Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1907-02-21

the growth of their crops. They pillow
these beets six or seven times and yet
have TO hoe them. One man said he
had ten acres of beets which sold for
81, 000.00
Well | left Fort Collins after
having had a.good visit with Mr.. A If
White, Ace Barnhart and others. They
think they have nice town; so they
have. | would like to live there. Came
down to Denver and boarded a narrow
gauge railroad. 1t is a good thing it s
a narrow gauge railway, wide gauge
road could not go very far in these
mountains. Wewent thirty seven miles
straight west of Denver up the Clear
Creek Canon and it takes three engines
to haul train up the crookedest road
/ ever saw; we couldn't see the top of
the mountains part of the time and
you would think there was another
train passing you, but when it got all
Strengthened out you find it is just one
train. 1t is up grade all the way and
in many places we lodged when we saw
the rocks hanging over our train; look
ed as if they would drop upon us. Five
o'clock found us in an opening or a
widening between the rocks of space
three miles long; and there is Idaho
Springs, a clean little town with sew
eral quartz crushing mills; cannot see
how such heavy machinery could be
hauled up this crooked, steep road
They are mining gold, iron, coal and
lead: and it is the first time | ever saw
gold pounded out of The solid rocks.
Saw two miners come down out of the
mountains, six thousand feet higher
than am, and they showed me some
specimens they took out OF the rock;
the gold was just as they took it out;
was very nice and some specimens
we're worth two hundred and fifty dol
lars, some one hundred dollars and
from that on down to gold dust, but
they were very proud of their speci-
mems and they nearly worship the gold;
it is the only God they know anything
about: Sunday is not known in the
mountains except when they want to
come down to the saloons, which are
very plentiful here. This is a rich
place, many rich mines, rich miners
and very expensive machinery. They
pay big wages here, from 81. so to S4. so
per day, but the mining is principally
done by the Dagoes; still thereis hard
ly day but what we see some young
boys who have left their good homes
TO seek fortune in this western coun-
try; butthey had better stayed at home
as there is nothing | have seen that
would justify a boy to come to this
country.
The climate is dry and light
as one can tell by trying to climb
some of the high mountains here
saw the noted Mount Hood, Mount of
the Holy Cross, but have not seen
Pixies Peak as yet. These mountains
are so high we cannot see only about
| five hundred feet, and that is straight
up. We see the sun from ten o'clock
in the morning till half past two in the
afternoon. The weather is fine; showed
last night but it is all gone today
Idaho Springs has about five thousand
inhabitants; is about three hundred
feet wide and two miles long. Clear
Creek runs through it which gives
them plenty of water power as il runs
very swiftly. This is clean little
town because they have nothing but
sand; dirt is thing that is scarce.
They have soda water spring in the
center of the city and hot water
spring, which both comes out of the
mountains, This hot soda spring
comes out of five hundred foot hill
where there is cave sixty foot long