The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1915-08-19

cuIAr wan OF rock practically b6rfy.
times as high a. the 6tandpipe in
Guymon you will have fair ccncep-
tion OF what it means u step mp to
the edge Of the Roysl Gorge and look
at the trains running far below. A
fellow needs two days to -'do' the
gorge. one from below. the other
above. You can hardly do such a
sight justice short Of that time. Going
up a big grade Of 5000 feet the first
thousand or fifteen hundred feet. outs
side = few hills. appeared to be down.
grade. and II water ever runs mp hiii
it does that stunt out IN Colorado.
You can look ahead at a straight up
hill stretch OF land and II the road
turns around mountain you guess
every time that the road was little
down grade. Get up to that point
and you VIII md a grade of possibly
100 or $50 feet to the mile.
The Skyline Drive is one OF Canon
city's show places. 1t is beautiful
sight and drive and is a product Of
convict labor. The road, about 12 foot
wide. is cut along the top Of a range
OF hills 500 feet high and Is nearly a
mile and a half long. Like Jim Hem
son. when we came to travelling over
it in a rig. we preferred TO walk. At
one place on the drive they have Wild
ened the place to about so feet. where
they hold picnic parties. One bake
oven is located about three feet from
the side Of the road. II the cook
fails to prepare the dinner correctly
it is an easy matter to give him roll
OF about 500 feet to the road below.
From Canon we went over on the
Gunnison. beautiful mountain
stream where trout abound. r. b.
Quinn had been there before and
knew something OF the whims OF the
swift mountain fish. The party OF
three caught 120 fish and we guess
Quinn landed 100 OF that number
Several parties from canon City were
there fishing. but Quinn caught as
many. II not more than any Of the
expert fishermen who made the Trip
over Marshall Pass. And when Il
comes to a real ride the narrow guage
trip over the mountains west Of So.
lida Is about as nice as you will
find. You reach an altitude Of 1900
feet at the pass and atiIi Mt. Ouray
looms up thousands Of feet higher.
Mt Ouray Is reputed to be higher
than Pixies Peak and is the most
beautiful OF the two from q distance.
But being hidden away I'm the syn-
tenn Of chains II izn't visited 20 fire.
quently and isn't in Il from an adver-
'tised standpoint On the run doHn 10
Salida we had . ride Ia the engine
cab. It was dark when we laft the
big sheds at the top Of The Pans aud
the sensation Of that ride win always
be remembered. The men Ih-lhe nhed
had examined the brakes on the train
before starting and with them well
set the engineer let the train down
the mountain aide by releasing the
air now and then. for the engine
needed and uesd no power. The
track has q steep grade OF z17 feet
per mile and cost about $4,000 per
foot to build Il. We didn't ask to
buy more than a quarter OF an inch
Of the system. Dozens Of places the
turns were so sharp that from the
seat Of the engineer you could not
see a rail ahead. The headlight
would for time shine straight down
the track. then into the aide OF a
mountain or fade away entirey IN the
depth OF the valley thousand feet
below. II IL risky ride in a sense
but as Williamson told us at Canon
! City. we put our trust in the Lord.
handed our nerve over to the engi-
neer and enjoyed II ali.
A day or two later we started
home from Canon City. On the road
home we took particular notice Of
crop conditions. Kansas corn is very
late this year and some OF Il win
have to hurry to mature. In many
places the water along the big rivers
had flooded hundreds of acres Of
wheat fields. running the crop entire
~. From Greensburg west TO Guy
mon the country looked the best Of ali
TO Us. The wheat has been cared for
better, the crops look better and The
country in general seemed in : bet.
ter condition The mountains are
great for awhile. but the plains cnun.
try never looked quite 90 good 70 W
before. It seemed good to once moro
get back where you can zee as TAR a.