The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1908-08-06
A WEEK OF PLEASURE.

A WEEK OF PLEASURE.
The Reporter Editor and Family
Spend Delightful Week at Col
0radO Springs and Manitou.
DEAR READERS:-After our strenuous
week attending the big convention at
Denver and the Moffat road and "Short
Line" trips we decided to try and settle
down for week at Colorado Springs
and Manitou and take things easy. We
secured very comfortable quarters at
the Elk Hotel and then started sight
seeing. Colorado Springs is the Mecca
for Colorado tourists and it is a hustling
city of $4,000 people, not counting the
thousands of tourists who are there
during the summer months. The ele-
vation is considerable higher than
at Denver, being $3.50 feet above sea
level. 1t is temperance town with no
saloons, but the temperance is about on
the order of the state prohibition in
Iowa. While there are no saloons the
drug stores sell all kinds of liquor and
their windows are filled with displays
of whiskey, beer and wine. The drug
stores pay a license of $1,000 per year
and the only restriction placed on them
is that they must not sell any kind of
liquor in less quantities than one quart
to customer, but the customer does
not have to sign up, and the customer
is asked no questions by the druggist.
You pay your money and get your
liquor just the same as you would any
other article of merchandise in the
store. They have an excellent street
car system taking in all the points of
interest and running through Colorado
City to Manitou, distance of six miles,
although you cannot tell where any of
the three cities end as it is built up all
along just like one city. Colorado City
was the first capital of Colorado, and
the old log cabin used as the first state
capital still stands and is at present
occupied by Chinese laundry, and is
sadly neglected. Some of these times
the people will wake up and wonder
why they did not take care of this
historical old building.
| Apparently the main business of this
section is to separate the tourist from
his money and the tourist trade is the
life of the place. No sooner does the
tourist alight from his train than he is
beselged by numerous hack or carriage
drivers who want to drive you to the
points of interests, and they are pretty
shrewd at driving bargain, the tourist
being led to believe that all the places
he wants to visit are a half a days
drive and most of them crawl into the
carriage and dig up from $1.OO to $500
for each drive, and then is surprised to
find that the drive only takes about an
hour and he is ready to be caught again
for the next drive. One of the best
drivers and takers is a worlan, who
dresses in a brilliant red silk coat and
she seemed to be getting her full share
of business, but we could not help think
ing it was rather poor occupation for
a lady.
The Pike Peak Press Club kept open
house for the visiting editors and left
nothing undone for their pleasure, every
courtesy being extended and the men,
bers were on hand at all times to show
the boys around.
Our first afternoon was spent in a
visit to the famous springs at Manitou,
and trip to the Cliff Dwellers ruins in
Cliff Dwellers Canon. They have all
kinds of springs at Manitou, soda, sui
phur, iron, there being nine springs
within the city limits. We tasted the
water from all of them, but the soda
spring was our favorite, the water be-
ing clear and cold, and effervescent like
Apollinaris water. At each spring there
is a pavilion and great crowds surround
the springs many of them bringing big
bottles, jugs and buckets to carry a
supply of the water home with them
The drinking habit here is like the
liquor habit, the more you drink the
more you want.
| A pleasant walk of half mile up the
Cliff Dwellers Canon brings you to the
picturesque and on account of it's for
nation being almost identical with the
canons in the extreme southern part o
sided centuries ago, the idea was con
ceived of reconstructing some of the
dwellings in the canon. The building
material, utensils for cooking, relics o
all kinds and even skeletons of thi.
; strange race, were shipped to Manito,
} and the buildings reproduced in tn.
; walls Of solid rock just as they wer.
found in their original place. More thai
d ulllllou pOuuuS VI fOck were DrOuBQ
, to the new location. Scientific men VIII,
have carefully studied the subject sa.
, that the age of the Cliff Dwellers Cal
only be measured by geological period
and that possibly they were extermin
ated before the Glacial period. Th,
J visitors are taken through the ruins b,
competent guides who explain every
thing as we pass through. They wer'
. very ingenious in the construction O
: their dwellings, having no metal Of an,
| kind, and using wood staples set with ;
cement in the stones to fasten thei
} doors. They were an intelligent rae
: with very long arms, and from the con
} struction of their abodes must hav
! been a very strong and agile race
There is a splendid collection of relic
shown, the articles which belonged t
the Cliff Dwellers being often burie,
with them and excavations in the ruin
have disclosed articles that show tha
, these queer people had reached hig
degree of civilization and artistic abil