The Washburn leader., 1915-08-20
that many slept there. We can
not swear to the truth Of this

not swear to the truth Of this
statement.
Near Santa Fe are many coal
mines, there are also cement
and brick factories. It is a great
cattle and sheep country. 1t
was here that we saw herd Of
goats for the first time, also the
cacti that grows as high as trees,
in fact we called them trees at
first. It is said that dry farm
ing is carried on in the state
but from the railroad it did not
look as though it would be a
very prosperous business, it be-
ing too sandy and mountainous.
A person cannot be a good Judge
of a country by simply looking a
it from a car window.
The third day out Of Kansas
City brought us to Grand Can
yony Arizona. There are a num-
ber Of steps to- climb from the
depot to the hotel but it is not
until you We walked in front of
the Ell TroWar hotel to the edge
of the cliff, few hundred feet,
that you get the startling view
Of the canyon. AT first you think
you are seeing all Of it at once,
then, as you slowly come to your
senses after the shock of the
vastness of it all you realize
that you never will be able to
see it all. We did not venture
the descent but took what is
known as the Hermit's Rim
drive and then spent the time
just sitting in one place and
watching the effect of the sun
on the barren walls. The color
ings are not as brilliant as in the
Yellowstone National Park. The
great gorge is 217 miles long and
from. 9 to 13 miles wide with an
average depth Of about a mile.
The canyon was discovered in
l540 by a Spanish explorer. Many
tourists think they cannot see
enough from the top so take
trip down the canyon to Her
nit s. or Bright Angel camps, but
after reading Irwin Cobb's story
about it in the Saturday Evening
Post, we had no desire for ad-
ventures of this kind. No one
has yet been able to give a cor
rect description Of the canyon
and pictures are hard to get as
the light changes SO rapidly. My
effort of such hard
description would be: let
person draw a crooked line on
the ground and then, if he had
the strength, rend it suddenly
apart, a partial idea Of the Jag
ged, barren walls could be inn
agined, but its wastness-never. |
could not cali it beautiful. 1t
made me shudder and want to
get away, and still stay.
By the following noon we were
at San Bernardino, another city
of rare hospitality. Special street
cars were at the station to take
everyone to beautiful park
where a. box lunch was served,
then an auto ride through. orange,
demon andsielivee groves was en-
joyed. It was hard to believe
chat 25 years ago all the land
had been a desert and irrigation
alone had made such big change
in the country. San Bernardino
and Riverside are beautiful cities
of about $4,000 each. Many east
ern people have their winter
homes in one Of these cities. At
Riverside, the ride up Rubidoux
Hill gives one splendid view
of the city and the surrounding
country. It is in. this city where
the famous Mission Inn is locat-
ed. 1t covers a full city block
and is built on the mission style.
There are more than three hum
dred bells in the Inn, each havin
q history Of its own. One is said
to have been cast in 1247. In
this. beautiful hotel are many
interesting rooms; it is a place
one would like to spend consider
able time in order to get the
full value Of it all.
That evening at $3.50 we reach
ed Los Angeles where we stayed
nearly four days.
Here is where ] pied guilty
as tourist and forgot that the
association was having q meet
ing. There was 50 much to see
that a number Of US knew we
could not attend the sessions and
take in the sights too 30 we
81