Omaha daily bee., 1906-01-28
A. GREELEY As A PROPHET
he Spoke Wisely When He Said Go West
Young Man, Go West"
RECENT PILGRIM SEES AND RtJoIcts
Impressions of the Golden West
sketched on a Run 90 the Coast
and Back-A Glorious
Country.

Country.
John o'Donnell. member Of the stan OF
the Pittsburg Dispatch, thus discourses
about his recent visit to 1.-THE Golden westi"
The first fight OF the eastern tenderfoOt
across the continent Of North America
the first streak from ocean to ocean drawn
across the map Of the United States--is
more than apt to awaken energies long
dormant; to stir the sluggish blood in ones
veins; to heave ones bosom in his first en-
thusiastic conception of the greatness, the
grandeur and the glory Of the American
union.
without sectional delineation or even the
thought OF II one cannot hello the drawing
OF contrasts-the comparison Of the sordid
metropolitanism OF the east with the limit
less openhandedness of the west
II is a pleasure. thoroughly unailoyed, to
turn from the contemplation OF the squalor
OF the city court, from the cramped misery
Of the tenement. to the boundless prairie OF
the middle west. to the thrice blessed coast
Of the Pacific, nay. even to the sand-swept
expanse OF the desert-for even here nature
is lavish in her dispensations, and God
does not appear to forget that men and
women and children, too. have to live.
anu 50 IL ~ tilhN DtCduSe OF lniS, my IN
ital visit to the Pacific slope. and because
OF the impressions which sketched them
selves in my mind as 1 sped from ocean to
ocean and back, I feel impelled to make
note Of those observations which struck me
as interesting and which I here jot down
for the benefit OF any other tenderfoot who
may have the notion to cross the Rockies
just to see what he can see and hear what
he can hear
Wonderful Development.
Should one desire to reach an acute real
ization of the wonderful development Of
this nation let him take a railroad map of
the United States. Let him note the num-
Der Of transcontinental lines of railroad.
Let him observe that from the Canadian line
to the Mexican boundary, over millions of
acres Of mountain and valley and desert
and prairie, the iron horse has so grid
ironed his trail as to bring every state and
territory within easy communication of the
east; and even Iowa, one of the transmits
sissippi states, can say that IL has not
seat in one Of it's ninety-nine counties that
cannot boast OF a railroad. Then let him
remember the promise of a generation and
how it has been fulfilled; and how the tide
of traffic flows back and forth growing
| daily in volume since that eventful day
| May TO- 1863, when the Atlantic and Pacific
were finally welded by the driving of the
golden spike at Promontory Point. In Nor
mon Utah, uniting the lines of the Union
and the Central Pacific railroads.
However II is not alone the railroad de-
velopment OF the west of which fain would
| speak; 1t is rather the upbuilding OF Amer
lean manhood. OF American institutions, the
rise OF sturdy Americanism In every sense
Of the word
! Good Reasons for Boosting.
But IT is not left for me or any other
transient tourist TO blow the horn OF the
| golden west; neither is il left for the
native sons. Every westerner by adoption.
no matter how recent his migration, feels
it his duty to preach the glorles of his
section OF the republic; and why shouldn't
he? Has not nature been lavish to him?
! Is he not endowed with a surplusage Of
land and all that arises therefrom; with
a climate that upbuilds and restores the
mental and bodily energies dwarfed so
/ pitifully in his fight for existence in the
| east? IL is in the west where the "adver-
! Using agent of the railroad fourishes
where every town has its board of trade
whose watchword to every visitor is: my
| boy, the latchstring is out. Come in and
be merry. What is ours is yours and be
not fearful of the cost; for we have plenty
and to spare"
Class distinctions are not fostered in
the west, and the sons of her milIionaires
| would rather discuss the good points of a.
horse than the latest development in golf.
Out there men know their own country.
its achievements and it's possibilities; they
do not dote on everything with a piccadilly
stamp. They live close to mother earth.
do these men OF the plains and OF the
mountains, and their chests are strong.
their shoulders broad and their faces ruddy
! with the glow Of health.
And after what l have seen, sketched 40
impressionistically as it may be in nothing
more than a streak across the continent
and back, I find myself impelled to utter
! again the words OF the famous Greeley.
Go west, young man, go west,
AnnihiIating Distance.
The tourist who makes his first Journey
into that region beyond the Missouri not
to speak OF the Rocky mountains or the
SLOPE" will encounter almost as many
things 10 interest him he who makes
his maiden visit to Europe We of Pitts
burg, situated midway between New York
and Chicago, generally associate the latter
city with the breeziness OF the wild and
|
Omaha, one Of the great gateways to the
west. is just AS miles beyond Chicago
Denver. the Queen City of the Plains
is 1857; Ogden. 1893 Salt Lake City. 1880
San Francisco, 1.sS3. and Los Angeles 300
Therefore In the vernacular OF the pave
when the distance between Chicago and
Los Angeles is covered in sixty-eIght hours
one finds that he has Ito go some"
stu, to quote Mr. E. l.. Lomax. tht
genial passenger agent Of the famou:
Union Pacific, the time is easy on tn,
Overland route; and the travel is just a,
easy the time. In marked contradistinc
tion to the conduct Of some OF the prinoipa
eastern railways is the solicitude exercised
by most of the western roads for the car,
and comfort of their passengers. Electricit,
is now used to a marked degree In the light
Ing OF trains. and little berth lamps in soft
tinted globes permit the traveller to care
fully undress when he retires and to reaC
himself to sleep should Morpheus prov,
tardy I'm his wooing. The current IL gen
Grated by a dynamo in the baggage car
: whose engine Is fed with steam from tn
J locomotive directly ahead. No insight,
signal rope is seen TO run from car to car