Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-28
MOST CHARMING CITY
No Place Exactly Like Colo
RADIO Springs.
BETTER THAN GENEVA
NATURAL ATTRACTIONS OF
MANIToU.
Mosquitoes Found in Mines, and White
Fleshed Chickens Hatched Above
Timber Line on Mountains.
BY WILLIAM r.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.

BY WILLIAM II. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
COLORADO SPRINGS, July %, 1906.
For several reasons Colorado Springs Is
the most charming residence city In Amer
lea, particularly because of its climate the
scenery by which it is surrounded and it's
society. Fortunate is he who is able to take
advantage of these attractions. The popu-
lation is composed of two classes-those
who are compelled to live in this climate
and those who have come here by choice
and 1t is city of homes. unique in several
respects. There is nothing like 1t anywhere
else 1t resembles Simla, the summer cap
ital of India, and bennington, England,
more than any other towns can remember.
For scenery no other city can compare with
it, except, perhaps, Geneva, in Switzerland,
and it has sunny cheerful cottages instead
of gloomy old-fashioned tenements like the
Swiss metropolis. AS Geneva is the gate
way to the Alps. SO is Colorado Springs the
gateway to the Rockies, and both have
equal social and educational advantages
The most attractive feature of the city Is
the home life. and 1t should not pc ois-
turbed. 1t should be protected from the
tourists, and that may easily be done by
sending the latter to Manitou, which can De
made an excursion place without difficulty
for II mas all the natural uldlSildl hSSSSSehiJ
and only lacks the expenditure of some
money to make 1t what Lucerne, Inter-
lacken and Aix-les-Bains are to Geneva
At present the natural attractions OF Man
itou are practically wasted Its hotels are
cheap and tawdry, it's spring houses are
worse and there is nothing about the place
worth going to see except scenery. me
natural advantages are all permanent. ana
by the expenditure of million dollars or SO
in new hotels, spring houses, casinos and
other up-to-date facilities for enjoyment
Manitou might be made as popular ana as
prosperous as Homburg, Carlsbad, klssen-
gen Baden-Baden and other European re-
sorts But as long as the present hotels and
boarding houses are permitted the great
natural advantages of the springs and the
scenery are wasted.
Few Tourists to Colorado.
There Is a popular misrepresentation ABOUT
travel, however. The number OF TOURISTS
coming here Is comparatively small II
should be ten times yes, twenty tlmes as
large Since 1897 the Passenger Agents As
ISOLATION has kept record OF round-trip
tickets sold to Colorado points, and II is an
eye-opener. ,,.
wear was only 66,155, and that was in 19o2,
when there were several big conventions III
california and elsewhere out TINS way ne
total in 1860 was only 27,77S, ana IN 1919 !.
was 81 776 and in 1904 It was 62,SiZ. !hts
season is expected to be a record breaker,
because of the Epworth League, the Grand
Army encampment ana several otneI oss
conventions at Denver; but, notWlthstano,
ing the immense sums OF money expehoeo
by the railroad companies In advertising,
this is a very small showing. ! have not
the slightest doubt that more Americans
go to Switzerland every season thah WISH
Colorado.
The people of Colorado Springs have
chamber of commerce, which acts as an
advertising and promotion agency, under
T. pIra-
the energetic direction OF MI. Henry rus
sell Wray. 1t Is making the attractions OF
the town known everywhere; but two or
three fine hotels at Manftou, reinforced by
the attractions that are found at the Eu-
ropean resorts, would be the best adVer-
tisement the town could get.
The architecture of Colorado Springs is
admirable. Not only the cottages, many OF
which types Of the best country and
village residences but the court house city
hall, the college buildings, the Y. M. c. A.
building the Elks' Club. the churches and
the business blocks illustrate the great
strides that are being made in western
architecture.
Chickens Above the Timber Limo.
F. j. Francis of Tolland, Col, claims to
have made the discovery that chickens
Matched above the timber line are much
sweeter and tenderer than those Matched
below 1t, and have nothing but white meat.
He has a chicken yard on the Moffatt rail-
road at Rawlins Pass, IL $50 feet above the
sea, where there is no timber or vegetation
of any kind except few scattering punches
of cactus and sage brush. Every one Of
the chickens he has Matched has had white
meat upon Its legs we'll upon the
breast, he says Chickens will not live in
much higher altitude They cannot breathe
If they are taken from low latitude into
the mountains. If a chicken Matched in
Kansas Is taken Immediately to Leadville
or any other of the high places In Colorado
the poor thing will gasp It's soul away in a
most distressing manner In a few days. but
those Matched in high attitudes are as chip
per and healthy in the rarefied air the
birds of the evergreen forests. Mr.. Fran
els is the only man ! know Of who is raising
chickens above timber line. He Is sending
his springers' to the Denver markets.
You can learn lots of Interesting things
out here II you keep your eyes and ears
open. Another important fact that was en-
tirely new to me Is that some of the damp
mines filled with mosquitoes at a depth
of 200 and even 1900 feet below the sur
face of the earth. Experienced miners tell
me that the mosquitoes sometimes become so
bad that the men are unable to work. This
phenomenon occurs only In shafts and tun-
neis where there is stagnant water but the
surrounding country is entirely arid-as dry
as bone-without any swamps or ponds
or other places where mosquitoes might |
breed Mosquitoes are scarce in high alti- |
tudes simply for that reason, and hence It
is a mystery where those come from that
are found In the mines.
To Tunnel the Mountains.
Thirty years ago or more Brick" POM
eroy came to Colorado from Wisconsin and
organized company to tunnel the Rocky
Mountains near Georgetown for a railroad
to the Pacific coast. He sold stock in his
great scheme all over the United States. |
mostly on the installment plan, and ex-
pended the proceeds in advertising himself
and In boring hole about $500 feet into
the granite buttresses which support the
backbone of the continent. When the faith
of the public and his money gave out he
abandoned the enterprise and went to New
York.
The scheme has been resuscitated several
times The company has been reorganized,
new officers elected and additional stock
issued, but no work has been done. 1t Is
one Of the favorite propositions for cranks
to discuss because, If people could go
through the mountains at the base II would
save lots of toll and trouble and shorten
the travelling distance across the continent
anywhere from 200 to 300 miles, Pomeroy
built fine residence in Denver. which is
still standing on the road to Golden, and
is pointed out to the excursionists on the
scenic railway to the foothills. There are
NJ or frar of