Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-13
BUILT By THE RUSSIANS
Mountain Peaks of Great Altitude
in the Vicinity.
AUTO OMNIBUS OPERATED
Vehicle Lacks the Requisites for
Pleasure-Race Of Georgians of
Great Antiquity.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of TIE Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
VLADICAUCAS, Daghestan.
June 10, 1910.
In 1858 the Russian government built
a broad highway, with a gentle grade,
from Tif1is, the capital of the Caucasus,
| through the southernmcst Of the only
two passes by which the Caucasus noun
| tains can be crossed. 1t is called the
| Darrell pass, and II crosses the grand d.
| vide between Europe and Asia at an alti-
| tude of 1888 feet. The other pass, about
eighty miles farther north, is called Ma
nilsson, and crosses the divide at $500
| feet.
| The ancients believed that the Cauca-
SuS mountains were the end of the world
because they could not get by the bar
| rier they created. These passes were dis
covered by Venetian and Genoese trades
| men. pioneer peddlers looking for Gus
| TONER'S and no doubt actuated by Curl
| osity to see where their steps would lead.
On the European side of the Caucasus,
| at the northern end OF the pass, is the
| city Of Vladicaucas, sometimes spelled
Vladikowkaz and in various other ways.
a Russian word which means the master
| of the Caucasus" and from military
sense it answers that definition.
Loftiest Peak in Europe.
Mount Elburz, 1S.493 feet high, the
highest peak in Europe. is on the north
| ern side Of the grand divide. but cannot
be seen from either Tiflis or vladicaucas.
Kazbek, 1888 feet, the second peak in
height almost Of
112 miles, can often be seen from that
| city and from this, and at one point on
| the military road, for only a few rods,
splendid vista can be had of the noun
ster when its snowclad summit is not
hidden in the clouds.
The pass is crossed daily by an auto
mobile omnibus similar to those which
run between hotels and railway stations
In our cities. The passengers occupy
slippery longitudinal seats inside, and
| their luggage Is carried on top. 1t is a
most inappropriate vehicle for pleasure
riding, and those who are unfortunate
enough to cross that way can only see a
little of the scenery on one side of the
| road. 1t Is much better to take an open
| carriage. a ''tset-viorta," as they call it..
sort of landau drawn by four horses
hitched abreast. That is open to all
that may be seen above or below. and
has cover that can be drawn over it in
case OF rain. The journey across the
pass by carriage requires two days, be-
ing 135 miles, but you have to start at
daylight both mornings. There are rest
houses on the way where one can eat and
sleep if he can put up with a good deal
of dirt and discomfort. but the best way
is to make an excursion down from
Vladicaucas to the village of KaZbek at
the foot of that mountain, which will
permit one to see the finest part of the
scenery and return the same night.
Railway Is Projected.
railway has been planned and sur
the pass. Indeed, We understand that
construction has already been begun by
the Russian war department. 1t will
not be a difficult or very expensive task,
because the canyon is wide except i'm a
few places. and the engineering problem
is nowhere near as difficult as many that
have been encountered in other parts of
Russia.
The scenery will attract many tourists.
although the Russian government cares
little about that There is nothing in Eu-
rope grander or more savage than the
| canyons and gorges and mountain peaks
OF the Darrell, and ii is equal II 1t does not
surpass, the boldest forms of nature in
the alps One caynon is four thousand
feet deep, with almost perpendicular
| walls. and for seventy-five miles or more
the cliffs and crags ON both sides rise to
height OF fifteen to eighteen hundred
feet.
From the time the canyon is entered at
the north until the traveller emerges
from 1t at the south the distance is about
seventy-five miles, and there is not one
mile without peculiar interest and attrac-
ton. The Terek river, which finds its
source among the everlasting SHOWS of
kazbek. dashes northward in tawny
torrent and the carriage road follows its
ped. On the southern slope the River
| r. oil
Followed to the city Of Tiflis For three
fourths of the distance the canyon Is wide
enough to admit half a dozen railway
tracks without entrenching upon the
Of the rocky mountain side, but in two
or three of the narrower places some
heavy stone work will be necessary
The scenery will remind you of the
you have ever seen In Switzerland or the
United states, and its greatest attraction
IS due to the forests and underbrush with
which every mountain side is clothed up
to the snow line
Glittering Dome of Snow.
Twenty-seven miles from Vladcaucas
going south the road suddenly turns a
sharp corner around a point of rocks and
the traveller finds himself face to face
with kazbek. steep, glittering dome of
snow rising 1858 feet above the sea-
There is little village of the same
name at the snow line, which is about
1900 feet, in the most savage part of
the range and the Russian government
keeps a resthouse there for the shelter
or those who wish to make the ascent.
According to local tradition Prone
theus. the demigod. who you will remem-
Der stole fire from heaven and brought
1t down to earth for the benefit of man
kind. was punished by Jupiter by being
chained to a precipice on the slopes of
kazek. The guides will show you the
exact spot. just as visitors to the Cha
teau DIFF in the harbor OF Marseille are
shown the exact dungeon in which the
hero of Alexander Dumas famous novel;
Monte Cristo, was imprisoned They for
get that both were heroes of fiction, and
Aeschylus. in writing his tragedy. evil
IDENTIFY did not know the geography of
the Caucasus for he describes the rock
as overhanging the sea, which is more
than three hundred miles distant.
There are several magnificent glaciers
IN sight of the roadway, those of Diev-
dorak being among the largest in the
world, and altogether the most extern
sive In Europe. There is none in Swift
erland that will compare with them.
For Military Purposes Only.
This road was built, like everything
else of the kind done by the Russian
government. for purely military purposes,
in order that troops artillery and SUD-