Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1907-10-24
FROM IDAHO
A Newsy Letter From One Who
Il There

Dear Sir: ! wish you would print this
letter in your paper. The tale is true in
all its details and may prove OF interest
to my friends il have any.
ION the morning OF Oct. | was peace =
fully keeping time in contractors camp
on Cedar river, three miles from Ravens
dale on the NJ p which is thirty seven
miles by rail from Seattle; that afternoon
you might have met me with grip and a
roll of blankets hitting the pike out through
the frs for the afore mentioned town
Arriving there cached my belongings in
store, to be held until sent for and start
ed off up the N P right of way for Spo-
kane. 565 miles away.
IF had known the character Of the
country east of the Cascades as well as |
do now no power on earth or elsewhere
could have forced me onward. Blissfuly
ignorant, strobe on. longing for new
sights and caring not what might befall
enroute.
About eight miles from Ravensdale |
entered Green river canon and it became
so dark could see nothing but still kept
on. A little later saw light in a little
shanty beside the track and, hang H..
located an old man, who was employed
watching the track at night in that vcn-
ity. He asked me to wait until day break,
as he said there we're several trestles and
itnnnale akaaA Cf nd tho ~
coming as they did at such speed on the
heavy down grade towards me would be
apt TO catch me unawares and hurl me
into the river or kingdom come or both at
once, so lay in the hut, while every once
in while tram dropped down upon US
through the black night and seemed about
to hurl the little shack over the cliff as, II
tore down the steep incline toward Tide
water, miles away.
Very early next morning, while it was
quite dark, freight coming up the grade
crawed by US as we stood beside the
track watching car after car come out OF
the backness TO be swallowed up again.
At last an opportunity offered and /
caught hand hold, swung up and, work
through the darkness; | had turned hobo
in about ten seconds Between Eagle
Gorge and Hot Springs a brakeman COM
ing forward over the train caught me, ex
tracted some money and told me to go
back into cattle car toward the rear and
he would see me to Eensourg, the enc OF
his division.
I'VE continued on up the steep grade for
miles with many stops and finally. after
prolonged halt 10 attach pusher behino,
we began the greatest cllmo of all, up, up
to the Stampede tunnel. The peaks rose
all around US clothed in clouds that here
and there were rem, showing glimpses Of
vast WOODS of evergreen and autumn
foliage. After a while glanced up the
steep cliffs to my left and seeing masonry
walls far up above | wondered what thew
could be, until | saw that there was an
other railroad away above US in the clouds
but never dreamed that later | would be
up there looking down on the track over
which | was now passing. We went
around loops where our pulling engine
was opposite me on the other side of the
curve and | was situated we'll back Of the
center of the train. Soon, looking back
away from the tram, up over one Of these
loops. saw hole in the mountain side
/ and thnnnbf ha hter ftfpral I
watched our head engine disappear ano
soon l. also, was in the darkness, only TO
have daylight appear quickly, and dlscov-
cred it was only short tunnel, foretaste
Of what was to come. We had only gone
through shoulder OF mountain. Look
ing away back down among the peaks
saw another immense freight with an en-
| CINE on each end and one IN the middle
toiling up over the grades we had already
climbed Another tunnel passed and then
on board ! saw the word stampede,
and knew we had arrived. In we crawled
and sat there in intense blackness that
was choked with sounds and engine smoke,
and wondered If | should ever see day
light again. | think that tunnel IS two
and one half miles long it seemed ten.
We seemed to be climbing a heavy grade,
hen we seemed to speed on a downward
slant and once thought, by the way the
Car tilted, we went around a curve
When we we're, should Judge. about half
way through, saw patch Of light to the
left that must have been an air shaft
Bye and-bye, faint light became per-
ceptble and we finally emerged and
dropping our pusher, began to run down
grade on the east side of the divide
The rains are beginning to set in on
the western side Of the Cascades and the
eastern slope is dry. AS we climbed up
that morning everything was damp and
cold and the white CLOUDS and mlsts blot
ted out nearly everything, now beg an the