The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1906-09-15
Manitou, Col, Sept. 2, 1906.

Manitou, Col, Sept. 2, 1906.
l have covered considerable
ground since writing you last aud
am now homeward bound. l have
never felt better, or had less care,
up to this morning, since l left
home. Knowing letter could not
catch me, l requested that my mail
be forwarded to Manitou, Colorado,
care of The Cliff House, and l came
down this morning and got 1t.
Among them was a letter from
VIM. LaCroix telling me Of the ac-
cldent and sad news of the drown
ing of Miss Mary Wells, and it has
completely unstrung me. She was
SO amiable and kind, and to know her
was to love her, as she was always
bright, generous and good. 1t is
such pity to be snapped off just
as she entered womanhood. Itdoes
seem that the rarest flower is al
ways the first plucked. The fami-
ly have my deepest sympathy.
/ am going to tell you something
about Denver, the Queen City of
the plains. 1t is the capitol of the
State of Colorado. Its population
is 10000 souls. 1t is a geograph-7
zeal, railroad, financial, commercial,
political and social center, not only
of Colorado, but of the Rocky
Mountain section. 1t has quite a
number of manufactures, among
them boots and shoes, overalls,
wooden mills, bicycle factory, brick,
Iron foundries aud smelters, until
YOU cannot rest. 1t has Z grammar
and 5 high schools, 1913 churches,
with an aggregated wealth OF five
million dollars. 1t covers sixty
five square miles of ground, Is
$3.50 feet above sea level, just one
mile up. 1t has a fine electric
street car system, with a half dozen
suburban lines, which curve in and
out and around glens and noun
tain spurs, giving delightful and
awe-inspiring views, over valley
and town, continually climbing by
easy grade, and finally terminating
upon the edge of lofty cliff, look
ing down thousands of feet into
some pretty canyon, or out across
, the fertile valley of the South
Platte (made so by irrigation), or
|, across the first row of mountains
to the higher peaks some sixty
miles away, and snow clad. You
, stand and let the eyes feast. and
, turn in another direction but to be
: held spell bound again. The val.
lev of the South Platte is quite
) wide, and is a picturesque sight te
| see the pretty fields yet green witt
corn, just in tassel. Irish potatoes
. are in bloom, and alfalfa is at its
t best, wheat and oats planted in th'
fall are now ripe, and are being
harvested. You see the man witt
9 his reaper and binder followed by
t men who shock, then the traction
t engine operating a thrasher ava.
t out in the fields, the great piles 0
e straw, and the big pile of sacket
|, wheat. You know they say it doe
o not rain in this arid country in tf'
e summer or early fall. October is a
t early as you can count on rain. -
It the grain lies in great piles in tn
{ field until it can be hauled to mar
d ket. 1t is quite a cotton countr.
{. too. While the weather is oftel
e below zero, the snow always fall
g with wind, and it drifts and leave
IS places bare for stock, and they seer
# to thrive, I am told, right o
# through the winter Horses d
IS well, too, and there are grea
+ many of Them
J. The mining interest here is woI
h derful. Great fortunes are mad
a daily, in mining and mining spec
ulations. Gold, silver and coppe
n abound in quantities, and they al
D. finding new veins all the time.
,e noticed in this mornings papt
d where some man had found q lea
l. in quartz that ran SIT % per to'
N and was easily mined.
re- This will be my last to you.
" have written you three letters,
Or am thinking sometimes that sou
IS. of them may have miscarried,
IS, there are two Colfaxess In this se
ton, one in Oregon and one
st Illinois.
n If l have said anything of int
Il est to your readers, ! am glad.
BIB | have not, they must at least gl'
I'd me credit for good intentions.
j Sincerely, G. II. ZEAL.