Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1916-08-24
IMPRESSED BY
SAUK COUNTY
REV. JOHN COLLIER OF BRANDON
SAYS THAT SAUk COUNTY
HAS BEST SCENERY
IN THE STATE

ter from Rev. John Collier of Gran
don in which much praise is given the
scenery of Sauk county. Mr.. Collier
assisted with the teachers institute
at Reedsburg and with Principal w
E. Smith of the sauk County Training
school and Principal L. G -ohnson OF
the Richland Cor Soc1eN school,
attended, ,.,stotca life picnic held
Wi r. Of that day he says:
me occasion Of our adventure was
the annual picnic of the Sauk County
Country Life association at Devils
Lake. The rendezvous of our after
noon was the Devils Doorway. ga
rose by any other name would smell
as sweet" SO why not change the Sob
riquet to the Mephistopilean Aperture,
which sounds far less offensive to
ones theological snsceptibilities !?
What's in a name, however? The
| facts remain the same. This cluster
of crags (the mecca of all nature low
ers to this famed beauty spot) def
antly frowned down up the trio of
pigmies assembled at the base plan
ming it's conquest.
With the thermometer gaily regis.
tering 95 de grees in the shade, this
presented .herculean task worthy of
achievement surely.
| Despite an earlier ascent during the
day our genial guide attempted to in
fuse our fearful spirits with his own
enthusiasm to which we eventually re-
sponded and prepared to make the
start. He was veritable son of Anak
and after carefully locating the trail,
boldly plunged into the tangle Of un-
Idergrowth, encircling the foot of the
| cliff We two, constituting the re-
mainder of the party, avidly followed
in his steps, both being unblest with
| the magnificent physique of our lead
er. We could merely claim kinship to
one Zaccheus, the man of small stat
ure, who climbed the mountain, and
ere the day closed that smile had
! deeper significance to the writer.
| Zaccheus climbed to see the glory of
| God manifest in the flesh, whilst we
climbed and saw that same glory man
fested in the wonderful works of Ma
ture.
But since the pedagogues had left
their parchments, the preacher must
| quit his preachments.
| Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the
! phrase Human nature in it's shirt
sleeves" We were just it. Mutual
. interchange of pleasantries beguiled
the tedium of the earlier stages of the
ascent, and an occasional glimpse of
| the valley below elected frequent
calculations of admiration. Finally we
emerged above the trees into the sun
| lights open glare and here perspira-
/ tion and inspiration struggled for
mastery Laboriously we toiled on,
the mOnotony being occasionally
broken by grunt, or smothered sigh,
as some rough boulder was negotiated
or stiff pull encountered. Upon even
tually reaching the summit, the fa-
tigues of the ascent were soon for
gotten in contemplation of the glori.
Gus pageant unfolded before us. We
were standing on prehistoric battle
ground Here in the unrecorded ages
a cataclysm of Natures colossal
forces had ensued Whilst some sub
terannean convulsion hurled about
these monoliths in grand confusion,
the glaciers thrust had torn a gaping
wound in the. bosom of the earth, as
evidenced by the valley below. What
a hideous nightmare of desolation
must this battlefield have once pre-
sented
On this peaceful summer afternoon
only testimony as to the benef1cence
of Natures healing forces abounded
on every side. How tenderly through
the intervening ages had Mother Ma
4 AuA 0Ou IASoO ugly WOuhu0 ckhu ga
ressed them with her loving touch.
The scooped edges of the chasm she
had now beautifully dressed with
trees, garbed in all the glory of their
summer verdure, their many hued
green's lending a charming variety to
the scene. Glimpses of the valley be-
4 1rxry al II
} their wealth of golden grain, whilst
} away to the right in this gem-like
. setting of emerald lay the lake, its
: opalescent waters shimmering in the
} Isunlight. Even the gaunt bare rocks
that jutted around us and piled in
) chaotic heaps below, had not escaped
: her munifcent ministry. Their scar