The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1918-07-13

Colorado but otherwise is in a nor
NAL frame of mind. His letter fol-
lows;
Canon City, Col,
Sunday, July 7th, 1918,
Dear Folks:
Seated on adobe mud--dried hard
er than concrete, with more than for
y million southwestern-Co Colorado flies
spelling my shirt, disposition and
complexion, with camping stuff
strewn further than the eye can see
md my cosmos mass Of poison oak
ash till I'm worse than one-armed
bill-poster with the hives-here find
myself enjoying the wonders and
beauties OF Colorado.
The last letter wrote you. | was
'eated on a hilltop in eastern Kan.
ias. thinking philosophically as pos.
iible OF friends and home while NV
aye was wild because I'd been bun.
oed in the matter of western prair.
es. Believe me. have since laid off
hat prairie hankerlnE stuff. have
seen prairies. ] have travelled over
'rairies, have laid en- prairies by
hight under tent and By day under
balky automobile. have heard
'rairies and ! have tasted prairies
md have got my I'LL OF prairies-six
hundred miles Of them. On the morn.
ng that | mailed that last letter "a
'ou, ! packed up the camp kit and
Vomen-folks, cranked up the old
yheelbarrow and started westward
'gain We went through Camp Funs
on and the roar of the artillery
where the boys were practising to hi
he cracks in a barndoor over there
ater on; over the skyline and into
he sunset Then pretty soon tn,
wheat and corn-belt petered out ant
he trees disappeared and the SAM
nder foot hardened up and all III,
skyline stood good for was a horizon
md a windmill. The prairles opened
ip' so to speak, k,-opened up anC
'wallowed us car and all-and foI
lays and days we walowed arount
n their vitals searching a way out.
Words cannot convey the deptl
md length and breadth and loneli
less of the prairie region Of In,
lorth-American continent until on,
las become lost upon the surface q
me in an aulomobile--the make O
he machine having nothing to d
Win the matter whatever A Pack
'rd Is Just as inhnitesimal as a For,
)ut there. Dreary mile after drcar
nile the land stretched away To I'M
Vest-dried scruhby land-browi
larren land--land without sign q
egetation OF any description except
ng cactus and closely-cropped dun
'olored grass peopled only by rattl,
makes. prairie.dogs and coolies. TIL
MY way we knew we we're going OF
ward was to wet two fingers and hol
hem up to the wind or wal around I
he rear of the car now and then an
nok at the gas tank. The sun woul
'ome MP in the morning, throwing De
laps some distant train into silhol
Ute on the flaming screaming slxylin,
| Then 1t would rise higher and driy
way the gray depths Of distance an
he train would pull out of sight an
cave only the endless Telegram
ooles and me trying to close m
mouth and stop snoring under
brown canvas tent by the waysIde :
could wake up and hear the groun
logs sing. We would gather 1
hout four times as much junk as "
lnpacked the night before and bio
lp the auto tires anew. For a whl
We would so whizzing. Then the no
: ~ ty OF speed when there was not
: ne to pass by but wild-nowers. a
ma an occasional Ford, would di
. We would settle down to mere for
I've miles an hour-hour after hour,
m roads as hard as cement and
r evel as the top OF billiard tabl
There wasn't COW in sight nor
own nor soda.iountain-just lai
or auto tires to wear ont on. III
lun would 20 up the sky and stal
lver US and we would know II W
, ime TO eat, We would stop for
while and find fault with the grub al
hen go on again Maybe in the m
lie OF the afternoon a windmill won
'ome IN sight on the horizon and tn
We would rumble over a gulch a
lown we would roll into some lost
lie western town consisting of o
G store, one bronco tied before san
: me newspaper and one native citiz
=, in hlue-jeans and cane. chewing I
same cud OF blackjack he was che
y ing when Grant took Richmond In
Q or whenever Il was he took Richmo
Continued on Page Four)