The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-05-11
A TRIP OYER THE
WESTERN PACIFIC

The Western Pacific is revelation
to me.
have just made the round trip
over it from Salt Lake to San Fran.
cisco and shall carry recollections Of
its pleasures with me as long as / live.
To hear about it and to go over it are
two entirely different things.
The afternoon and evening after
leaving Salt Lake was spent in wind
ing about the picturesque shores of the
Great Salt Lake and in crossing one Of
the greatest marvels of creation-a
solid sea of salt that lies out in the
-glistening, scintillating, mir
age-colored, marvellous spectral of
white for thirty miles of ride as far as
the eye can see. If the Great Salt
Lake is mystery, then this solid sea
of salt is mstery multiplied.
| am told that it is the result of the
work of the northwest winds that for
centuries have swept the saturated
waters of the Great Salt Lake over the
vast plain the sea now covers where,
under the sun, evaporation has com
pleted the work, leaving century by
century little more deposition to
make up the mighty whole.
1t is the true home of the mirage.
Every twig blown upon its face, every
little elevation, every blowing sage
brush is multiplied under the skies
above into the semblance of all kinds
of real things--castles, domes, pin
nacles, and then the clouds drape down
over it and assume all sorts of fan
tastical shapes. To my mind this
sight alone justifes a trip over the
road and can be made, with proper
publicity, one of the great scenic fea.
lures of American travel. In a ma
terial sense it is well worth while, for
there is salt enough for all mankind
for an indefinite time and can be SHOW
eled into trains and transported from
the fields at normal cost.
The night following, / am told, was
through desert country, which / very
much regret / could not see, because
the desert has peculiar charms for me.
There is weirdness and silence and
a desolation about it most delightful.
But the next morning lacked little,
if any, of the interest of the day be
fore. We broke into the canyons then.
They are unlike any that / ever saw.
Perhaps nearly resembling the gashes
and the gorges of the San Juan OF
Colorado. | know of none more beauti-
full than the Feather river canyon. Per-
haps it does not compare in awe-in-
spring characteristics with the Royal
Gorge and, of course, l know it is not
comparable in those respects with the
Grand Canyon. of the Colorado But
for softness and changing scene and
picturesque rock formation and sat
isfying water effects there is $50 miles
of it that cannot be duplicated in the
world
Then after the canyons comes the
Sacramento valley, with the snow
mountains of the Sierras behind and
the levels stretching out towards the
Pacific. 1t is there the last desire of
the heart is gratifed. There pastoral
scenes are found that would make one
almost wish to turn from the toll and
trouble of the strenuous life to the
quiet, peaceful vocation of farming.
But go over the road yourself and be
happy.
One thing i remember of a more or
less unusual character was the unusual
courtesy of the employees. Evidently
some one in authority has directed his
energies towards the selection of gen
tlemen in the service of the company
think / have never, anywhere, Meth.
er in Europe or America, been made SO
much at home and so comfortable by
employees as l was on this trip.
The dining car service-and l mean
this just as / state it's the very best
that | have ever enjoyed as trav.
eler.
OF course, when it comes to equip.
ment and perfection of roadbed, the
Western Pacific is not yet finished
Three months more of smoothing down
and settling will make the roadbed
very fine, for the steel is heavy and
the grades and curvature are almost
nil. l am told that especially fine
equipment is in process of construction
and that that will be substituted in
the very near future for some of the
ears which now are temporarily in ser
yice-Sam NeWhouse in Herald Re