Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-01-02

Double under q had Of yucca OF a kee
OF water. This whole section 10 dot
ted by these squallid. huts sitting on
the crests OF the hills. There il not
a 'vestige Of foliage around them. for
the trees slip down to the foot OF the
mountains and huddle into the valleys
in search Of water. To me the sight
as 1t awakened q serious train Of
thought. What Of the little children
dwelling in those ..homes?" No 10y in
their lives. no education, no training.
and, because Of constant starvation
and overwork. not even the measure
in this glorious mountain air. For
these children life holds no more.
either in he present or in the future.
than it does for the patient burro. who
is their cOmrade. We met them FREE
quently in he paths. Stunted. bent
-hideousness, struggling dumbly under
great loads that would have e
heavy for the backs Of strong men. My
heart throbbed with pity as I net
their apathetic glances, often too
dulled by hunger or WEAKNESS to show
anything but indifference ever at the
unusual appearance of IL cavalcade.
Fl Bleak Cemetery.
We came upon q section where
great hummocks of barren clay-dried
hills rose on all sides of us, closing us
In by their ugliness. Yet of all spots
this was the one chosen for a country
cemetery. On an inaccessible hum-
mock cut by red clay bitches on a
bleak pinnacle wherosnot n blade Of
grass dared attempt to life. was a
small space with rude. in-shapen poles
at its o corners In the center Of
this rough enclosure were two more
twisted poles nailed together to rep-
resent a cross and that vas all. So
far as we could distinguish, al q dis
lance of some six rods there was alb
solutely nothing, neither mound nor
stick to mark the graves. A more
desolate. bleak. awful place 1 have
never seen.
That night we stayed at Las Palmas
where We found eggs. milk n bread.
The chickens were again so exhausted
and ltfeless that we ~dtspaired OF hnd-
ing many Of them alive In the morning.
Their constant rocking motion on the
mules back prevented them from
keeping any position during the day,
with the result that they rolled to.
gether in piles and nearly s~uffocated
each other. However. we were allowed
to let them out of their box into an
empty room where they again revived.
Eventually every one Of them lived to
reach Bucaramanga.
An Early Start.
One day more lay before US: We
hoped to spend the next night In u
W. hired house. To do this 1t was
necessary to make q before daybreak
start; So we were up before 3 q. m.
and had the numerous incidents-such
as bottles washed. water boiled. break
fast eaten. beds made up into a roll.
etc.-all out of the way before day
light. To witness 9 sun rise In the
| mountains, Is one climbs up n down
into constantly changing beauties. is
a joy which transcends all else. All
WEAKNESS is forgotten and all worries
abandoned. Il wonder how much q
| good breakfast has to do, with the en-
joyment of mountain splendorsC i
had left Las Palmas ahead of the
others. accompanied by Ramon n the
baby, as u progress vas always tne
most deliberate of the party and ev-
cryone also could overtake us later:
1t was not unit we had Travelled
through this ~fairyland for an hour or
more. that I awoke to he fact that
the inn Of the village we were leaving.
Ramon? Didn't 1 send you to get
| your breakfast at La Palmes? l
asked. =.
"Yes. sonora, you did. but they said
there was nor for me and l have had
| nothing"
Grim Worry stalksd.
Instantly the scenery was forgotten
and grim worry stalked at my side.
1t is all very well for us to go with
| out eating, but these men must be fed
IL they are to have the endurance
i needed for their work. I realized that
we could not reach another village be-
fore II o'clock, and how was that old
man to carry the baby all that time
| without food? He would grow weak,
Stumble and lose his balance on
some cliff. When Mr. Williams over
took us and learned the state OF at
fairs his anxiety was as great as mine.
But Ramon plodded safely On. over
| the worst part Of h trail that lies be-
tween Santos and Bucaramanga. Az
noon we secured him food: Shortly
| after eating, he gave out entirely, after
making several spasmOdic efforts to
bear up. We took the baby into our
| arms. and engaged another man to
follow with the basket, leaving poor
| Ramon to get ON when he could.
Naming the Rivers.
There ,is one part Of this road that
deserves our attention. Many of these
mountains are corrugated with sharp.
overlapping burrows from base to sum-
NIT. AS we slowly felt U way along
the ragged. crest of one such mountain.
we came to the head Of the descent. q
| xigzag path, scrambling its rock way
down the sharp angle Of q furrow. Two
/! thousand feet below US. almost perpen-
| dicularly below, as we gaSed at 1t from
| above, were three rivers. two OF which
formed q junction, and produced the
third. Across the deep gorges cut by
these rivers. we looked upon Two tower
ing mountain ranges. the one to the
left. black, with twisting trails cut here
and there. all showing b black earth