Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1906-01-04
FROM NOTES BY THE WAY"
Geo. Upham Lewis Writes Interest,"
Inaly Of His Trip West.

1 AIteT the lhbi nhnu BLCb5hAN oAA w ---De
goodby had been said we, the Lewis lam
| iiy, entered the palace sleeping car al
| Bethel Dec. Is ana were rapidly whiriec
from the good old Green Mountain state
ON our way TO the howery state OF CALI
| fornia. where we are to seek new home,
Soon after passing Essex Junction, the
colored porter began TO prepare our BEDS,
to which we soon after retired and the
writer, at least, WIS soon rocked TO sleep
to awake and complete his toilet in season
to see the sun rise over the ruins caused
| by the big fire at Toronto.
| We found very much less snow m Can
ada than we left at Bethel, in fact scarcely
enough TO whiten the ground, and think
we got the last view of it before reaching
the United States except on the high
mountains to be noted farther on.
We had quite a view OF Lake Ontario as
we whirIed along its shore, and so on out
OF Canada into the United States once
more, passing thro' the tunnel at Port
Huron into Michigan, where We noted big
cornfields in which farmers were still
harvesting the crop, assisted in some In
stances BY horses, cattle and crows, on
and on until we reached Chicago, where
we changed cars. Scarcely had our last
piece of hand baggage been deposited in
the car when we found ourselves In
motion.
Here trouble began for the worthy doc
tor who had us in charge, caused by a
blunder of the station agent at Bethel, who
assured him that he had everything ar
ranged all right, but one berth he thought
himself entitled to was occupied by
another and he was compelled ito sleep
up chamber" or at least try TO sleep.
OF Illinois we saw nothing, passing
through it IN the night and over the
.sFather OF Waters" the only notice OF
which was difference in the sound as we
ran over the bridge.
The next day the doctor began the fight
for his rights II he had any. Before we
reached Topeka he had us all ready in
case we were obliged to leave the GERS. On
our arrival there we saw him enter the
telegraph office, from which he emerged
thirty minutes later and entered the car
and with a wave of the hand said, "rhe
strain is off, take of your wraps and enjoy
yourselves. You have not got to leave the
cars until we get TO Los Angeles"
We crossed the "Muddy river" just as
we entered Kansas City and were in sight
of it for quite a while. / liked the looks
of Kansas fully as well as any state we
passed through, though il was too late in
the season to judge OF ITS agricultural
capa bilties except by the extensive fields
OF corn, in some OF which were large bins
OF husked corn. In others men were en-
gagged in gat herring the ears into wagons,
leaving the fodder in the field to be har-
vested by cattle and horses later on.
In Lamar. Col, we were stalled six hours,
mostly in the night, by the wreck OF a
freight car, in consequence OF which we
lost our right OF way and were sidetracked
to let everything behind pass US. The
town OF Lamar is said to belong to the
man whose name ii bears, and Is devoted
almost exclusively TO the cultivation of
the sugar beet, which industry he con-
trolls.
We also passed large coal miners camps
and coke ovens. Here we're enacted some
OF the brutal. disgraceful, cowardly scenes
OF the coal miners strike. Men who had
committed no offence against the laws of
the state were shot down or herded in
"bull pens" and finally loaded into the
cars and guarded by soldiers out of the
state and forbidden to return under PEN
atty of death, and that, too, without a trial
by jury in direct violation OF the consti-
tuition OF the state.
Ice on which we saw children sksting
proved that ia our run south we had not
outrun the cold. We noted some NICE
looking residences and stations where We
stopped. In some OF the towns, judging
by the smoke stacks from which issued
the black, soft-coal smoke. some manu-
featuring business vas carried on. At
"Joseph's City, there was plenty OF room
for the "city," but the only sign OF 1t |
saw was the name on board by the side
OF the track. This remark will apply to
other towns.
As we began to ascend the mountains or
divide between Colorado and New Mexico,
another huge engine was hitched on TO
help us up. These mountain engines
built without smoke stacks-seemed to be
as much larger than the moguls OF the {.
V. Ry., as they are larger than the smaller
ones. As we were winding our way up,
on looking from the window, | saw the
head OF our train far in adyanee-the tram
was made up OF 10 or IA ears and we were
near the rear-the engines belching out
huge columns of black smoke as they
laboriously drew the cars full of living
freight behind them.
Arriving at the summit, our colored
porter announced, "Raton Pass, elevation
7,60S feet, and we are in New Mexico
Here we witnessed a beautiful sunset. The
desert was walled in on all sides by bluffs
OF volcanic origin, thrown up in most
fantastic FORMS
Monday morning found us on the Mo-
have desert. Huge piles OF rocks marked
its boundaries and snow capped noun
tains were seen in the distance. Passing
around curve, we saw about half OF our
train doubling on its track as il to escape
from another train seen following far in
the rear. In the deserts through which
we passed, as Josh Billings would say,
"there was much OF muchness," and
they would have been dreary looking
wastes had II not been for the mountains
which formed the background and were a
pleasing panorama.
As we descended from the Mohave into
the san Gabriel valley, desolation was left
behind. Green fields, trees with their
green foliage, orange trees with their
golden fruit, were quickly passed until
darkn IS hid the view. Soon Los Angeles
was announced and we descended from /
the cars at 5:3O p. m, nine hours late, |
weary, but thankful to God for nis watch
ful care over US; to the conductor for his |
courtesy; to the colored porter for his |
conduct and unselhsh de- |
votiOn to our comfort.
GEO. UPHAM LEWIS.