Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-08-31
SUBLIME SCENERY
LAID OUT BY NATURE

William e. Curtis Correspondence OF
the Chicago ord-Herald
Ell TOVAR HOTEL, Grand Canyon.
Ariz.-There is peculiar railway
down here. 1t is the only one | know
OF in this country over which no pass
es are issued, Everybody except the
confuc'9r and the train crew-eyen
The p' stdent nimself-has to pay
rare, ld a round-trip ticket over the
entire system costs $3.50. The rail
road is ninety miles long. 1t has no
side tracks except one TO allow the
trains TO pass. There are four pas
senger trains day, two in each di-
rectlon' made up of a baggage car and
Two coaches and through Pullmans
from Kansas City and Los Angeles
twice week. There are no freight
trains and no freight is carried ex-
cept water and other supplies for the
hotels at the Grand canyon. The road
depends upon passenger traffic alone
lhat is the reason why passes are not
gwen There are no switchmen In
the employ of the company and the
pay roll carries only twelve names.
including conductors, engineers. fire.
men, ticket agents and all concerned.
ana the track Is kept in order by five
SECTION gangs of ten men each. who
are now rebuilding 1t from the bottom
of volcanic cinder.
Among other curiosities of Arizona
are natural cinder pits-vast deposits
of ashes and half-burned fuel which
were elected from the volcanoes which
made things lively down here ages
ago. Nothing will grow on these de
posits. They are as barren as the
shell of an ostrich egg, but the cinders
make good ballast for railway tracks
and the railroad people tried to buy
cinder pit which lies only a few
miles out of Williams for that pur-
pose. The owner got 1t for nothing
from the government as part of a
desert land claim, and for years tried
TO give 1t away, but no one would take
it OFF his hands. When he discovered
that the railway company wanted the
cinders for ballast he demanded So,
900 an acre, but finally came down
to s50,0O0 for the entire tract of abou.
forty acres He owns 1t yet, There
is moral to this story. The railroad
company would have paid MIN s25 OF
even $50 an acre, which would have
been clear gain If he had not been so
greedy about 1t, but they soon found
another cinder pit only seven miles
distant which they got for nothing.
This peculiar railroad was origin
ally built by local corporation called
The Tusayan Development company
in order to haul ore from the Santa
Anita copper mine, So miles from vii
liams. The money was furnished by
the Lombard-Goode company of Bos
ton. When the mine played ept in
1901 a receiver was appointed artI the
track was extended to the Grand Can
yon. giving the public easy access tC
the greatest spectacle in all the world
There are mountains that reach al
most to the moon there are ocean,
which spread over nearly half OF tn'
universe, there are stars which spar
kle in the heavens, there are pyra
mids, palaces, monuments, cathedral
which excite awe and admiration
there are mighty rivers and cataracts
but there is only one Grand Canyo
of the Colorado, and those who hav
placed II within the reach Of ordinar
travellers have done the world an In
portant service. Formerly all peopl
who wanted to see the canyon wer
compelled to ride ninety miles In
stage coach. | made the journey one
in a snow storm and when the WACO
= rail through the forest was covere
with snow we lost our way and wa
dered until half-past one o'clock
the morning. wrapped in blankets
keep from freezing to death; ar
when we finally reached the little Ia
ern at the edge Of the chasm we cou
not wash our hands and faces becaui
the water in the pitchers was frozt
solid; and yet many people think Al
zona is tropical country.
Nowadays one can ride to the ca
yon in parlor car or a Pullmt