventure. and he decided to stir up their
souls. He was euinently successful His
s.x-horse team went down that road like
an automobile "scorcher." We went 30
q
blended into each other and seemed like a
wall on either side of U.S. and every time
we passed between two OF them We ex-
pected a collision that would hurl our
bodies into the infinite. We went around
the curves at a full gallop. The sleeper
the grade the faster we went. Mr.. Sleeper
sat In a nonchaant attitude on the front
seat with the reins between the fingers Of
his left hand. while with his right he oc-
casionally ficked the ears OF his leaders
with the long lash OF his whip. and in the
most dangerous places cracked 1t like the
report OF rifle. There was an expression
OF sublime Indifference around his eyes,
and he chewed a quid OF tobacco as calmly
as a heller chews her cud In the sun. Our
attitude was somewhat different We chung
desperately to the backs OF the seats In
front OF US and bounced about as II W.
were made OF rubber. We were too COW.
ardly TO scream; we hadn't the moral cour.
age 10 protest, but none Of US ever ex-
pected to reach the bottom OF that noun
tain. and we wondered whether anybody
would be good enough to pick up the fraE-
Inents OF our bodies and give them a de-
burial OcNa 9i0naliv NJ