The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-11-04
THE REPUBLICAN JOURNAL, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER .:9Ce

DAYS, but we continued on in an hour, Al
we were weary and anxious to reach
the end of our travels, it then having
been more than two months since We
left our quarters under the cocoanut
palms of Camp Wilhelm in the balmy,
tropical Philippine Islands.
After catching fleeing glimpses OF
Mount Shasta for some hours, we swung
close in at one point issons-where the
peak is only twelve miles distant, and it
i seemed as though we were going up into
the very shadow of the huge, cleaning
mass. 1t is one of the really great views
to be found in our country. Dwellers in
the East who have never seen Shasta,
Rainier, or Hood can form no conception
of such a sight. There are no such
mountains or views along the whole At
lantic coast, or in Southern California;
but high up in Northern California,
Shasta, 1885 feet in height, is the first
of series. Snow lay everywhere about
us, and as l climbed into the berth Of
our section at night, and the crisp air
rushed in from all the open ventilators,
gladly rolled up in the heavy blankets
provided in those frosty attitudes.
Leaving the vicinity Of Shasta We be-
gan to climb up and up into the Siskiyou
range, the ascent and descent Of which
afforded us many grand pictures. There
are wonderful loops winding back and
forth on the steep sides of those noun
| tains, where we looked from the car
windows straight down many hundreds
of feet below, and saw the second and
third sections of our train with their
putting engines apparently crawling
along like flies on the side of a wall, and
could hardly be made to realize that We
had just previously crept carefully over
those same steep sides, and the narrow
Dallarhide trestle, which is a masterpiece
of work of its kind, built for long dis
lance up the Siskiyou grade.
There, too, are the longest tunnels,
numbers IA and Is, where all lights were
turned on, and in spite of the windows
being closed previous to entering, the
dense smoke Of the engine was forced
through the cars until we were nearly
suffocated, and thankful indeed we were
to see daylight, when windows and doors
were quickly thrown open, and the fresh
air rushed in.
These feats of mountain engineering
are wonderful, and somewhat awesome
to me, and | am not ashamed to say that
creepy feeling worked up my spinal
column on many occasions during that
trip over the Shasta route, and great
sense of thankfulness enveloped me
when l safely reached its end. Once
before, when crossing the Rocky noun
tains at Ration Pass near Trinidad, New
Mexico, l had occasion to experience
these same thrilling sensations.
Descending into the Rogue river val
ley we crossed the willamette river
bridge into Portland, Oregon, where we
took breakfast, later on changing to the
Northern Pacific road which runs direct
to Tacoma and Seattle, through the re-
gion of the Cascades. En- route the train
was ferried across the broad Columbia
river, and at different times the ice-clad
peaks of Mt. Hood, St. Helens and Adams,
in Oregon, and Rainier and Baker in
Washington, formed part of the land
scape. Mt. Ranier-14, 532 feet highs
probably the grandest spectacle of its
kind in the world.
1t is difficult for the Imagination to
picture these mountains, where year in
and year out for centuries the heavy
mantle of snow and ice covering them
from foothills to summit never melts,
but through summer and winter alike is
always white, cold and glittering.
shall ever be grateful for my rare good
fortune in being able to witness all this
wonderful scenery.
After stopping couple of days in Sc
attic, our government boat the Cart
wright" brought US about fifty miles up
Puget Sound to Fort Flagler, where we
are most pleasantly situated. Another
time will tell you of the workings Of
these coast artillery posts, three of
which are grouped closely together in
this vicinity, formidable array, for the
protection of the large cities of Puget
Sound. v. D. H.