Gunnison news-champion., 1914-12-25
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. county -s.srHstenasnf nss . ''ssfs
snap. tina; she has very hstss 70 ~ ex-
eaps ride sro.ad tf.s cosntry. VISITING .
scnaol mere snd there. and have go-sss
time generally Tins may be the ~sy
thing are worked N some p.sGes. sss
certainly not N Gannizon county. where
shs superintendent mas l0os forward -
walking riding. or driving. any~hers
from ten to three hundred and hfv
mics. often throagh several feet Of
snox. to visit q school Of perhaps nine
pspils.
The Msrbie schools. situated IN the
extreme northeastern par; of the
county. may be reached by TIVE routes:
one Is to take the tram to Crested
Butte. q distance Of thirty mics. then
get q vehicle Of some sort at thai place.
and drive the remaining twenty -sis miles
across the Crystal River Pass to Mar
bic The other route is by rail around
through Montrose. Delta. Mesa. Gar
field snd PitkIn counties. and then bsck
into GunnIson county. the round trip
covering seven hundred miles. This
route is, of course, much the longer.
but considering that the Crystal Pass.
over the other route, on account of the
deep snow. ear be Travelled only during
the summer months, and that the
schools are at that time closed. it is the
one necessarily used by the superinten-
dent.
There are obstacles to be overcome
even by taking the longer route, since
at times. trains are tied up in Marble
for several weeks on account of huge
snow drifts that are so essential . pert
of that place during the winter I
should say. rather, that the train is
sometimes tied up, for the railroad run
ming into Marble boasts of but one
engine, and that an anaemic, nine
candle power affair, cursed with an
aged boiler that was never known to
get farther than twenty-hv miles
without sprineing . leak.
Miss Sara Essterly. the present
county superintendent, tells m amusing
incidset that happened on one Of her
visits TO narble-amusing it seems now,
probably more so than it seemed to her
at the time.
One time, having Hsde her semi
annual visit to the Msrtle schools, she
got on the train preparatory to return
ing to Gunnison. About six miles out,
the boiler. according to custom, began
TO leak. There was nothing to do but
return to Marble, so the train crew and
passenger got of, snd, with their COM
bined efforts, the train was pushed back
to the yards. The leak Temporarily
stopped, they started again. This time
they got some distance farther, when a
second, and more serious leak appeared
Again they were forced to return, and
in the meantime, the snow had begun
to fall in heavy clouds, with the evident
intention of keeping it up indefinitely
Naturally Miss Easterly was somewhat
worried as to whether she would get
home for several weeks, since when
once the road Is stopped with snow. no
trains run again, until winter is over
However, on the fourth day, after hav-
ing made several starts, the engine was
repaired, and this time managed to
make the trip without further mishap.
Somerset, little coal camp at the
head of the North Fork of the Gunni-
son, is another place to be visited by the
superintendent, and to reach it, one
takes the train, around through Mont
rose and Delta counties and up the
valley Of the North Fork. From here
it is five miles to Bardine, where there
is school with about ten pupils. and
since there are no horses in Somerset,
the superintendent makes the trip on
foot. OF course the coal mines use
mules for hauling the ore, but these are
usually either villainously dispositioned.
or too slow to be considered as riding
animals. On the way to the Bardine
school there is an abandoned mine. said
to be the home Of large family of
grizzly bears, and Miss Easterly con-
fesses that every time she goes on her
visit TO the Bardine school, she begins
running quarter Of mile before she
reaches thi. mine, and keeps on running
for another quarter after she has passed
it. so that she cannot vouch for the
truth Of the story, since she is always
going too fast to be able to see any
thing as small as bear.
Miss Easteriy has had several rather
unusual experiences without going out
side Of her own county to get them.
The trip to Crested Butte is often some
what exciting, with land and snow
slides occurring with a great deal of
regularity. The town of Crested Butte
is so small that regular passenger
train docs not -fip on. of 49,. -. - -