The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-01-02
TRE golden WESI
Just Few impresslons ef1ogr oN1,
elsriols Country skssehsd 4

Just Few impressions our Own
elSrioas Country skesehed =
Ruh 70 be coas and eae
shH opoaasI RaFg
patch
Tie first fight Of the E~asteffSteni
Ideffoot across the Continent Of North
EAmerica4the INST streak from ocean
o ocean drawn across ne map ofsthe
united Stste-is more than apt 70
awaken energies long dormant Q
hr lie slug gish blood In ones veins;
Eto have one bosom in his frst en-
lthusiastic conception q the greatness
tthe grandeur and the glory 81 the
american Union
ithout sectional d%elineation or even
the thought Of It one cannot help the
drawing Of eontrast-the comparison
lot the sordid metropolitanism ofsthe
East with the limltless open-handeds
mess Of West
1T is q pleasure thoroughly ullal;
Iloyed, to turn from the contemplation
of the squalor Of the city court. nom
tine cramped misery Of The tenement
Ito the boundless prairie Of the Middle
Invest. to the thrice.blessed coast q
1.-THE Pacific, nay, even to the sand,
swept expanse Of the desert-fcr even
there Nature is lavish in her dispense
tions. and God does not appear toitor;
get that men and women and Call
dre1, too, have to live.
And 50 1t is that because Of this,
my initial visit to the Pacific Slope.
and because Of the Impressions which
sketched themselves in my mind as
Ii sped from ocean to ocean and back,
1 feel inpelled to make note Of those
observations which struck me as in.
teresting and which l here jot down
for the benefit OF any other tender
foot who may have the notion to cross
the Rockies, just to see what he can
see and hear what he can hear.
Should one beside to reach an acute
realization Of the wonderful develop.
ment OF this nation let him take a
railroad map. Of the United States.
ILet him note the number Of transcon,
tinental lines Of railroad. Let him OBJ
serve that from the Canadian line to
the Mexican boundary, over millions
LOT acres of mountains and valley and
desert and prarie, the iron horse has
so g%ridlroned his trail as to bring
every State and Territory within easy
Communication of the East; and even
iowa; one Of the trans:Mississippi
states, can say that she has not Q
seat In one of her ninety.ntne coun,
ties 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 eyentful day,
May 10, 1863, when the Atlantic and
Pacific were finally welded by the
driving of the golden spike at Pro.
montory Point, in Mormon Utah,
uniting the lines of the Union and the
Central Pacific railroads.
However, it is not alone the rail
road development Of the west Of which
Ii fain would speak 1t is rather the
upbuilding of American manhood, OF
American institutions, the rise Of
sturdy Americanism in every sense Of
the word.
But 1t is not left for me or any other
transient tourist to blow the horn Of
the golden West; neither is it left
for the native sons. Every Western,
.er by adoption, no matter how recent
his migration, feels it his duty to
preach the glories Of his section Of
the Republic; and why shouldn't he!
Has not Nature been lavish to him!
Is he not endowed with a s~urplusage
of land and all that arises therefrom;
with a climate that upbuilds and re
stores the mental and bodily ener'
giles dwarfed SO pitifully in his fight
for existence in the East? 1t is in the
West where the advertising agent
of the railroad fourishes, where every
town has It's board OF trade, whose
watchword to every visitor is: my
hoy. the ~latchstrtng 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"
60. tZIte-lt agI.-s