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WESTERN WANDERINGS AND 
 SUMMER SAUNTERINGS THROUGH 
 PICTURESQUE COLORADO + j* 
 
 BY 
 
 EMMA( ABBOTT 1GAGE 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH 
 28 PLATES 
 
 1900 
 #* JSorb (^affttnorc (pre 
 
 THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY 
 BALTIMORE, MD. U. S. A. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1900 
 
 BY 
 EMMA ABBOTT GAGE 
 
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 MY FATHER 
 
 WILLIAM MARTIN ABBOTT 
 
 EDITOR OF THE "EVENING CAPITAL" 
 
 ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 
 
 IN WHICH PAPER 
 THESE LETTERS WERE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 
 
APOLOGETIC. 
 
 One day, last September, while making a three- 
 days' trip over the picturesque Denver and Rio 
 Grande Railroad, from Denver to Grand Junction, 
 I casually mentioned to a fellow-traveler that I had 
 been writing letters, descriptive of my western trip, 
 to an eastern newspaper. He made the semi-sar- 
 castic rejoinder, " Then I suppose you are going to 
 write a book," and quoted the oft-heard expression 
 " Oh ! that mine enemy would write a book." I 
 said, " No, I had no thought nor intention of ever 
 inflicting such a burden upon my adversary or my 
 friend; " and at that time I had not. 
 
 After 4< Western Wanderings " of four months, 
 I returned to my home in the East, and found that 
 my letters had met with popular favor. This vol- 
 ume is a compilation of those letters, and is print- 
 ed only at the earnest solicitation of over-kind 
 friends, who assured me the letters received much 
 commendation, and that their compilation in book- 
 form would be very acceptable. 
 
4 APOLOGETIC. 
 
 Apologetically, however, I trust I am not with- 
 out modesty becoming a country-school teacher, 
 and one who is a novice in literary work. I, there- 
 fore, offer this word of explanation at the outset as 
 to how this volume came into existence, and trust 
 it may afford at least a portion of the pleasure to 
 the reader, that it has given me to write it. I 
 should not care to have written on its fly-leaf those 
 lines the young lady wrote on a ponderous religi- 
 ous treatise loaned to her by a good old gentleman, 
 who read there on its return : 
 
 " If there should be another flood, 
 
 For refuge hither fly ; 
 
 Though all the world should be submerged, 
 This book would still be dry." 
 
 If my enemy be delighted that I have written a 
 book, I trust he may induce my friends to share 
 with him the same convivial spirit. 
 
 E. A. G. 
 
 Annapolis, Feb. igth, igoo. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 
 
 The author desires to acknowledge the kindness 
 of Mr. Griffith, of Minneapolis, Minn., for historic 
 information concerning the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad; of Mr. S. K. Hooper, of the Denver and 
 Rio Grande Railroad, for literature and use of elec- 
 tros, and information received; of Mr. W. B. Knis- 
 kern, of the Chicago and North- Western Railroad; 
 Mr. E. L. Lomax, of the Union Pacific Railroad; 
 Mr. J. Francis, of the Burlington Route; and Mr. 
 W. E. Lowes, of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
 respectively, for the use of cuts illustrating scenes 
 on each of their roads; the A. S. Abell Co., of the 
 Baltimore Sun, for the use of engraving of Kansas 
 City Convention Hall; of guides, officials and 
 others in Colorado, Kansas City, Omaha and Chi- 
 cago for information given. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. Westward Ho! Scenes and Incidents en 
 route to Chicago over the Picturesque Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. With the Star of Empire Westward from 
 Chicago to Omaha over the Great Chicago and North- 
 Western Railroad Scenes and Incidents along the 
 Route 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. Westward from Omaha to Denver over 
 the Great Northern Pacific Railroad Scenes and In- 
 cidents along the Route 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. Denver A City of Phenomenal Growth. 
 Industrial Development and Commercial Activity 
 Its Growth in Thirty-five Years 39 
 
 CHAPTER V. Denver's Public Buildings Handsome and 
 Costly Structures The Elegant State Capitol Its 
 History, Relics and Curios Women Politicians 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. Denver's Postorfice, City Hall, Court 
 House, Clubs and Many other Handsome Structures 
 beside the State Capitol Reminders of Home Notes 
 and Incidents 60 
 
 CHAPTER VII. Colorado " The Switzerland of Amer- 
 ica " Its Early History and Development Its Scen- 
 ery Excels that of all Europe 69 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL The Sights and Scenes on the Denver 
 and Rio Gfande Railroad The Famous Loop on a 
 Bender 73 
 
 CHAPTER IX. Colorado Springs and Manitou " The 
 Saratoga of the West "Pike's Peak" The Gem of 
 the Rockies " 91 
 
 CHAPTER X. Colorado Scenery Grand Caverns Wil- 
 liams Canon The Garden of the Gods Cave of the 
 Winds Glen Eyrie 115 
 
 CHAPTER XL Denver's Oddities and Peculiarities Some 
 Striking Features of the Commonplace Order 128 
 
 CHAPTER XIL Kansas City The Mid-Continent Me- 
 tropolis Its Early History Another City of Phe- 
 nomenal Growth Its Location and Climate A Good 
 Place to Live in 141 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. Public Buildings, Fire Department, Li- 
 brary and Schools 160 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. Bits of the City's Progress Her Post- 
 office, Parks and the Central High School Building. .174 
 
 CHAPTER XV. What Others Think of Us Municipal 
 Headquarters The Kansas City Jail Other Places of 
 Interest 186 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. The Armour Packing Company The 
 Gateway of the Western Farmer and Stock Grower 
 How the Killing is Done 196 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. Kansas City Side-Lights and a Few 
 Chords of its Social Harmonies 210 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII." Armour Rose " Sells for $2,500 The 
 Famous Kansas City Stock-yards, a Sight Worth 
 Seeing From Kansas City to Omaha over the Bur- 
 lington Route Omaha, the Scene of the Great West- 
 ern Exposition 214 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. The Omaha Exposition Its Beauties 
 Dissolved Forever The Last Great Educational and 
 Amusement Enterprise of the Century 222 
 
 CHAPTER XX. From Omaha to Chicago A Woman's 
 Heroism Incidents on the Chicago and North- West- 
 ern Railroad Riding in a Mail Car 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. Chicago Sky-scrapers The City has a 
 Rival Relics of Withered Glory The World's Fair 
 Grounds The New Public Library 248 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. Milwaukee, The City of Breweries- 
 Chicago's Sabbath Breaking The Zoo Buildings 
 Moved from Place to Place 252 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL Police, All Foreigners Fine Stores 
 The Rookery Building Moving Day A City of 
 Magnificent Distances 257 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of Mrs. Emma Abbott Gage frontispiece 
 
 "Horse and Foot through Fredericktown " page 14 
 
 Picturesque Point of Rocks, Md " 16 
 
 The B. & O. R. R. & Chesapeake & Ohio Canal " 18 
 
 Harper's Ferry " 20 
 
 " All Quiet Along the Potomac " " 22 
 
 Fox River, Geneva, Illinois " 26 
 
 Mississippi Valley near Clinton, Iowa " 26 
 
 The Narrows, Cedar Rapids, Iowa " 32 
 
 Union Pacific Bridge across Missouri River at Omaha " 32 
 
 Cliff-Dwellers, Mancos Canon " 69 
 
 Tunnel No. 3 " 70 
 
 Ophir Loop " 74 
 
 Approach to the Black Canon " 76 
 
 Marshall Pass, Western Slope " 78 
 
 Currecanti Needle " 80 
 
 Chipeta Falls, in the Black Canon " 82 
 
 Royal Gorge " 84 
 
 Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado " 86 
 
 Fremont Pass Headwaters of the Arkansas " 88 
 
 Seven Falls in Cheyenne Canon " 96 
 
 Bird's-Eye View of Manitou " 98 
 
 Ascent of Pike's Peak " 100 
 
 The Mountain-Climber " 104 
 
 Mrs. Riley Picknicking in the Rockies " 104 
 
 Pike's Peak from the Garden of the Gods " 112 
 
 Kansas City Convention Hall " 164 
 
 Burlington Route's new Station at Omaha " 220 
 
 Burlington Route Exhibit at Omaha Exposition " 232 
 
 Iowa River, near Tama, Iowa " 244 
 
 Iowa Farm Scene " 244 
 
 Near Loveland, Iowa " 246 
 
 Glen Ellyn, Illinois " 246 
 
WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WESTWARD HO! 
 
 SCENES AND INCIDENTS EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO OVER 
 
 THE PICTURESQUE BALTIMORE AND 
 
 OHIO RAILROAD. 
 
 Having been born one of those questioning, in- 
 quiring creatures, with an interrogation point be- 
 hind us, and having grown up with the desire to 
 follow Horace Greely's injunction, which para- 
 phrased is, " Go West, young woman, go West," it 
 had been the desire of our hearts since early wo- 
 manhood, to peer into that great western country 
 about which so much has been said and written. 
 
 Loving travel, and hoping some day to visit 
 other lands, we preferred first to learn more of our 
 own fair, beautiful country, " the land of the free 
 and the home of the brave." 
 
 To this end, on the early morning of July 31, 
 1899, in company with Mr. George A. Culver, cash- 
 ier of the Farmers' National Bank of Annapolis, 
 
12 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 and his wife, Mrs. George A. Culver, we boarded 
 the Baltimore and Annapolis Short Line train for 
 Chicago, via Washington, over the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad. 
 
 Although much has been said and written of the 
 far-famed picturesque Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
 road, yet there is always something fresh and new 
 to tell about it when the tourist embarks on the 
 " Royal Blue " for a trip over the most historic and 
 picturesque railway in the East. There is through- 
 car service daily on the " New York and Chicago 
 Limited," trains Nos. 5 and 6, and a solid vestibuled 
 train with Pullman drawing-room sleeping-cars to 
 Chicago, and a Pullman observation-car from Bal- 
 timore to Pittsburgh. The car service is perfect, 
 the officials polite and obliging, and the appoint- 
 ments of the drawing-room sleeping-car unique. 
 Riding over a smooth and even road-bed, oiled 
 with crude petroleum to lay the dust that bete 
 noir to the traveling public and surrounded with 
 the ease and comfort of home, travel on the Balti- 
 more and Ohio is robbed of its unpleasant features, 
 and one skims through space and annihilates time, 
 all-forgetful of the miles that separate him from 
 those loved ones at home. 
 
 The observation-cars are comparatively a new 
 feature of the service, and seated in one of these at 
 the rear of the train, one has every opportunity and 
 
EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO. 13 
 
 advantage to " view the landscape o'er," and enjoy 
 the points of interest and historic significance for 
 which the Baltimore and Ohio is famous. As many 
 of our readers know, part of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 road between Baltimore and Washington was the 
 first railroad built in America. From Washington to 
 Pittsburgh it is along the line of the old National 
 Road, which was laid out by George Washington in 
 1753. George, of hatchet fame, was at that time 
 civil engineer. Between Cumberland and Pitts- 
 burgh was the scene of the fourth and last French 
 and Indian War, and all along the line of the Bal- 
 timore and Ohio from Washington to Pittsburgh, 
 are historic points of interest connected with the 
 War of the Rebellion. Besides containing so many 
 points of historic interest along the route, the Bal- 
 timore and Ohio Railroad winds through a country 
 of most picturesque scenery, the beauty and mag- 
 nificence of which are unparalleled, and the interest 
 of which is continuous from start to finish. 
 
 Leaving Annapolis Junction, which is 324 miles 
 from Pittsburgh, the first point of interest is Col- 
 lege Park, where the Maryland State Agricultural 
 College is located. Then comes Hyattsville, or 
 Bladensburg, as it was called. Here there is a 
 ford, across which the British charged in 1814. 
 The line of the Baltimore and Ohio passes over the 
 ground where the fighting was most severe. Not 
 
14 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 far away is the notorious dueling ground of Revo- 
 lutionary times. The next stop is at the city of 
 Washington, where, to the left of the train the 
 domes of the Capitol and Library Building can be 
 plainly seen, and on the right, Washington Monu- 
 ment looms up, a shining-white, glistening mass of 
 marble. Leaving Washington, the first stop is at 
 Rockville, the county seat of Montgomery county, 
 and one of the oldest towns in Maryland. About 
 20 miles from this point, the road crosses the fa- 
 mous Monocacy river, a branch of the Potomac. 
 The scenery here is very beautiful. The next point 
 of interest is Washington Junction, 14 miles north 
 of which is Frederick, of " Barbara Fritchie " fame, 
 and where the battle of Monocacy was fought be- 
 tween Generals Lew Wallace and Jubal Early. 
 About a mile from Washington Junction, the beau- 
 tiful Potomac river begins to " keep company " 
 with the railway, and continues in this companion- 
 ship for about 150 miles. 
 
 At this junction is Point of Rocks, one of the 
 most picturesque sections of Maryland. Here, to 
 the left, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal begins its 
 parallel course with the railway, and the elevation 
 to the mountain regions begins. Here, one 
 catches a glimpse of the beautiful Alleghanies 
 which, a little later, stand out in bold relief in all 
 their picturesque beauty and grandeur. It was at 
 
" HORSE AND FOOT THROUGH FREDERICKTOWN." BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD. 
 
EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO. 15 
 
 this point that both of the armies during the Civil 
 War crossed and recrossed the Potomac, and here 
 many skirmishes occurred. The next point of in- 
 terest is at Brunswick, where General Meade's 
 army recrossed the Potomac on its return from the 
 battle of Gettysburg to Washington. After a ride 
 of three miles, Weverton is reached. Here it was 
 that General Burnside with his command, crossed 
 the railroad en route to Washington from the bat- 
 tle of Antietam. Words cannot describe the pic- 
 turesque beauty of America's most historic spot, 
 Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, which is 95 miles 
 from Baltimore and 247 miles from Pittsburgh. 
 The Baltimore and Ohio has recently straightened 
 its route considerably, besides lessening the dis- 
 tance by cutting tunnels through the mountains. 
 Approaching Harper's Ferry from the east, the 
 train passes through one of these recently-cut tun- 
 nels through the base of Maryland Heights. Here, 
 the new steel bridge over the Potomac is crossed, 
 and a stop is made at the station, where there is a 
 monument to John Brown. To the left is the 
 Shenandoah river, another branch of the Potomac. 
 Across the Shenandoah river can be seen the big 
 mountain known as Loudon Heights, on the Vir- 
 ginia side, and back of the town to the west is Boli- 
 var Heights. Back of a little Catholic church on 
 the hill is Jefferson's Rock, where one of the grand- 
 
1 6 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 est views of the mountain, river and valley can be 
 obtained. This is so named because Thomas Jef- 
 ferson said the view from here was "-worthy a trip 
 across the Atlantic." 
 
 It was at Harper's Ferry that the strife leading to 
 the Civil War had its birth, and here it was that 
 John Brown, of Ossawatomie fame, with his little 
 band of brave but fanatic followers, shed the first 
 blood. The monument to him, referred to pre- 
 viously, is a simple shaft, and stands on the spot 
 where his improvised " fort " stood forty years ago. 
 Alongside the monument are government tablets, 
 on which the story of the invasion of Harper's 
 Ferry is emblazoned. Below the present railway 
 track, and to the right, along the Potomac, can be 
 seen the old foundation, all that is left of the United 
 States arsenal once located here. 
 
 After passing Shenandoah Junction, where many 
 skirmishes of the Civil War took place, Duffields, 
 West Virginia, is reached. Here, General Drake, 
 of Revolutionary fame, is buried a short distance 
 from the station. Next along the route is Kear- 
 neysville, famous during the Revolutionary War. 
 Here are still standing the homes of Generals Gates 
 and Charles Lee, of Revolutionary fame. General 
 Robert E. Lee passed through this place on his way 
 to Antietam. The historic city of Martinsburg, 
 which played an important part in the Civil War, 
 
EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO. I/ 
 
 is the next point of interest en route. It was here 
 that wholesale destruction of railroad property of 
 the Baltimore and Ohio by Stonewall Jackson took 
 place. His army carried away eight Baltimore and 
 Ohio engines, hauling them by men and horses 30 
 miles, to be placed on southern roads and used by 
 his army. 
 
 In passing, one catches a sight of North Moun- 
 tain, where the battle of that name between General 
 Averill's and General Lee's forces took place. 
 
 Sir John's Run, West Virginia, is a town founded 
 long before the Revolution and so named because 
 it was once the headquarters of Sir John Sinclair, 
 who was General Braddock's quartermaster. This 
 place is famous for having been the scene of the 
 building of the first steamboat that was run on the 
 Potomac, of which Ramsay was the builder. Pass- 
 ing several points of more or less historic interest, 
 Cumberland, the Queen City of Maryland, 1,000 
 feet above sea-level, is reached. Here, at Fort 
 Cumberland, General Braddock and General 
 George Washington made their headquarters dur- 
 ing the French and Indian War, on a bluff at the 
 junction of Wills creek with the Potomac river. 
 On this site an Episcopal church now stands. 
 Leaving Cumberland, the railway winds along 
 Wills creek, which flows through a natural pass in 
 Wills Mountain, called The Narrows, on either side 
 
?8 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 of which the mountain sides are steep and precipi- 
 tous. In the "Virginians," Thackeray describes 
 Wills creek and the two ranges of the Laurel Hills 
 and the Alleghanies. At the entrance of the gorge, 
 and to the left is the National Bridge, a great stone 
 structure, built by the government during the 
 " twenties," through the influence of Henry Clay 
 and other western statesmen interested in public 
 improvement. The bed of the railroad here had to 
 be cut through solid rock in many places. 
 
 Going west, Bear's Heights is on the right and 
 Mount Nebo on the left, and flowing between these 
 is Wills creek. This, and Wills Mountain, take 
 their name from an old Suwanee Chief, Will. One 
 side of Bear's Heights is almost perpendicular, and 
 to this has been ascribed the name Lover's Leap, 
 to which is attached a legend that an Indian maiden 
 cast herself from its summit to the rocks below in 
 her grief at her lover's death. Two miles west of 
 this, and to the right, is to be seen Devil's Back- 
 bone, a narrow ledge of rock imbedded in the 
 mountain, the peculiar shape of which accounts for 
 the name. West of Cumberland, the Baltimore and 
 Ohio is along the route originally selected by 
 George Washington as the best avenue for com- 
 merce to Pittsburgh, and is said to have been 
 founded in 1753. At Bowman, Pennsylvania, is 
 the famous horse-shoe curve, the heel prints of 
 which are not more than 200 yards apart. 
 
THE BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD AND CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL. 
 
EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO. 19 
 
 Passing on, and 225 miles from Baltimore, the 
 road reaches an elevation of 2,286 feet. Here is 
 located Sand Patch, so named because in the early 
 part of this century two brothers quarreled here, 
 one fatally shooting the other. The tragedy oc- 
 curred near a large deposit of sand, and was re- 
 ferred to by witnesses throughout the trial as " sand 
 patch." Here it is that the railroad attains the 
 greatest altitude on this division, the summit of the 
 mountain over the tunnel being 2,467 feet above 
 tidewater. Passing on over a distance of between 
 40 and 50 miles, and through cities and towns of 
 more or less historic interest, a stop is made at 
 Ohio Pyle, Pennsylvania, on the Youghiogheny 
 river. 
 
 Here, the wild and mountainous scenery is in- 
 deed beautiful, and one cannot but admire nature's 
 magnificent handiwork while one looks " through 
 nature up to nature's God." The Youghiogheny 
 river, which is now shortened into Yough, is so 
 called from a legend which says a fight once oc- 
 curred here between an Irishman and an Indian. 
 The Irishman had agreed that the Indian should 
 cry out " enough " when the pugilist of Erin had 
 exercised the " manly art " on his nibs to the extent 
 of human endurance. The Indian forgot the word 
 " enough," or else could not pronounce it, and kept 
 on crying out " Yough ! Yough ! " The Irishman 
 
2O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 became incensed, and told the Indian if he cried out 
 "" yough " again he would kill him, hence the name 
 "" Youghiogheny." 
 
 Three miles from here is Fort Necessity, where 
 the American troops surrendered to the French, 
 July 4th, 1754. At Connelsville, Pennsylvania, is 
 located the greatest coke region of the world. Here 
 are to be seen coke ovens on both sides of the rail- 
 way, with flames shooting out from them and light- 
 ing the vicinity like so many blazing torches in line 
 with the procession. At the confluence of the 
 Youghiogheny and the Monongahela rivers is lo- 
 cated McKeesport, Pennsylvania, an important 
 manufacturing centre, where are situated the 
 largest tube works in the world. Beside these, are 
 the Bessemer Steel Works and Armor Piercing 
 Projectile Works. 
 
 Braddock, Pennsylvania, is the next point of in- 
 terest, named after General Braddock, who was 
 killed here in the French and Indian War, after the 
 fatal sixty days' march. His grave is near the old 
 National Road. Near this place are the Edgar 
 Thompson Rail Mills and the Carnegie Steel Com- 
 pany's Works. Pittsburgh is now reached, which 
 town was founded by George Washington in 1753. 
 It was captured by the French and called Fort Du- 
 quesne, recaptured by the British and called Fort 
 Pitt, after the distinguished statesman. It was after- 
 
EN ROUTE TO CHICAGO. 21 
 
 wards called Pittsburgh, and is the centre of the 
 greatest iron industries of the United States. At 
 this point, night comes on. The train arrives at 
 7.20 p. m. and leaves at 6.35 ditto verifying Mark 
 Twain's version of the usefulness of railroad time- 
 tables, that one leaves a place an hour before arriv- 
 ing there. At Pittsburgh, therefore, everybody 
 sets his watch back an hour, from eastern to central 
 time. The observation-car was here taken off, as 
 nightfall prohibited its use, and reading was resort- 
 ed to in the Pullman until the hour of making up 
 the sections in the sleeper rolled around. Soon all 
 had turned in, and sepulchral silence reigned over 
 all save for the whistle of the engine ever and anon, 
 or the snore of the fellow in the adjoining section, 
 which was a gentle reminder of things ethereal even 
 on a fast-flying Royal Blue. The sunrise re- 
 vealed a striking contrast with the undulating, 
 mountainous scenery of the previous day, for now 
 the land, broad and flat, stretched far out, without 
 a semblance of a hill to be seen anywhere as far as 
 the eye .could reach. Little of interest is to be seen 
 until South Chicago is reached at 8 a. m., and an 
 hour later, No. 5 lightens its burden of living 
 freight at Grand Central Station, Chicago. 
 
 This is one of the handsomest stations in the 
 country. Its interior is of massive marble columns 
 supporting the graceful arches of Mosaic work, and 
 
22 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 resting on a handsome floor of tiling, kept scrupu- 
 lously clean a matter to be wondered at in dirty, 
 muddy Chicago. The trip is made on time, with- 
 out a jar or a mishap, and one arrives in the 
 World's Fair city as refreshed and ambitious as 
 though he had only " stepped " to Baltimore in- 
 stead of to Lake Michigan. So easy is the road- 
 bed of the Baltimore and Ohio, so complete the 
 service, so elegant the appointments which sur- 
 round the traveler with all the comforts of home, 
 that the Royal Blue may truly be said to be the 
 finest train-system in the East. 
 
 At Chicago, we parted company with our de- 
 lightful traveling companions, Mr. and Mrs. Cul- 
 ver. They continued the journey to their object- 
 ive point, Fargo, North Dakota, by a different 
 route from that which we had chosen to Denv.v. 
 At Fargo, the Culvers were to be the guests of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Edwin F. Ladd, of the North Dakota 
 Agricultural College, relatives whom they had not 
 seen for years. 
 
 It was not without regret that we came to the 
 " parting of the ways," and good-byes were said, 
 and the remainder of the trip westward made alone. 
 
ALL QUIET ALONG THE POTOMAC." BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 WITH THE STAR OF EMPIRE. 
 
 WESTWARD FROM CHICAGO TO OMAHA OVER THE GREAT 
 
 CHICAGO AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILROAD 
 
 SCENES AND INCIDENTS ALONG 
 
 THE ROUTE. 
 
 Vacation days, looked forward to with eager an- 
 ticipation and enjoyed with keen relish, are ended 
 for the average bread-winner, when for some they 
 are just about to begin. It would not do for all 
 to take vacation at once, there would be nobody 
 at home to sew on Johnnie's buttons, or darn Su- 
 sie's stockings, or make the baby a frock. So off 
 we go in sections; and some of us are pleased at be- 
 ing in the tail end of the procession, and not with 
 the hilarious band-wagon that went along in the 
 burden and the heat of the mid-summer day. 
 
 You dropped us or we dropped ourselves in 
 the foregoing chapter, at Chicago, the bustling, 
 hustling World's Fair city, adjacent to which Dame 
 Nature has scattered her gifts in such prodigal pro- 
 fusion, especially along the line of the famous Chi- 
 cago and North-Western Railway. Arriving at 
 
24 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Chicago via the Baltimore and Ohio, en route for 
 Denver, one proceeds to the station of the Chicago 
 and North-Western, the pioneer line west and 
 northwest of Chicago. Here, one finds the most 
 urbane officials, ready and willing to give all infor- 
 mation desired. 
 
 To facilitate matters, a corps of uniformed at- 
 tendants has been provided at the Chicago Pas- 
 senger Station of the North-Western line, to render 
 both incoming and outgoing passengers all neces- 
 sary assistance. These attendants wear blue uni- 
 forms and bright red caps, and one or more of them 
 is to be found on the platform at the arrival of 
 each train, to assist persons in feeble health, help 
 with hand-baggage, and direct the way to street- 
 cars, cabs, omnibuses or coupes. Their service is 
 entirely free, and no " tips " are necessary. We re- 
 ceived the most polite attention from one of these 
 attendants, or " ushers " as they are called, and on 
 inquiry found him to be Frederick G. Follett, usher 
 No. 4, whose polite service won favor with us, and 
 was a drawing card for the road. 
 
 Most Colorado passengers leave Chicago on the 
 " Colorado Special " at 10 a. m., which arrives in 
 Denver at 2.55 p. m., next day. This train 
 has through drawing-room, buffet-, smoking- and 
 library-cars, also free reclining-chair-cars to Den- 
 ver, with dining-cars, meals a la carte. There is 
 
FROM CHICAGO TO OMAHA. 25 
 
 everything provided that makes traveling easy and 
 comfortable on the trains of the Chicago and 
 North- Western, which is a standard of excellence 
 in railway construction, operation and equipment. 
 The service is the best, and is thoroughly appre- 
 ciated by the average tourist. The Chicago and 
 North-Western Railway is the greatest railroad 
 system of the West, reaching with its 7,997 miles 
 of road (including 175 miles of side-track in Chi- 
 cago), and by traffic arrangements with other rail- 
 ways, 7,350 stations located on 41,000 miles of rail- 
 road. 
 
 This is one-ninth of the entire railroad mileage of 
 the world, and one-fourth of the railroad mileage 
 of the United States. The Chicago and North- 
 Western has along its line more manufactories than 
 any other western railroad, and it offers large in- 
 ducements; and, with its eye ever open to progress, 
 it invites eastern manufacturers contemplating 
 moving, or establishing branch manufactories in 
 the West, to ascertain the advantages to be gained 
 along its route before locating elsewhere. Push, 
 progress, persistence and pre-established success 
 are synonymous with the Chicago and North-Wes- 
 tern. It reaches, with its own rails, the famous 
 water-powers, iron-ore ranges, coal-fields, hard- 
 and soft-lumber districts located in northern Illi- 
 nois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and 
 
26 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 South Dakota. As the present road stands, it is 
 the result of a series of consolidations and numer- 
 ous constructions under various corporate names 
 and during a series of years. The earliest-built 
 portion of the road was incorporated in the State 
 of Illinois in 1836, and was constructed from Chi- 
 cago to Galena. 
 
 The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Com- 
 pany was incorporated, January i6th, 1836, and 
 was provided with a " saving clause " in its charter, 
 whereby the contemplated road might be made a 
 " good turnpike " instead of a railroad. Whether 
 hesitating over which it should be, or simply wait- 
 ing for the " Star of Empire," it exhibited no es- 
 pecial vitality for some time; and ten years after its 
 organization, found the directors of the company 
 seriously discussing the policy of turning their at- 
 tention backward from the wilds of Illinois, and 
 first building their road eastward to meet the Mich- 
 igan Central Railroad, which was then halting at 
 New Buffalo, Indiana. They, however, did decide 
 to venture westward, and the first ten miles of road, 
 Chicago to Harlem, was completed, December 
 3Oth, 1848. At this time, the superior advantages 
 of " T-rail " became apparent, and the " strap-rail " 
 with which the road had been laid, was taken up, 
 and the iron " T-rail " put down. This again, with 
 the further march of improvement, has given place 
 
FOX RIVER, GENEVA, ILLINOIS. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, NEAR CLINTON, IOWA. 
 
FROM CHICAGO TO OMAHA. 2J 
 
 to the eighty-pound-per-yard steel rail, with which 
 the line is now laid. The history of the road is 
 replete with interest, and its success has been phe- 
 nomenal. It has well won its claim to the title of 
 " Greatest Railroad System of the West." 
 
 In passing it will not be amiss to mention that 
 the Chicago and North- Western Railway is cele- 
 brated for the numerous charming resorts on its 
 lines. Among these are the lakes and woodlands 
 of northern Wisconsin and Michigan, which offer 
 a paradise to the exponent and lover of the rod and 
 gun. 
 
 There is a multitude of these lakes, named and 
 unnamed, but one delightful resort, which has 
 grown in popularity with victims of hay-fever, asth- 
 ma, throat and lung troubles, is Gogebic Lake, situ- 
 ated in a romantic forest which extends over nor- 
 thern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Mich- 
 igan. It is highly recommended by physicians, 
 and attracts thousands to its shores. It has an un- 
 varying temperature of 42 degrees, and one of its 
 attractions is an artesian well, flowing 2,500 gal- 
 lons per hour of the purest and most refreshing 
 water. It is 1,400 feet above ocean-level and 900 
 feet above Lake Superior. 
 
 But this is a little off our line of travel, and we 
 must confine ourselves to straight roads with no 
 side-tracks. Leaving Chicago, there are 23 sta- 
 
28 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 tions before reaching the Union Pacific Transfer 
 and arriving at Omaha. The scenery is more or 
 less picturesque along the route, and there are mul- 
 titudes of points of interest. We shall only at- 
 tempt to mention some of them. We passed Ge- 
 neva, DeKalb, Rochelle, Clinton, DeWitt, Cedar 
 Rapids and Marshalltown. Here, a number of 
 passengers left the train, among them a lady from 
 Hagerstown, on a visit to relatives, whom she had 
 not seen for many years. Leaving Marshalltown 
 we arrived at Nevada, then Ames. Here, a num- 
 ber of students, on their way to college, left the 
 train. At Ames, Iowa, is located the Iowa State 
 College, a co-educational institution. The presi- 
 dent is Prof. Byer, a graduate of Johns Hopkins 
 University, Baltimore. 
 
 The college is a handsome building, with spa- 
 cious grounds. Several elegant residences are 
 erected on the campus; in one of these resides Sec- 
 retary Wilson and his charming family. The sec- 
 retary is instructor of agriculture at the college. 
 It seemed odd to see the students entering college 
 for another term in the month of August. On in- 
 quiry of one of them, an exceedingly clever young 
 girl, we were informed that the vacation in Iowa 
 was in winter, not in summer. Leaving Ames, the 
 next stop is at Boones. Here, all passengers were 
 on the qui vive for a wreck that had occurred the 
 
FROM CHICAGO TO OMAHA. 29 
 
 day previous, and in which the engineer and fire- 
 man were killed. At this point in the road there is 
 a short curve, and it was said the train East-bound 
 jumped the track, the engine falling over the em- 
 bankment and derailing the coaches. There they 
 lay, a twisted mass of wood and iron, a gruesome re- 
 minder of the accident of a few hours previous. We 
 were told that Kate Shelly, of whom we are about 
 to speak, made herself useful on this occasion, as 
 well as on one other, and was at the scene of the 
 accident with bandages, her camphor and whiskey 
 bottle, administering to the wounded and dying. 
 
 Leaving Boones about 10 miles away, we cross- 
 ed the bridge which Kate Shelly has made famous 
 by her heroism, and which is now called " Kate 
 Shelly's Bridge." Here, some years ago, the afore- 
 said Kate Shelly crawled on her hands and knees, 
 waving a lantern, to warn a coming train of danger, 
 thus saving hundreds of lives from a horrible death. 
 Kate lives in a humble little cottage that can be 
 seen from the bridge. At Jefferson, darkness be- 
 gins to close in upon us, and we go whizzing along 
 passing Carroll, Denton and Missouri Valley, un- 
 til Council Bluffs is reached at 11.20 p. m. The 
 Union Pacific Transfer station is made at 11.30 and 
 we cross the bridge to Omaha, the terminus of the 
 Chicago and North- Western, a road over which we 
 traveled with much comfort, pleasure and interest; 
 
30 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 and the complete service, polite officials and unique 
 appointments of which commend themselves to the 
 tourist. On we go, westward with the " Star of 
 Empire." A little more than a baker's dozen of 
 hours before, we had been in the midst of the smoke 
 and noise of bustling, busy Chicago, and now, we 
 were on the borderland of that great plain that 
 stretches away to Granite Canon, and the summit 
 of the Rockies. Truly steam annihilates space ; and 
 man's skill and ingenuity overcomes difficulties. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 WESTWARD FROM OMAHA TO DENVER OVER THE GREAT 
 
 NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD SCENES AND 
 
 INCIDENTS ALONG THE ROUTE. 
 
 At Omaha, we were 569 miles from Denver. We 
 are now traveling on the Union Pacific, one of the 
 finest equipped roads in the country. It is nearly 
 midnight and we are about to turn in and enjoy 
 one of the new sleepers of the Union Pacific's 
 railroad palaces, which were specially built for the 
 company, and recently put into service on their 
 famous fast trains. 
 
 These veritable railroad palaces are broad, vesti- 
 buled, twelve-section, drawing-room, smoking- 
 room cars, heavily draped in silk, with seats of em- 
 bossed silk-plush, and wood-work decorated in the 
 most unique and artistic style. The berths are four 
 inches wider than usual, thus adding to the comfort 
 of the traveler. In the ladies' dressing-room on 
 these cars, an innovation in the form of an empire 
 dresser, with heavy plate mirrors, is an added feat- 
 ure. In the Union Pacific trains the arrangement 
 of the gas lamps is also unique. These are set in 
 
32 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 recesses, giving a much softer tone of illumination 
 than otherwise. 
 
 On inquiry, we find that the first settlement was 
 made at Omaha in 1854, and that it was named 
 from the Omaha Indians who then possessed the 
 country. In its embryo, Omaha was a mud-hole; 
 to-day, it is one of the finest paved cities in the 
 West. Its population is about 140,500, and in 
 1880, it had a population of only 30,000. The Un- 
 ion Pacific Railroad has a handsome bridge con- 
 necting Omaha, Nebraska, with Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa. This bridge is 1,750 feet long and 70 feet 
 above the water, and is the only double-track steel 
 bridge over the Missouri. It provides for the great 
 transcontinental traffic from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific coasts. The exposition was still in progress 
 at Omaha, and the attendance had been good. It 
 was expected to close in November, and had been 
 very successful throughout. A large number of 
 visitors to the exposition left the train at Omaha, 
 and others who had been " doing it," boarded the 
 train " for green fields and pastures new." 
 
 Four miles from Omaha to the south, is South 
 Omaha. It has been dubbed the "Magic City," 
 and is connected by railroad and street-railway with 
 Omaha. It was once a suburb of that city, and 
 its rise in comparatively a few years to the third 
 greatest live-stock market, and meat-packing cen- 
 
THE NARROWS, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. 
 
 UNION PACIFIC BRIDGE ACROSS MISSOURI RIVER AT OMAHA. 
 
FROM OMAHA TO DENVER. 33 
 
 tre, is phenomenal. About 40 miles further on, we 
 reach Fremont, which is situated in the midst of 
 the richest and most productive portion of the 
 Platte Valley. At this point the valley stretches 
 away in all directions as far as the eye can reach. 
 Another 30 miles, and Schuyler is reached. It is 
 the seat of Colfax county, and is a growing and en- 
 terprising town. Schuyler does a large business 
 in wheat shipments. We are still in Nebraska; and 
 about 1 8 miles from Schuyler we reach Columbus, 
 which, in 1864, was the frontier town of the State. 
 At this time there were few settlers in Nebraska be- 
 yond the town of Columbus. To-day it has a 
 population of 4,150. In the " sixties," Mr. George 
 Train called Columbus the geographical centre of 
 the United States, and advocated the removal of 
 the National Capital to this place. 
 
 Proceeding on our westward course, 40 miles 
 further on, a stop is made at Central City, the 
 county seat of Merrick county. It is located in 
 the southern part of the county, and is its business 
 centre, commanding as it does, a good trade. 
 Grand Island, Nebraska, is the next stop. It has 
 a population of 9,000 and is a large and important 
 business place and railroad-junction. Several 
 hundred men are employed at the Union Pacific 
 machine- and repair-shops, which are located there. 
 The station was named Grand Island, from an 
 
34 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 island in the Platte river, two miles from this point. 
 The island, which is 30 miles long and 4 miles wide, 
 is the largest in the river. South of the ridge, sepa- 
 rating the valley from the Platte and Wood rivers, 
 Kearney is located. Situated as it is, Kearney af- 
 fords the natural opportunity for the establishment 
 of three artificial lakes, giving an immense water- 
 power, the capacity of which is scarcely disturbed 
 by the various manufacturing plants now operated 
 by it. Another stop is made at Lexington, Ne- 
 braska, which is the centre of a rich agricultural and 
 fertile district. About 60 miles west of this point, 
 we reach North Platte, Nebraska, arriving here at 
 half-past seven in the morning by central time, and 
 leaving (a la Mark Twain, " before we got there ") 
 at 6.30 a. m., mountain-time. Here we set our 
 watches back an hour, and now we are two hours 
 slower than when we left Annapolis. We had for- 
 gotten all about the change of time from central to 
 mountain, and in consequence arose an hour earlier 
 than we otherwise should, fearing the porter had 
 neglected to call us in time for the " last call for 
 breakfast." The change in time corresponding to 
 change in longitude, is to some, quite puzzling, 
 and is the occasion for ludicrous incidents, often- 
 times. North Platte, where the time changes from 
 central to mountain, is the headquarters of the 
 largest live-stock interests in the State of Nebraska 
 horses, cattle and sheep. 
 
FROM OMAHA TO DENVER. 35 
 
 At last we are out of Nebraska, and the first stop 
 made in Colorado (the State the name of which is 
 of Spanish origin, and means red or colored, and 
 is so called because of the ruddy-colored sand- 
 stone prevalent throughout its borders) is at Jules- 
 burg, 197 miles from the city of Denver. 
 
 Julesburg has about 600 inhabitants, and is 
 named for one, Jules Burg, who was a resident of 
 the town in 1 860-61. He was a desperado, and is 
 said to have " died with his boots on." At Jules- 
 burg, the train stopped for quite a little while, and 
 a number of the tourists got off and enjoyed the 
 famous Colorado morning air and sunshine. We 
 were very much amused at a large placard posted 
 in the telegraph office at the station. Emblazoned 
 in large type was the following startling advertise- 
 ment, " Wanted A Bride and Groom." 
 
 At first, we were puzzled to know if weddings are 
 such an unknown quantity in this State that the 
 exponents must needs be advertised for. On in- 
 quiry, however, we were informed there was to be 
 a carnival, at which the drawing card would be 
 several weddings of those who were willing to be 
 " tied up " publicly in odd and grotesque costumes. 
 As an incentive to help advertise King Carnival, the 
 brides were to be given handsome presents. One 
 of these carnivals occurred during our sojourn in 
 the West, at which one of the grooms was a phy- 
 
36 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 sician and he and his bride were married in Indian 
 costume. 
 
 Another station of importance in Colorado, is 
 La Salle. It is 46 miles from Denver, and is a junc- 
 tion for the Union Pacific and Denver Short Line 
 Branch for Julesburg. Crossing the prairies, there 
 were many things that attracted our notice. Chief 
 among these was the fact that no matter how small 
 a town or a burg, the village or hamlet, if only a 
 dozen houses, there was always a school. The 
 people in the west believe in education, and their 
 schools are monuments to that belief. They are 
 no shoddy affairs either; they are modern buildings, 
 well painted, with good play-grounds, and attrac- 
 tive surroundings. We were commenting upon the 
 numerous schools in the small towns en route, when 
 we were told that Colorado has more school-ground 
 for its size than any State in the Union; but of this 
 we shall speak later. 
 
 The little, chubby prairie-dogs were objects of 
 interest to the tourist. For miles along the rail- 
 road were to be seen their mud- and sand-houses. 
 These dogs are curious little creatures, and, at a 
 distance, do not look unlike the chipmunk. They 
 are agile and playful, jumping and running about 
 in apparent great glee. Here and there, whole 
 families and villages of these prairie-dogs were to 
 be seen, when occasionally there would be but one 
 
FROM OMAHA TO DENVER. 37 
 
 or two, perhaps the more seclusive and aristocratic 
 of the settlement, whose clannishness forbade them 
 from mingling with the common herd. We no- 
 ticed a number of ranches as we neared Denver, 
 and camping-out parties were not infrequent along 
 the route after Colorado was reached. Some In- 
 dians in their native costume were to be seen at the 
 stations, and one little fellow in our car called to 
 his mama to come to the window and look at " a 
 real live Indian." 
 
 After a most delightful and thoroughly comfort- 
 able ride of 569 miles from Omaha, and 1,062 miles 
 from Chicago, Denver is reached at 2.55 p. m. the 
 next day. The officials of the Union Pacific spare 
 no pains in administering to the comfort of those 
 traveling over their road; and one meets with the 
 most polite service at the hands of the employees, 
 from conductor to porter, all of whom are ever 
 ready to give desired information, or assist the in- 
 quisitive tourist, who is "taking notes" en route. 
 Union Depot is the one depot in Denver, and is a 
 very handsome and imposing structure of granite. 
 When one alights from the train here, he finds him- 
 self puffing like a locomotive, and at first cannot ac- 
 count for his short windedness. When he stops to 
 think, however, that he is at an altitude of 5,170 
 feet, he begins to take in the situation, and endeav- 
 ors to grow accustomed to the air breathed at this 
 
38 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 height. Of Denver, we shall speak again; suffice 
 it to say just here, it is a city of phenomenal growth 
 and has now a population of 165,000. 
 
 From Denver, the Alpine view of the great 
 Rocky Mountain chain, extending north and south 
 for 200 miles, with Long's Peak to the north, Pike's 
 Peak to the south, and the dome of the continent, 
 Gray's Peak, in the centre, is indeed most exquisite. 
 Supplement this picture with the beautiful buttes, 
 foothills and the rolling prairies, 600 miles wide to 
 the eastward, and the magnificent landscape is 
 complete in all its grandeur and picturesqueness. 
 At Denver, one is about two-thirds the distance 
 across the continent a long way from home and 
 the trip has been made without accident or mishap 
 of any kind, save an occasional wash out along the 
 road here and there (it was Monday, wash day, you 
 know). With the greatest ease and comfort that 
 modern travel affords, we made the trip, glad to 
 reach Denver, "The Queen City of the Plains," 
 which, viewed from the health-seeker's standpoint, 
 is his Mecca, and the atmosphere of which is the 
 healing fount that has returned hundreds of his 
 kind to life and full vitality. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DENVER A CITY OF PHENOMENAL GROWTH. INDUS- 
 TRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY 
 ITS GROWTH IN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. 
 
 There is so much to be said of Denver, " The 
 Queen City of the Plains," one hesitates where to 
 begin. Thirty-five years ago but a prairie-village, 
 to-day Denver numbers 165,000 inhabitants, and is 
 noted far and near for her commercial activity and 
 beauty as a resident city. 
 
 Denver can boast of no antiquity beyond Sep- 
 tember and October, 1859, and her growth since 
 that time has been phenomenal. When we think 
 of our old Maryland and Virginia towns that date 
 their nativity a century or more ago, and have made 
 little progress since, we blush for their apathy and 
 self-satisfied condition when we behold active, pro- 
 gressive, hustling, bustling Denver, a mere youth 
 in number of years. 
 
 Of all western cities, it is the only one that bids 
 fair to wrest from San Francisco her commercial 
 supremacy. Although a mere insignificant trad- 
 ing-post long after San Francisco had become a 
 
4O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 thriving and popular seaport, the relative progress 
 of Colorado's metropolis has been more than on a 
 par with that of the city of the Golden Gate. In 
 1859, Denver consisted merely of a few one-story 
 dwellings, mud-roofed and built of cottonwood 
 logs, fringing the bank of Cherry creek near its out- 
 let into the Platte. 
 
 There was not a pound of nails in the entire set- 
 tlement, and there were not a half-dozen panes of 
 glass. In the summer months, the floors were of 
 earth, in the winter, of mud, the roofs retaining so 
 much water that the saying was, " it rained inside 
 for days after it had stopped on the outside." To- 
 day, Denver is the commercial and industrial centre 
 of one of the wealthiest States in the Union, and is 
 an important railroad-centre, with numerous over- 
 land-lines passing through its suburbs, and with 
 branches extending to all the principal agricultural 
 and mining districts. Denver is situated in the val- 
 ley of the South Platte, 12 miles from the foothills 
 of the Rocky Mountains. The writer smiles when 
 she writes " foothills," for coming from the East, 
 and when first beholding these " foothills," she ex- 
 claimed of their beauty as mountains, and was some- 
 what abashed when informed " these are not moun- 
 tains, they're only foothills." 
 
 We said, "then commend us to some of your 
 mountains," and of these grand, glorious and sub- 
 
DENVER S GROWTH. 41 
 
 lime towers of thousands of feet of rock, we shall 
 speak further on. But, not to digress, the site 
 of the city of Denver is neither level nor hilly, 
 but pleasantly diversified with rolling and un- 
 dulating surface. The distance from the moun- 
 tains is sufficient to give a fine view of the range, 
 and to make a magnificent landscape without paral- 
 lel. The range is seen to best advantage from Old 
 City Cemetery, east of Capitol Hill, the highest ele- 
 vation in the immediate vicinity of the city, at the 
 end of Eleventh avenue. Bayard Taylor said, when 
 visiting Denver in 1866, that from this hill could be 
 had one of the finest mountain-views in the world. 
 The range is visible for 200 miles. Pike's Peak, 70 
 miles to the south, when the air is clear, seems 
 hardly half so far, and Long's Peak, nearly as far 
 to the northwest, appears at times but a brief walk 
 distant. The Laramie Hills, in Wyoming, termi- 
 nate the panorama at the north, while Mount Ev- 
 ans, with its sweeping slope, and lap of snow and 
 ice, lifted to a height of 13,132 feet, is the chief sen- 
 tinel in the western sky. The mountains, as seen 
 from Denver, are a lasting source of pleasure, and 
 their study, one of increasing interest. 
 
 The play of cloud and sunshine, of light and 
 shade, during the varying hours of day, and change 
 of seasons, gives the beholder the most enchanting 
 visions of distant scenery. They can never be de- 
 
42 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 scribed; only observation and study can bring to 
 the eye and soul, the wonderful transformation of 
 this mountain range. We have been told, to see 
 the " Rockies " well is to see them all the year 
 round. One must watch their velvety green slopes 
 in June, and their many-colored tints in October; 
 the bare peaks of August and the snowy range of 
 January. The mountains must be seen in the 
 morning and studied at sunset; one must watch 
 them in summer, and observe them in winter. 
 They are scarcely ever twice the same in appear- 
 ance. There is a subtle charm about the city of 
 Denver for the eastern tourist. One comes here 
 to stay a few weeks, but puts off his return from 
 time to time until he finds the weeks are months, 
 and in some cases the months are years. This is 
 particularly true of the young man from the East, 
 who delays and spends his money in mining or in 
 ranching. The spell is upon him, the charm stops 
 him half way; he puts off his return East until next 
 year, then the next, until at last he buys a home, 
 and only returns East for the bride and his wed- 
 ding-journey. 
 
 Denver appeals to the man from the East more 
 than any other western city, for the reason that the 
 eastern folk who have settled here are turning Den- 
 ver into a thoroughly eastern city. We expected 
 to find the people and their customs so different 
 
DENVER'S GROWTH. 43 
 
 from those at home. How mistaken we were ! The 
 same hospitable, congenial folk we have in Mary- 
 land live here in Denver. 
 
 They look and act the same; their style of dress 
 is the same. What queer notions one does get of 
 the " wild and woolly West," before one actually 
 comes in contact with it and its people! To 
 us, the most striking things about the city of 
 Denver are its schools and its residences. In east- 
 ern cities, great corporations, insurance companies 
 and capitalists erect 10- and 1 2-story sky-scrapers in 
 every direction, and the private houses tower toward 
 the sky, with the reminder that it costs nothing to 
 build into the air. Here, in Denver, it is so differ- 
 ent ! There are not only big and handsome build- 
 ings the Mining Exchange, the Chamber of Com- 
 merce, Brown Palace Hotel, Denver Athletic Club, 
 City Hall, Court House, Equitable Building, 
 McMurtrie Block, Union Depot, State Capitol, Ma- 
 sonic Temple, Kittredge Building, and hosts of 
 others but there are miles and miles of separate 
 houses of the prettiest architecture. 
 
 It is such a pleasure to look at them, no two join- 
 ed as in the monotonous-looking Baltimore blocks. 
 They are not merged together in solid rows, but 
 stand apart with a little green breathing space be- 
 tween them, each in its turn asserting its own indi- 
 viduality. You look at them, admire and are 
 
44 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 pleased, and it is difficult to decide which one you 
 would rather live in. The greater number of these 
 beautiful houses are built of a peculiarly handsome 
 red stone, which is found so plentifully in the Silver 
 State. It is not the red stone that one admires, or 
 which makes the homes so pleasantly conspicuous, 
 but the taste of the owner or the architect, which 
 has turned it to account. It would not be amiss for 
 the eastern architect to come to Denver and take 
 lessons; and certainly it would be wise if some of 
 our eastern cities would adopt this " parking " 
 system, of grass-plot and lawn about their homes, 
 that adds to the beauty, attractiveness and home- 
 like appearance of all the private houses in beauti- 
 ful Denver, " Queen City of the Plains." 
 
 But what of the public schools? They are more 
 like museums of art than school-houses. We found 
 ourselves asking what these handsome buildings 
 are, scattered every few blocks over Denver. 
 Imagine our surprise when told they are schools. 
 "Schools!!" we exclaimed, "these massive build- 
 ings of stone, granite, red brick, with marble trim- 
 mings, of graceful architecture, unique designs, 
 broad, velvety lawns, with beds of flowers and 
 vines, shade-trees and arbors? It cannot be pos- 
 sible that these are schools!" But it is possible; 
 and just as much money and thought are propor- 
 tionately given to the instruction of the public- 
 
DENVER S GROWTH. 45 
 
 school children as is put upon the school-buildings, 
 for the Denver children of the public schools have 
 every advantage. The best teachers are employed. 
 Their appointment is strictly on their merit, with 
 the most rigid of examinations annually before an 
 examining board. We must not forget to say their 
 pay is the best, for, naturally, good teachers com- 
 mand and demand good pay. Few teachers in 
 Denver receive less than $75 and $80 per month. 
 Superintendents receive $1,800 and $2,000 per year. 
 There are several eastern teachers in the Denver 
 schools. One lady teacher, in popular favor here, 
 is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and would 
 not think of wasting her time and energy in the dis- 
 charge of her professional duties, East, for the 
 meagre salary Maryland pays its teachers, when 
 Colorado thinks the laborer worthy of his hire. 
 
 There are 47 schools in Denver; four high 
 schools the East, West, North, and South Denver 
 High Schools; 25 public kindergartens, and several 
 Normal Training schools. The schools all have 
 names, some of which are, The Whittier, Longfel- 
 low, Gilpin, Hyde Park, Ebert, Carona, Wyman, 
 Swansea, Columbine (after the Colorado State flow- 
 er), Emerson, Broadway, Maria Mitchell, Edison, 
 Webster, Louisa M. Alcott School, Garfield, Lin- 
 coln, Logan, Franklin, and many others. The teach- 
 ers are too numerous to count. In the East Denver 
 
46 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 High School, alone, there are 27 teachers. When 
 we think of the overcrowded condition of our home 
 school, and the lack of sufficient teachers, and see 
 these schools in plenty here, with all the latest de- 
 vices and equipments for education, with an abun- 
 dance of room, and enough teachers, we commiser- 
 ate Annapolis, and say a la Horace Greely, " Come 
 West " young mother and father, with a family to 
 educate, " Come West." You'll not be crowded 
 out here, and you'll get more than your money's 
 worth of education, along with all the rest of the 
 delightful things Colorado affords. So, you see, 
 with all the school advantages, the children of Den- 
 ver threaten to grow up into a most superior class 
 of young persons. Denver possesses lots of other 
 delightful things that make a city livable, but to 
 us, the public schools and private houses are the 
 most distinctive features. There are many sights 
 to be seen here (of these we shall speak later), but it 
 is well for one to remember, while seeing these 
 sights, that only a little more than a generation ago 
 there was nothing where Denver now stands but 
 cactus, buffalo-grass, wild animals and the red man. 
 The foot of civilization had not then pressed the 
 arid soil, nor had the magic hand of human genius 
 been laid on a single thing, living or inert. In its 
 rapid growth, amid search for silver and gold, ad- 
 venture and health, the people here have taken little 
 
DENVER S GROWTH. 47 
 
 time to create things of interest for the traveler, and 
 he sees nothing to astonish him more than the city 
 itself. That he should find, 600 miles west of the 
 Missouri river, beyond the " Great American Des- 
 ert," a city of 165,000 inhabitants, a city with 300 
 miles of rapid transit, a city of such beautiful homes 
 and public and business buildings as meet his gaze 
 at every turn, is sufficient to amaze the thoughtful 
 tourist. The work of the magician, who, by the 
 magic touch of his wand, causes flowers to bloom 
 from an empty vase before your eyes, pales before 
 the finer and more magical touch of civilization, 
 which has caused the city of Denver to spring up 
 out of these arid plains, with so many miles of 
 beautiful streets, shaded by grateful foliage lining 
 these sidewalks on every hand, these churches and 
 schools, these banks and wealthy corporations, 
 these palaces of business and public buildings, these 
 lofty theatres and commanding structures, in pro- 
 cess of erection. Denver, in all that it is, and all 
 that it promises to be, is more wonderful than 
 mountain or canon. These were natural ; it is pre- 
 ternatural. Denver's parks and gardens, while 
 beautiful, are yet in embryo; its public libraries and 
 museums are in incubation; its Sutros and Licks 
 and Leland Standfords and Enoch Pratts are still 
 busy amassing their wealth, but their latent munifi- 
 cence and benefactions will yet develop with a mag- 
 
48 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 nificence so lavish as to amaze the visitor, in future 
 years, to this western metropolis. And this is 
 Denver! Forty years ago, nothing; to-day, a 
 model, modern city of 165,000 people. The first 
 10 years, a struggle for existence; the second, rec- 
 ognition and candidacy for future greatness. The 
 third decade, railroad building and marvelous in- 
 dustrial development. The end of the forty, proof- 
 positive of vital powers, unconquerable by drought, 
 famine or panic. The fourth decade, a period of 
 growth and advancement despite commercial de- 
 pression. 
 
 One, coming to Denver for the first time, cannot 
 but be impressed with the brightness and newness 
 of everything. Business blocks, residences, parks, 
 public buildings all have a freshness that is attrac- 
 tive from the start. From a distance, upon the 
 plains, may be seen spires and domes that proclaim 
 Denver's architectural importance. On a near ap- 
 proach, factories, smelters and business blocks loom 
 up and speak eloquently of the beauty and commer- 
 cial stability of fair Denver, " Queen City of the 
 Plains." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DENVER'S PUBLIC BUILDINGS HANDSOME AND COSTLY 
 
 STRUCTURES THE ELEGANT STATE CAPITOL 
 
 ITS HISTORY, RELICS, AND CURIOS 
 
 WOMEN POLITICIANS. 
 
 Denver has numerous handsome and costly pub- 
 lic buildings. Prominent among these is the State 
 Capitol, which occupies fifteen acres, at the brow 
 of Capitol Hill. The building is of Colorado gran- 
 ite, finished on the interior with marble trimmings. 
 It was begun in 1887, and was occupied for the first 
 time in 1895. 
 
 When completed it cost $2,550,000. The 
 grounds were presented to the State by Henry C. 
 Brown, one of Denver's pioneers. Colorado is 
 justly proud of her State Capitol building, since it 
 is constructed of her own granite (from the famous 
 Gunnison quarries), which is unsurpassed for 
 beauty and uniformity of color by any in America. 
 The site is most commanding, being a mile above 
 the sea-level, and occupying three entire squares. 
 The view of the city of Denver and the mountain 
 range, extending for 125 miles, from the dome of 
 4 
 
5O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 the Capitol, is, perhaps, the grandest of anything in 
 the country. The building occupied six years in 
 construction. The architect was Mr. Meyers, of 
 New York, and the architecture is what is known 
 as composite renaissance. 
 
 It took us three hours to go through the Capitol. 
 The interior is not yet completed. At the last ses- 
 sion of the Legislature, an appropriation sufficient 
 for the completion of the work, was made, and 
 everything is expected to be intact by the next ses- 
 sion, 1901. The Capitol grounds are in the shape 
 of an oblong parallelogram, which shape has Ma- 
 sonic significance. The size of the building is 294.4 
 by 383.11 feet, and it extends 383 feet north and 
 south and 313 feet east and west, and is 256 feet 
 from basement-floor to top of the dome. There 
 are 160 rooms in the building. On the corner-stone 
 is engraved the following : " Erected by the fourth 
 and seventh General Assembly of the State of Colo- 
 rado, approved, February nth, 1883, and April ist, 
 1889. Board of Capitol Managers, Job A. Cooper, 
 Governor, John L. Routt, Otto Mears, Charles J. 
 Hughes, Benj. F. Crowell, E. E. Meyers, archi- 
 tect; Peter Gumry, superintendent." This last- 
 named gentleman was the owner of the hotel which 
 was blown up by an engine running some of the 
 hotel machinery when hundreds of people were 
 killed a disaster not soon to be forgotten in Den- 
 ver. 
 
DENVER'S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 51 
 
 The exterior of the Capitol is not unlike the Bal- 
 timore postoffice, except that it is surmounted with 
 a dome, rather too large in circumference at the 
 base for the height. A statue or ornament of some 
 sort at the apex of the dome would greatly beautify 
 its appearance. The main entrance is on Broad- 
 way, and the approach is through beautiful 
 grounds, well kept, and through a gradual incline 
 leading to the magnificent doorway. This is sup- 
 ported by massive granite columns, above which is 
 cut in the stone an array of figures suggestive of 
 Colorado's advantages in the way of agriculture, 
 mining, and so forth. Conspicuous by its absence, 
 and refreshing to the eastern tourist is that bete 
 noir of signs " keep off the grass." No such sign 
 is visible; and yet, the grass is the most beautiful 
 stretch of lawn one ever saw anywhere, as green and 
 well kept as one could wish, even though the chil- 
 dren are allowed to play on it to their hearts' con- 
 tent. Colorado children, unlike their eastern cous- 
 ins, do not wonder if there are any signs in Heaven 
 " keep off the grass." At the main entrance, near 
 the street, is a tall flag pole, recently erected by 
 the Sons of the American Revolution, in honor of 
 the Colorado volunteers, who served their country 
 in the late unpleasantness with Spain. On the pole, 
 are brass tablets inscribed with the names of those 
 who died in the service, the date and place of death 
 
52 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 of each. The idea is a happy one. Since the re- 
 turn of the First Colorado Volunteers, memorial 
 service has been held about this pole, when 5,000 
 people were present. 
 
 On entering the rotunda, the visitor is struck by 
 the unfinished condition of things. There is a 
 blank space of mortar at the base of all the pillars. 
 It is said, one reason for not completing the work 
 is due to a misunderstanding about the kind of ma- 
 terial to be used. The rotunda is very handsome, 
 and the marble trimmings and brass finishings have 
 a pleasing and artistic effect. The visitor usually 
 begins with the basement, and works his way to the 
 dome. Here, in the basement, there is so much to 
 be seen, one cxnild spend several days profitably 
 " looking round." The G. A. R. room contains 
 many curios of interest. Among these, at the en- 
 trance are two 1 2-pound Howitzers, surrendered by 
 Gen. Twiggs, U. S. A., to Gen. McCullough, at 
 San Antonio, Texas, February, 1861. These guns 
 were buried by Gen. Gibber at Albuquerque, New 
 Mexico, in April, 1862, after the defeat of the Con- 
 federate forces at the battle of Glaretta. They were 
 recovered, in 1890, and presented to the State of 
 Colorado, having been buried for over 30 years. 
 In the " War Relic " room is Kit Carson's rifle, con- 
 taining 36 brass nails one for every Indian killed. 
 Here is also a flint-lock gun, given by France, to 
 
DENVER S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 53 
 
 Gen. LaFayette in 1772. There are other flint-lock 
 guns here, one used in the Battle of Bunker Hill, 
 and one in the French and Indian War, after- 
 ward in the Revolution. There is a sword here 
 captured from a British officer at the Battle of Sara- 
 toga, and one carried by a Continental officer dur- 
 ing the Revolution. In the " War Relic " room 
 there is also a flag taken by the South Carolina 
 forces at Fort Sumter, on April I4th, 1861; a war 
 medicine-chest that went with Sherman's army to 
 the sea; uniforms of men of note in those times that 
 tried men's souls; photographs and autographs of 
 Gen. R. E. Lee, and curios of all sorts and descrip- 
 tions which interest those who have a soft spot in 
 their hearts for the has beens. 
 
 Another room in the basement of the Capitol is 
 set apart by the Horticultural Society. Here, we 
 saw, in alcohol, the finest specimens of Colorado 
 fruits, exhibits of recent State fairs;' cereals for 
 which this State is noted; native bugs, butterflies, 
 et cetera, together with specimens of flora of Colo- 
 rado, the fame of which is broadcast. In this de- 
 partment, are to be seen two handsomely mounted 
 coats of arms of the State. These consist of a Ma- 
 sonic compass, in which the "All-Seeing Eye" is 
 represented. Beneath this, is a battle-axe; then, a 
 shield, the upper portion of which, pictures the 
 beautiful mountains of the State, to the base of 
 
54 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 this are suggestively appended a pick and ham- 
 mer, such as are used in mining. Beneath all is the 
 State's motto, Nil Sine Numine (Nothing without 
 God), and the year Colorado, the " Centennial 
 State/' was admitted, 1876. 
 
 Another room of interest is the State Historical 
 room. This is devoted to a sort of zoological dis- 
 play of Colorado's native animals, handsomely 
 mounted. To gaze upon the number of cases of 
 birds, no two alike, one can scarcely realize that 
 these different species belong to this one State. In 
 an anti-room, is a primitive-looking Mexican cart, 
 clumsily put together, and awkward in appearance. 
 In this department is also to be seen one of the 
 handsomest of saddles, the property of Col. J. H. 
 Leavenworth, for whom the city of that name is 
 christened. He was a member of the Second Regi- 
 ment, Colorado Volunteers in 1862. The saddle is 
 of a most unique pattern, silver and gold mounted, 
 and is an attractive feature of this department. 
 
 There are at this season (September) thousands 
 of tourists in Denver, and the statement was made 
 in one of the morning papers, at this time, that 
 there were 3,000 visitors daily to the State Capitol. 
 Perhaps one of the most interesting departments of 
 the building is the Bureau of Mines. In these rooms 
 is displayed the wealth of Colorado's minerals, 
 most of the specimens having been gathered from 
 
DENVER S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 55 
 
 North Table Mountain and Golden. There are 
 also specimens from several of the counties, includ- 
 ing Gilpin, El Paso, Gunnison, San Juan and oth- 
 ers. Above the huge cases of mineral productions 
 from these counties are large oil-paintings, repre- 
 senting the wealth of vegetation and beauty, for 
 which each county is noted. 
 
 In the Bureau of Mines is to be seen the " Colo- 
 rado Mineral Casket," an exquisite piece of work- 
 manship of silver, gold and copper, and decorated 
 with Colorado gems, among which are the garnet, 
 topaz, turquoise, crystal and moon-stone the 
 whole being illuminated with tiny incandescent 
 lamps. The casket was in the Woman's Building 
 at the World's Fair. There are two collections of 
 minerals, one arranged in flat cases, the other in 
 upright cases. Those in flat cases are arranged for 
 scientific purposes, and are collections made and 
 classified on the Diana authority on mineralogy. 
 In the upper cases, the ores of the various counties 
 are displayed. In one of these is a silver nugget 
 from " Mollie Gibson " mine, Aspen, Colorado, 
 which weighs 397 pounds and is 90 per cent pure 
 silver, and when coined will make 8,512 silver dol- 
 lars. In another department on the ground floor 
 of the Capitol are to be seen pictures of the " Cliff 
 Dwellers," models of their caves in the rocks and 
 cliffs, their implements of warfare, their cooking 
 
56 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 utensils and the Cliff Dwellers themselves, pre- 
 served as they have been these hundreds of years 
 the art of which preservation is lost; and we, of 
 modern times, have not succeeded in regaining it. 
 These mummies of the Cliff Dwellers are in a good 
 state of preservation, and are of men, women and 
 children, and even infants. The outer covering 
 of some of these mummies is a downy coat of feath- 
 ers. They were all taken from the ruins of Mancos 
 Canon, Colorado. After leaving the basement of 
 the Capitol, one takes the elevator for the main 
 floor. Here, are located the two Houses the Sen- 
 ate and General Assembly together with the 
 Court of Appeals, offices, et cetera. Both houses 
 are elegantly, though simply fitted out. There are 
 no " overdone " decorations or hangings, but 
 everything presents a freshly painted and attractive 
 appearance. 
 
 There are 65 representatives in the General As- 
 sembly of Colorado, and 35 Senators, making the 
 sum total of 100 on joint ballot. Arapahoe county, 
 in which Denver is located, contains one-third of 
 the population of the State, and therefore is en- 
 titled to one-third of the representatives in the 
 Legislature. The Legislature, like that of Mary- 
 land, convenes once in two years, on the 4th of 
 January, and until the 3rd of April, covering a 
 period of 90 days. The next regular session 
 
DENVER S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 57 
 
 meets in 1901, but the Governor has recently 
 called an extra session for this year (1899) to 
 consider some questions of State importance. 
 Women vote in Colorado, hold office and are 
 eligible to the Legislature. At the last session 
 there were three women delegates in the House. 
 There has never been a woman Senator, and in all 
 probability there never will be, although it is pos- 
 sible that some day Colorado may have a woman 
 for governor. The education of the western people 
 tends to universal suffrage, the bulk of the argu- 
 ment in favor of which is, that women are property- 
 holders, and therefore have a right to " a say " in 
 the government of State and municipal affairs. 
 There are, however, two sides to this, as to all other 
 questions. Women will be all right in politics if 
 good women of the State take an interest and vote 
 intelligently, but if the bad women of the opposite 
 class take a hand in political affairs (and they have 
 as much right to vote as the better class) they may 
 be hired by the political wire-puller, as well as the 
 ward-heeler of the male sex. If this be true, wo- 
 man's influence for the benefit and purification of 
 politics will become null and void. 
 
 The House and Senate are similar in design and 
 construction, decorations and fixtures, but the 
 House is two-fifths larger than the Senate. The 
 decorations in both are in shrimp pink and gilt, giv- 
 
58 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ing a mellow glow to the whole effect. The presi- 
 dent of the last Senate was Lieutenant-Governor 
 Francis Carney. The Speaker of the House was 
 Ex-Lieutenant-Governor Smith. At the last ses- 
 sion of the Legislature here, William Jennings 
 Bryan, the 16 to i presidential candidate, was in- 
 vited to address a joint session of the Senate and 
 House something a little unusual in the ordinary 
 regime of legislative bodies. There were a number 
 of Baltimore tourists in Denver last winter, during 
 the session of the Legislature. They naturally vis- 
 ited the State Capitol, the Senate and House. 
 Previous to their visit to the House, Speaker 
 Smith vacated the chair, and delegated one of the 
 lady members of that honorable body as Speaker 
 pro tern. The Baltimore party, among whom were 
 several ladies, found, therefore, a woman acting as 
 Speaker of the House. This pleased them im- 
 mensely, and they carried away with them to their 
 eastern metropolis pleasant memories of the im- 
 portance of their sex in the political arena of Colo- 
 rado. 
 
 We visited the dome of the Capitol, from which 
 a fine view of the city and mountains can be had. 
 Perhaps the climax of the occasion was our intro- 
 duction to the Governor, rather unique, to say the 
 least. Descending the Capitol steps, we asked one 
 of our party the name of the Governor of Colorado. 
 
DENVER S PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 59 
 
 Two gentlemen were directly behind us, and before 
 our friend had time to reply, one of these remarked, 
 " His name is Governor Charles S. Thomas, and 
 this is he (pointing to a gentleman beside him), you 
 may have a good look at him." Of course we 
 turned, " looked" and bowed, murmuring some- 
 thing about being glad to meet Colorado's Gover- 
 nor, and also saying we were from Maryland, and 
 had the pleasure of knowing our popular Governor, 
 Lloyd Lowndes who, by the way, is not unlike 
 Governor Thomas in appearance and carriage. The 
 Governor bowed graciously and passed on with his 
 friend, who had been the occasion of the novel in- 
 troduction, and whom we learned was Mr. A. H. 
 Stevenson, a well-known Colorado politician. And 
 we thought, meeting the Governor was not an un- 
 fitting ending to the delightful visit to Colorado's 
 handsome State Capitol. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DENVER'S POSTOFFICE, CITY HALL, COURT HOUSE, 
 CLUBS AND MANY OTHER HANDSOME STRUC- 
 TURES BESIDE THE STATE CAPITOL 
 
 REMINDERS OF HOME NOTES 
 
 AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 There are many other costly and handsome 
 buildings in Denver beside its Capitol. The United 
 States Postoffice and Federal Court House is lo- 
 cated at the corner of Sixteenth and Arapahoe 
 streets. Its architecture is that usual to most Fed- 
 eral buildings. It is constructed of lava stone, and 
 was completed in 1892. It cost $500,000. The 
 postoffice is rather too small now for the business 
 done here at present. It is well equipped, how- 
 ever, and systematically conducted. Here we see 
 boxes marked " Eastern Mail," " Southern Mail," 
 and so forth, and so forth. 
 
 The most interesting thing in the postoffice, to 
 us, was the machine for stamping letters with the 
 date of arrival, or date of leaving the postoffice, as 
 the case may be. The machine is regulated by 
 one man, and stamps 1,000 envelopes per minute. 
 
DENVER'S HANDSOME STRUCTURES. 61 
 
 The Arapahoe County Court House is an imposing 
 building with spacious well-kept grounds, and 
 stands at the corner of Tremont and Sixteenth 
 streets. It is built of Colorado sandstone, and cost 
 with the grounds, $1,200,000. What would An- 
 napolis think of expending such a sum on its Court 
 House, even though its population equaled that of 
 Denver? The City Hall the municipal headquar- 
 ters is situated at Fourteenth and Larimer streets. 
 It is built of undressed limestone, at a cost of $225,- 
 
 000. 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce Building is at the 
 corner of Fourteenth and Lawrence streets. It is 
 built of undressed lava stone with red sandstone 
 trimmings, and cost $200,000. In this building are 
 the city library and public reading-rooms. There 
 are 31,000 volumes in the library here. The Union 
 Exchange, somewhat in the nature of a public 
 building, is the handsome eight-story structure at 
 Arapahoe and Fifteenth streets. It is the home of 
 the mining-stock market in Denver. It was com- 
 pleted in 1890, and cost, with grounds, $400,000. 
 The material is red pressed brick, sandstone and 
 terra cotta trimmings. Next to the public build- 
 ings, Denver's business blocks are most impressive. 
 While not distinguished for "sky-scraping" or 
 " rookery " blocks, there are several eight- and 
 nine-story buildings, some of which have been in- 
 
62 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 eluded in magazine articles as among the large and 
 attractive buildings of the country. 
 
 The Equitable Building leads. It is nine stories 
 high, of white tile-brick and granite, with elabor- 
 ately carved decorations, and cost $1,400,000. The 
 Boston Block at Seventeenth and Champa streets 
 is of dressed brown stone and cost $425,000. 
 Other imposing blocks are the Ernest & Cranmer, 
 McPhee Building, Jackson, Kittredge, McMurtrie, 
 Masonic Temple, People's Bank and Railroad 
 Building; the last two partaking of the nature of 
 " sky-scrapers." 
 
 The social side of life is highly cultivated and 
 encouraged in the " Queen City of the Plains." 
 In looking through the city directory, we find 
 there are more than one hundred active social, 
 literary, musical and educational clubs in ex- 
 istence. These do not include church or semi- 
 philanthropic organizations. Further and ample 
 evidence of the development of this phase of life 
 was given when the local clubs entertained the dele- 
 gates to the National Federation of Woman's Clubs 
 here in 1898. 
 
 The club buildings are equal to the best of any 
 city. Among these we might mention the Denver 
 Club, a massive red- and lava-stone structure, 
 which cost $350,000; the Denver Athletic Club, 
 which is one of the finest in the country, and which 
 
DENVER'S HANDSOME STRUCTURES. 63 
 
 has a membership of 1,000. The building and 
 equipment cost $225,000. Beside these, there are 
 the University Club, the Progress Club (Jewish), 
 the Woman's Club, and others. Denver boasts of 
 one of the best hotels in the United States, the 
 Brown Palace. It is a magnificent building, ten 
 stories high, finished off in onyx on the office floor, 
 with grand mantle, and stairway with harmonious 
 finishings from the first to the tenth floor. Its 
 style of architecture is the Italian Renaissance, its 
 form is triangular, having a frontage of 810 feet on 
 the three avenues, and it is constructed of beautiful 
 Arizona brown sandstone. 
 
 Denver, like Baltimore, is also a church city. 
 There are 121 church organizations in the city. 
 Almost every denomination extant in the country 
 is here represented. Besides Swedish churches, 
 there are several bodies in which sermons are deliv- 
 ered in foreign languages. One encouraging feat- 
 ure of church life in Denver is the large number of 
 small churches, well distributed over the city. No 
 one need to go far to find a congenial house of wor- 
 ship. A new rule for the construction of these 
 churches is that they be provided with cutlery and 
 other equipment for church banquets, socials, and 
 the like. 
 
 Denver has several finely equipped and up-to- 
 date hospitals, elegant theatres and summer-gar- 
 
64 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 den operas, among which latter is the famous 
 Elitch's Gardens. City Park is Denver's most 
 prominent park, although there are several here. 
 This one is at the eastern boundary of the city, 
 and contains 320 acres. It is highly improved, 
 having speed-tracks, bicycle-course, green-house, 
 lakes, zoological garden, pleasant driveways, hand- 
 some statuary and a handsome and unique arrange- 
 ment of flowers in various designs and coloring. 
 Public concerts are given here in summer and early 
 fall, and oftentimes excellent entertainments. 
 
 Denver has five national banks, one large trust 
 and deposit company, four private banks, six sav- 
 ings banks and twenty-six building and loan asso- 
 ciations. 
 
 Outside of Washington, no city can boast of a 
 brighter, cleaner appearance than Denver. The 
 police and municipal regulations are of exceptional 
 merit. The streets are paved with asphalt, and 
 with constant sweeping and occasional washing, are 
 kept in a cleanly condition. Electric lighting ex- 
 tends into the remotest suburbs. 
 
 The excellence of the street-car service is evi- 
 denced by the capacity for handling large crowds 
 speedily and safely. 50,000 people are often car- 
 ried and deposited at City Park each hour. 
 
 The fire departments are splendid in equipment 
 and discipline, and with all these, together with 
 
DENVER'S HANDSOME STRUCTURES. 65 
 
 good water, Denver can answer all the require- 
 ments of a modern and a model city. 
 
 Beside being a good place in which to live, Den- 
 ver has exceptional commercial opportunities. Her 
 geographical position argues well for her commer- 
 cial powers for all time to come. Some one has 
 said the four great cities of the continent are New 
 York, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco. This 
 city does a jobbing business of $50,000,000 a year; 
 its bank clearings average $140,000,000 annually; 
 manufacturers, $20,000,000 annually. It has three 
 smelters, the operations of which extend into every 
 ore-producing district from Old Mexico to British 
 Columbia. Recognizing the fact that Denver is 
 the eastern gateway of the great gold-producing 
 districts of Colorado and the whole Rocky Moun- 
 tain region, the United States government is now 
 building here a coinage mint, to cost $500,000, and 
 which will furnish local employment to a large 
 number of people. The new coinage mint will in- 
 evitably be a Government Sub-Treasury, and will, 
 in all probability, result in Denver having a dis- 
 bursing office of pensions. 
 
 Such a coinage mint must necessarily, have a 
 very marked effect on Denver as a financial centre. 
 Denver stands unrivaled in either hemisphere for its 
 combination of advantages as a place of residence, 
 as a field for investment, as a place of unusually 
 5 
 
66 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 rapid but solid growth, as a smelting centre, as a 
 city with unlimited and varied undeveloped re- 
 sources at its back, as an increasing manufacturing- 
 centre, as a cosmopolitan, energetic and enterpris- 
 ing community; while its past history, present po- 
 sition and certain future prospects undoubtedly des- 
 tine it to eventually be one of the four great cities 
 of the United States. 
 
 The world is not so large after all. To our great 
 surprise and pleasure, while making a call in Den- 
 ver, we saw a pencil-sketch in the library of one of 
 Denver's prominent residents, which attracted our 
 attention. On close inspection it proved to be a 
 drawing of " Larkins' Hill " the residence of James 
 Boyle, Esq., of Anne Arundel county, Maryland, 
 drawn by Seaton O'Donoho, August 25th, 1869. 
 We felt as if we should like to embrace that pencil- 
 sketch, as it was the first Maryland object we had 
 seen since saying good-bye to Annapolis. 
 
 One unique arrangement, of which every tourist 
 takes advantage in Denver, is the " Seeing Denver 
 and Learning Colorado " car. This is a privileged 
 car and runs on all the lines, making no stops but 
 at the hotel corners advertised to take on passen- 
 gers. For 25 cents one gets a two-hours ride; and 
 the guide on the car points out and explains all ob- 
 jects of interest and prominence in the city. The 
 idea is a happy one for tourists passing through the 
 
DENVER'S HANDSOME STRUCTURES. 67 
 
 city, with only a few hours to spare for train-con- 
 nection, and its advantage is appreciated. The 
 " Seeing Denver " car is always crowded. 
 
 Do you dislike rain, mud and the accompanying 
 unpleasantness? Come to Denver. Here, the sun 
 shines some part of the day, 356 days out of every 
 365. We were in Denver two months. In that 
 time it rained three times only, and an umbrella 
 was of little use. " But," you say, " what about 
 the crops? They need water!" Yes, they do, 
 and they get it. Irrigating ditches are everywhere. 
 People out here let nothing stand in their way 
 toward successful accomplishment of their best 
 interests. They dig ditches, fill them with water 
 from brooks and streams, and irrigate their land. 
 It is work, but they don't mind it. Everybody 
 works and seems to enjoy it, too. 
 
 There are several fine breweries here in Denver, 
 which the average sight-s.eer takes in along with all 
 the rest. One of these is the Rocky Mountain 
 Brewery, the proprietor of which is P. H. Zang. 
 The brewing of beer here is said to have stirred up 
 more excitement than Luther did at the Diet of 
 Worms. We saw here that beer is fearfully and 
 wonderfully made. This particular brand is said to 
 be the acme of brewing perfection, and makes con- 
 noisseurs, when drinking it, long for a rubber neck 
 as long as a section of a garden hose. We cannot 
 
68 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 vouch for this, as we, individually and collectively, 
 have signed the pledge, and wear the white rib- 
 bon. However, this beer is said to represent the 
 complete possibilities of malt, money and brains. 
 
 We also visited the famous Kuner canning and 
 pickling factory a sight well worth seeing. All 
 kinds of canned goods are put up here; and the 
 process involved is interesting and instructive. 
 There are 150 employees in the canning and 60 in 
 the pickling department. Everything used is made 
 in the factory even the boxes in which the cans 
 are packed. One man makes 300 boxes per day. 
 The most unique arrangement is the machine that 
 pastes the labels on the cans. How much there 
 is to be seen and learned, one does not realize until 
 one gets out and rubs his shoulders against the 
 outside world. 
 
 Some one has said, " As we journey through life, 
 let us live by the way/' and so they do. here in Den- 
 ver, " Queen City of the Plains," the Mecca of the 
 health-seeker, where the pure light air, free from 
 disease germs, is a healing fount which restores him 
 to health and vitality. 
 
CLIFF-DWELLERS, MANGOS CANON. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT ITS SCENERY 
 EXCELS THAT OF ALL EUROPE. 
 
 Colorado has been properly named. It is a word 
 of Spanish origin and means red or colored, prob- 
 ably because of the red or ruddy-colored sandstone 
 prevalent throughout the State. Colorado has in- 
 spired as much sentiment as any of the older States; 
 and Pike's Peak stands in poem, picture and ro- 
 mance as well as Plymouth Rock. 
 
 There is reason, after all, for this. The story of 
 a gold-camp, with its dramatic movement, tragic 
 tints of color, and episodes of humor and pathos, 
 makes strong material for history; and the narra- 
 tive of the struggles and triumphs of those pioneers, 
 who sat down before the mountain walls to build a 
 State, is beyond romance and partakes of the he- 
 roic. The early settlers were " cliff-dwellers," and 
 on the Rio Mancos, their houses may still be seen. 
 They are thought to be the descendants of the an- 
 cient Aztecs. In time, the cliff-dwellers gave way 
 to the Mexicans, leaving no history of themselves 
 
7O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 save these swallow-like homes in the mountains and 
 cliffs. 
 
 The Spanish were the next to invade and explore 
 Colorado. They were seekers for gold, and dream- 
 ers of wealth. The Spanish and the Indians pos- 
 sessed the country and married and intermarried 
 and swindled and traded to their mutual satisfac- 
 tion. There were no other invaders for perhaps a 
 couple of centuries, and the people had a long rest 
 from exploring expeditions. Colorado, it will be 
 remembered, was a part of the " Louisiana Pur- 
 chase" in 1803, and three years later, Captain Ze- 
 bulon Pike, while exploring the valleys of Arkan- 
 sas, coming north, discovered the famous mountain 
 peak that now bears his name. 
 
 Colorado, alone, equals in area the whole of New 
 England and the State of New York put together, 
 and has greater and more varied resources than any 
 State in the Union. Colorado has been aptly term- 
 ed " The Switzerland of America." 
 
 The Alps have long since become the synonym 
 for grandeur, but they cannot rival these grand old 
 Rockies, with their sublime magnificence. Were 
 the glamour of romance and the tendrils of tradi- 
 tion cast and twined about the Rockies, as they 
 have been about the Alps, or were the Alpine 
 heights stripped of their legendary lore, and the 
 magnificence of both measured with unbiased mind, 
 
TUNNEL No. 3. 
 
THE SWITZERLAND OF AMERICA. 71 
 
 then and only then, could a just comparison be 
 made. Many tourists who have beheld both the 
 Alps, and the Rockies of Colorado, assured us that 
 the variety of scenery and grandeur of our own 
 home mountains, surpassed that of Switzerland. 
 We, therefore, commiserate those of our country- 
 men and women who go abroad for scenery, with- 
 out having beheld the grandeur of Colorado the 
 land of color, the land of fame, the land of startling 
 variety. Monotony, here, is an unknown quantity; 
 beauty is present everywhere; while grandeur 
 greets the reverent eyes of all who traverse the fast- 
 nesses of these Rocky Mountains, these everlasting 
 hills, that tower with their snow-capped lofty tips 
 as though to pierce the sun-illumined vault of heav- 
 en. 
 
 Colorado is indeed the land of sunshine. The 
 Weather Bureau reports show an average of 357 
 sunshiny days per year, covering a period of 20 
 years. Sunshine means health, and health is to be 
 found in Colorado. Humidity, which is all-pre- 
 vailing in Maryland, in Colorado is unknown. 
 Official observation for 22 years shows an aver- 
 age of 49.64 per cent of saturation in Colorado, 
 while in New York the average humidity is 71 
 per cent. We don't know what it is in Mary- 
 land, but you may compare your per cent of satu- 
 ration in the last 22 years with that of Colorado. 
 
72 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 The altitude of this State naturally carries with it a 
 crisp, electric atmosphere, through which the warm 
 sun shines with slight loss. The climate of this 
 State is almost a perfect specific for pulmonary 
 troubles. One can live an out-of-door life here the 
 whole year round, because the cold of winter, like 
 the heat of summer, is tempered by the rarefied air. 
 Extreme cold weather is rarely known here, and 
 there is little snow and practically no sleighing. 
 The light snows they have here occur between sun- 
 down and sunrise, and disappear under the glowing 
 morning sun. 
 
 Next to climate, Colorado excels the world in 
 scenery. No pen can portray, no brush can pic- 
 ture, no words describe the majestic grandeur of 
 the Rockies. Colorado possesses 155 mountain 
 peaks, rising beyond 13,500 feet of altitude, or more 
 than ten times as many as there are in Europe. 
 Colorado's 1 04,500 square miles are broken up into 
 majestic wonders of mountain and plains, of glens 
 and canons, of waterfalls and lakes, of caverns and 
 peaks. Mineral springs abound here, and the noted 
 waters of France, Austria, Switzerland and Ger- 
 many are fast surrendering their reputation to those 
 of Colorado waters. Scenery, altitude, sunshine 
 and climate, therefore, constitute the factors which 
 are making Colorado the health and pleasure 
 grounds of the world. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SIGHTS AND SCENES ON THE DENVER AND RIO 
 
 GRANDE RAILROAD THE FAMOUS LOOP 
 
 ON A BENDER. 
 
 Grand Junction and its Fruit. 
 
 The mid-continent region traversed by the Den- 
 ver and Rio Grande Railroad, possesses without 
 doubt, the most magnificent scenery in the world. 
 It was our good fortune while sojourning in Colo- 
 rado, to take some of these trips on the Denver 
 and Rio Grande, " The Scenic Line of the World." 
 This road is splendidly equipped, and the tourist or 
 pleasure-seeker secures every comfort while travel- 
 ing on the famous " Scenic Line," which is as es- 
 sential to Colorado as the great distributing, life- 
 spreading artery is to the never-resting pulsating 
 heart. 
 
 In the land of wonders and surprises, of con- 
 trasts, sharp and wonderful, to which there is said 
 to be no comparison on the other side of the " big 
 pond," it would be simply impossible to touch even 
 lightly on the sights and scenes, on the wonders 
 and panoramic pictures our eyes have feasted upon 
 
74 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 in this enchanted land. In our feeble way, how- 
 ever, we shall endeavor to briefly mention some of 
 the picturesque beauties of Colorado that have been 
 immortalized in song, that we may further assist the 
 imaginations of those who have not beheld these 
 scenes, and refresh the memories of those who have 
 beheld them. 
 
 One of the first trips to be taken out of Denver 
 and over the mountains, is usually that to the far- 
 famed " Loop/' the most wonderful piece of engi- 
 neering in the country. The road here is certainly 
 " on a bender." The trip is made over the Colo- 
 rado Southern Railroad. Leaving Denver, the 
 road follows the mountains, those magnificent spec- 
 imens of God's handiwork, sublime in their grand- 
 eur. Following the mountains, the railroad 
 curves in and out, now to the right, now to the left, 
 the engine being in sight of the rear coach most of 
 the time. The Rockies jut out here and there, 
 until one can almost touch them from either side of 
 the train. Here and there appears a formation of 
 rock, similar in form and construction to the human 
 face. Then we pass through huge rocks, meeting 
 overhead, and styled the " Gateway." Flowers 
 peep between rocks and boulders; and here and 
 there a patch of snow can be seen glistening in the 
 sunlight on the tops of the loftiest peaks. The 
 mountain streams rush on over the boulders and 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 75 
 
 massive rocks, tearing madly on in their reckless 
 course down the mountain side. Ever and anon, a 
 cloud envelops the higher peaks, until they seem to 
 be swallowed up into the heavens. The grandeur 
 of it all is sublime, and one " looks through nature 
 up to nature's God." 
 
 Finally, we come to Central City, or Idaho 
 Springs. Here, a stop is made, and we then con- 
 tinue on to the road's terminus at Silver Plume, 
 9,476 feet above sea-level. It is vain to attempt to 
 describe the magnificence of the view of the sur- 
 rounding country. Mountains to the right of us, 
 mountains to the left of us, mountains in front of 
 us, towered in all their majestic splendor. It was 
 indeed grand. None of the beauty of scenery was 
 lost on the return-trip. The magnificent doub- 
 lings and twistings of the road over the mountains, 
 which has been christened the " Georgetown 
 Loop," could be seen to better advantage on the 
 return-trip. Pictures of this have not in the least 
 been exaggerated, and the construction of the road 
 is a piece of wonderful engineering and an evidence 
 of human skill and ingenuity. 
 
 When beholding the mountains we exclaimed, 
 " What hath God wrought ! " when beholding this 
 serpentine curve cut out of the rocks, a mere shelf 
 on the edge of which trains run and carry human 
 freight safely to an altitude of 9,000 feet, we ex- 
 
76 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 claimed, " What hath man wrought ! " On the re- 
 turn-trip we had the novel experience of being be- 
 tween two storms in the mountains one back of 
 us and one in front of us. We had the benefit of 
 their grandeur and awfulness without the unpleas- 
 ant experience of being caught in either of them. 
 Everybody who is anybody, and who comes to 
 Denver takes the trip around the " Loop." The 
 trains are always crowded, and, as the trip is made 
 especially for the scenery, the trains are made up of 
 observation-coaches, all of which are filled. Each 
 trip one takes out of Denver and over the scenic 
 lines of the West, he thinks grander, and more 
 grand than its predecessor. Another trip, famous 
 for its scenery and which tourists and pleasure-seek- 
 ers delight in and enthuse over is the one to Grand 
 Junction, over the Denver and Rio Grande Rail- 
 road, part of which trip is made over narrow-gauge 
 and part over broad-gauge system. 
 
 The narrow-gauge system of Colorado, with its 
 thousands of miles of road running across plains, 
 through canons and over snow-capped mountains, 
 has been the wonder of the engineering world for 
 some years past; while the small but powerful loco- 
 motives have been viewed by thousands with sur- 
 prise and admiration. The train for Grand Junc- 
 tion leaves Denver at 9.45 p. m., over the narrow- 
 gauge, and everybody on the Pullman " Ouray " 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 77 
 
 proceeds to " turn in " shortly after leaving the 
 city. For one, to whom the curves and twists 
 through the gorges and canons is yet a novel ex- 
 perience, there is little sleep in store. He holds on 
 like grim death, for fear of being bounced out on 
 the floor. He says his prayers over and over, lest 
 he close his eyes and wake up he doesn't know 
 where. He trembles and shakes, lest his upstairs- 
 neighbor cave in on him, or roll out of his ele- 
 vated couch with a dull thud on the floor at his 
 side. He tortures himself with all sorts of foolish 
 fears and imaginations until morning dawns, and 
 he rises, to see the sun do likewise, and then wants 
 to stick a hat-pin in himself for having been such 
 a blasted fool, and not knowing that he was only 
 winding in and out Royal Gorge or Grand Canon, 
 or some other old place, and not going on a 
 straight line as though he were on the Baltimore 
 and Ohio, going over to Washington from An- 
 napolis. 
 
 What a beautiful sunrise ! The air was keen and 
 crisp. We sat on the rear platform, and took in 
 the scenery. And such scenery ! Variety is the 
 striking feature of Colorado scenery. Canons, 
 peaks and passes awe the beholder with their 
 grandeur. Lakes abound, whose mirrors reflect the 
 peaceful arching skies above; hundreds of them un- 
 honored and unsung, but others enshrined in the 
 hearts of the lovers of the beautiful. 
 
78 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 On this trip one sees the vast plains extending to 
 the far horizon's rim, the grand old mountains 
 climbing in splintered pinnacles to the very zenith; 
 canons, which awe one with their abysmal depths; 
 valleys of Arcadian loveliness; rivers, the waters 
 of which sweep on with tumultuous force; brooks 
 of crystal cleanness; dancing waterfalls, with filmy 
 veil festooned with fringes of dew-drops, sparkling 
 like diamonds in the sunlight; flowers blooming 
 amidst eternal snows; foliage tinted with the touch 
 of frost all this symphony of grandeur awes the 
 soul with a haunting beauty that once seen can 
 never be forgotten. 
 
 We were told that breakfast would not be until 
 we reached Sargent, at 9.30, so we drank in the 
 mountain air (which was not very filling, to say the 
 least, to any empty stomach), and we were not in 
 a condition calculated to profit the hotel, at which 
 we were preparing to do ample justice to breakfast 
 when the time came. Our first morning stop was 
 made at Salida, at 6.10. Salida is 217 miles from 
 Denver and is the centre of four divisions of the 
 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. From here, the 
 lines radiate in all directions. Passing a number 
 of unimportant stations, we reached the famous 
 Marshall Pass at 7.55 a. m. The Pass has an alti- 
 tude of 10,856 feet. From this point, a magnificent 
 view can be had of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of 
 Christ), range extending to the southeast. 
 
\ 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 79 
 
 The Pass is a scenic and scientific wonder. 
 Grades of 212 feet to a mile are frequent, and the 
 ascent and descent are made by a series of most re- 
 markable curves. The streams from the summit 
 flow eastward into the Atlantic ocean, and westward 
 into the Pacific ocean. We climbed the tower and 
 had an unobstructed view of miles of cone-shaped 
 summits, the timberless tops of the towering 
 ranges showing us that we were among the heights, 
 and in a region familiar with the clouds. Stretch- 
 ing away to the left are the Sierras. The sunlight 
 falls with a white, transfiguring radiance upon the 
 snow-capped spires of the Sangre de Cristo range, 
 until clouds and sky and snow peaks co-mingle, 
 forming a vague bewildering region. We wonder 
 at the triumphs of engineering skill that have given 
 the traveler the benefit of gazing with mingled awe 
 and admiration at the stupendous grandeur of such 
 a scene. 
 
 Sargent is reached at 9.30, where we had twenty 
 minutes for breakfast, not enough time to satisfy 
 our appetites, whetted by mountain air. Gunni- 
 son, on the Gunnison river, 291 miles from Denver, 
 is next reached. This is a mining town of great 
 importance, and a splendid location for fishing. 
 The next place of importance is Lake City, 35 miles 
 from Sapaniero. To reach this interesting point, 
 the traveler traverses the entire length of the Lake 
 
8O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Fork Canon, one of the most magnificent of the 
 Rocky Mountain canons. Within three miles of 
 Lake City is the beautiful Lake San Cristoval, form- 
 ed by an immense mountain slide ages ago, and 
 now probably the most beautiful body of water in 
 the Rocky Mountains. We now approach the 
 Black Canon, and here the observation-car is put 
 on. The Black Canon is 25 miles west of Gunni- 
 son. Along many miles of this grand gorge, the 
 railroad hangs upon a shelf, hewn out of living 
 rock, which rises frequently to an altitude of 2,000 
 feet. 
 
 The Black Canon is 16 miles in length and 
 abounds in innumerable striking features. Great 
 walls of rock rise on either side. One looks up 
 between them at the blue dome of heaven above 
 with a feeling of awe. The mountain stream, pure 
 and limpid, rushes and gurgles to the right. The 
 rocks jut out here and there, and immense boul- 
 ders rest on the merest ledge, as though ready to 
 crush down with gigantic force into the abysmal 
 chasm beneath. About midway in the canon, Chip- 
 peta Falls pitches, down a perpendicular height of 
 hundreds of feet, from the top of dizzy cliffs, the 
 stream of liquid crystal to the bosom of the spark- 
 ling river which dashes on beside the road. Fur- 
 ther on, a spacious amphitheatre is passed, in the 
 centre of which, solitary and alone, stands Curre- 
 
CURRECANTI NEEDLE. 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 8l 
 
 canti Needle, a towering monument of solid stone, 
 which reaches to where it flaunts the clouds like 
 some great cathedral spire. Truly, there is no 
 place so beautiful, so awful, so sublime in all the 
 world as the Black Canon, the scenery of which is 
 kaleidoscopic, ever-changing; walls of which are so 
 close together that, for most of the distance 
 through the canon, only a streak of sky, sometimes 
 in broad daylight spangled with stars, can be seen 
 above. 
 
 Our feeling, when beholding all this sublime 
 grandeur, was that we loved the whole world, and 
 wished that part of the people most dear to us could 
 see with us all this stupendous magnificence. If 
 there be any egotism in one (and there is in most of 
 us), these grand and glorious mountains, this scen- 
 ery of Colorado, is the place to take it all out of 
 him. We shall never feel our importance again. 
 Since beholding the Black Canon we are conscious 
 that we are the least of God's creation, a mere 
 pigmy, an ant, a grasshopper, a protoplasm so 
 great, so grand, so sublime are these huge moun- 
 tains, the wonderful handiwork of the Creator of all 
 things, who centuries and ages ago called into ex- 
 istence these towers of rock, pointing upward to- 
 ward heaven, the home of the redeemed and the 
 blest. 
 
 How long have they stood there as monuments 
 6 
 
82 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 to the Great First Cause of all things? How long 
 will they stand with their lofty spires reminding us 
 of Him to whom we owe fealty? What rich treas- 
 ures are buried in the secret recesses of their hearts, 
 treasures awaiting coming generations yet unborn? 
 These thoughts come crowding with hundreds of 
 others upon one as he reverently beholds God's 
 handiwork. 
 
 Here, in the Black Canon, every mood of man 
 finds an answering mood in Nature. The little 
 mountain stream smiles with gentle contentment, 
 the waterfall dances with jocund glee, the torrent 
 rages with savage fury in its wild chase through its 
 rocky channel, the canon frowns with somber 
 gloom, the mountains gaze with majesty over all. 
 
 Leaving here, we begin to make the ascent of 
 Cerro Summit. From here, the Uncompahgre 
 Valley, its river, and the distant picturesque peaks 
 of the San Juan are in sight of the traveler. 
 
 After passing Montrose, 353 miles from Denver, 
 a fine view of the Uncompahgre Mountains, ex- 
 tending to the southwest can be obtained. Un- 
 compahgre Peak, the monarch of the range, rises 
 to an altitude of 14,419 feet. Beyond Delta, and 
 after traversing rich farming lands of the Gunnison 
 Valley, the road passes through lower Gunnison 
 Valley, which also abounds in strikingly beautiful 
 scenery. It is now about 3 o'clock in the after- 
 
CHIPETA FALLS, IN THE BLACK CANON. 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 83 
 
 noon. The scenery has so filled us with awe and 
 reverence that we are glad to descend from the 
 heights, and look upon the plain fields and sur- 
 roundings of every-day life. 
 
 Grand Junction, the famous peach district, is 
 reached at 5.30 p. m. Here we have a two hours' 
 wait, and take advantage of the time by visiting the 
 fruit farms, and sampling the delicious variety of 
 luscious peaches presented in baskets to each trav- 
 eler holding a coupon for same, which was given 
 him with his railroad-ticket. Anne Arundel has 
 lo, these many years ! been famous for its fruit and 
 vegetables, but Anne Arundel (with all due respect 
 to our native heath) is not " in it " (to use vulgar 
 parlance) with Grand Junction. Her peaches taste 
 all the way from the fuzz on the skin to the stone. 
 They are of the most delightful flavor, large and lus- 
 cious. A Grand Junction peach has an individu- 
 ality all its own, and no other peach can presume 
 to " light a candle " to it. 
 
 There are other fruits here beside peaches. 
 There are pears, plums, canteloupes, apricots, and 
 so forth, all of the finest variety. The fruit-grow- 
 ers at Grand Junction have the art of cultivating 
 fruit down to fine points, beside having the locality, 
 which is altogether favorable. Hemmed in by 
 mountains, protected from the cold blasts of winter, 
 with but little frosts, a bright warm sun the year 
 
84 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 round, rich and fertile soil, what is there to prevent 
 the fruitful production which results therefrom? 
 Last season, we have been told, the Denver and 
 Rio Grande Express shipped 600 tons of peaches 
 from Grand Junction; and in strawberry-season, 
 these luscious berries are shipped by the car-load. 
 One potato grown here is oftentimes sufficient for 
 a family dinner, and you need not wonder at this or 
 think the family is a very small one, when we tell 
 you we have been informed, authentically, by a 
 gentleman who saw one, that white potatoes grow 
 1 8 inches in length in the neighborhood of Grand 
 Junction and Glenwood Springs (of which place 
 we shall speak later). 
 
 Grand Junction and her delicious fruit are syn- 
 onymous, and there never were, nor ever will be, 
 any peaches like Grand Junction peaches. Leav- 
 ing the famous fruit district, we embarked for Glen- 
 wood Springs, which is reached at 10.30 p. m. 
 Here we spent the night at Hotel Colorado, one of 
 the finest equipped and handsomest hotels in the 
 country. It is built of peach-blow colored stone 
 and Roman brick, and cost $350,000. It extends 
 around three sides of a large court 124 feet square. 
 This is terraced and adorned with fountains, grass- 
 plats, paths, and beds of flowers, affording a de- 
 lightful promenade, and commanding lovely views. 
 Broad corridors and verandas surround the court. 
 
ROYAL GORGE. 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 85 
 
 The hotel is built in the Italian style, the Villa 
 Medicas in Rome having given inspiration for the 
 central motive, which consists of two towers, with 
 connecting loggias, offering fine outlooks over 
 mountain, river and valley. There is accommoda- 
 tion for 300 guests. In the morning, we took a 
 walk through the picturesque arbor to the bathing- 
 pool and boiling springs, the mineral properties of 
 which are famous. The analysis of one of the 
 springs, " Yampah," proves the efficacy of its heal- 
 ing properties, and that it contains more medicinal 
 properties than the Kissengen Springs in Bavaria. 
 The temperature of the Spring water is 124 de- 
 grees Fahrenheit. The " Yampah " flows 2,000 
 gallons per minute. There is but one word to de- 
 scribe Glenwood Springs, " The Kissengen of 
 America "- Wonderful. It is an Eden, a paradise. 
 Imagine, if you can, a river winding between gran- 
 ite walls, so lofty that their shadows subdue the sun- 
 shine into a " dim, religious light." These waters 
 of Colorado's largest river, fitly named, Grand 
 chant in melodious tones a hymn to Nature, as 
 they proudly journey down the western slope to 
 wed that peaceful ocean, whose azure waves toy 
 with the shores of Golden Gate; now smooth and 
 murmuring, now dark and angry, rushing at great 
 rocks that lie in their pathway, roaring defiance at 
 the adamantine obstructions, forming with the 
 
86 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 shifting scenery a living kaleidoscope, ever chang- 
 ing, now soothing with a pleasant dream, and now 
 exciting the mind with wonder and with awe. 
 These are the departing scenes as we leave Glen- 
 wood on the return-trip, passing into a tunnel 
 through a mighty mountain to the " Gates " of the 
 Canon of the Grand river. 
 
 We reach what is called "The Portals." On 
 each side, the walls rise to a height of 2,000 feet, 
 the river and the railroad fill the space between, 
 while a great monolith, to the left of the track, 
 stands isolated and rises like a watch-tower to 
 guard "The Portals." 
 
 We are now " within the gates," the picturesque 
 approach to the Grand river. The road curves 
 around a huge cliff to the left, while to the right are 
 the river and the perpendicular walls of the canon. 
 The scene, the portrayal of which is beyond human 
 ken, beggars description. 
 
 West of Red Cliff, and 304 miles from Denver, 
 we reach Eagle Canon. This is a remarkable 
 gorge, not only wondrous for its works of nature, 
 but for the wonders of human skill and handiwork. 
 For here the sides and summit of the canon are 
 made the resting-places of shaft-houses, and dwell- 
 ings of miners, elevated 2,000 feet above the track, 
 and reminding one of the eyries of eagles. This 
 canon is a rich mining region, of which, Battle 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 87 
 
 Mountain is the centre. Just beyond this, the rail- 
 road enters Red Cliff Canon, a comparatively short, 
 but very interesting gorge in the mountains. 
 
 Leaving here, just as the train rounds the curve, 
 one sees the Mount of Holy Cross. This famous 
 mountain bears a cross of snow upon its bosom, 
 formed by deposits in an upright and transverse 
 canon. The upright of the cross is about 1,500 
 feet, and the arms about 750 feet in length. The 
 elevation of the mountain is about 14,176 feet. 
 
 Eleven miles before reaching Leadville, the Den- 
 ver and Rio Grande Railroad scales the Continental 
 Divide, at the altitude of 10,418 feet. This is call- 
 ed Tennessee Pass. Thirteen miles from Lead- 
 ville, on the Blue river, is Fremont Pass, the high- 
 est railroad pass in the world, the elevation being 
 1 1,540 feet. Here, we had a view of Grand Moun- 
 tain. 
 
 As we approach Leadville we see to the west a 
 remarkable mountain called Mount Massive, rising 
 to an altitude of 14,368 feet. Leadville is a great 
 mining-camp and has a population of 15,000. Its 
 elevation is 10,200 feet, and it is the highest city in 
 the world. Buena Vista is the next stop. It is a 
 city of considerable importance, and is noted for its 
 cottonwood hot springs. The State reformatory is 
 also located here. It is a handsome building of Colo- 
 rado stone, and surrounded with beautiful grounds. 
 
88 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 We now reach Brown's Canon, a small but very at- 
 tractive canon, flowing through which is the Ark- 
 ansas river. Not far from here we have a view of 
 three imposing peaks called Collegiate Peaks, 
 named for Harvard, Princeton and Yale. 
 
 We soon reach the Royal Gorge, the crowning 
 wonder of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. 
 What can we say of this? No expletives can we 
 call up by word or pen that will picture the grand- 
 eur of this magnificent monument to the omnipo- 
 tence of an all-wise Creator. After the entrance 
 of the canon has been made, surprise and almost 
 terror comes. The train rolls round a long curve 
 close under a wall of black and banded granite, be- 
 side which the ponderous locomotive shrinks to a 
 mere dot, as if swinging on some pivot in the heart 
 of the mountain, or captured by a centripetal force 
 that would never resign its grasp. Almost a whole 
 circle is accomplished, and the grand amphitheatri- 
 cal sweep of the wall is made in its smooth and zen- 
 ith-cutting fagade. Will the journey end here? Is 
 it a mistake that this crevice goes through the 
 range? Does not all this mad water gush from 
 some spring, or boil out of a subterranean channel, 
 impenetrable to us? No, it opens. 
 
 Resisting centripetal, centrifugal force claims the 
 train, and it breaks away at a tangent, past the edge 
 or round the corner of the great black wall which 
 
THE DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 89 
 
 compelled its detour and that of the river before it. 
 Now, what glories of rock-piling confront the 
 wide-distended eye ! How those sharp-edged cliffs, 
 standing with upright heads that play at hand-ball 
 with the clouds, alternate with one another, so that 
 first the right then the left, then the right one be- 
 yond strike our view, each one half obscured by its 
 fellow in front, each showing itself level-browed 
 with its comrades as we come even with it, each a 
 score of hundreds of dizzy feet in height, rising per- 
 pendicular from the water and the track, splintered 
 atop into airy pinnacles, braced behind against the 
 almost continental mass, through which the chasm 
 has been cleft. And this is Royal Gorge ! 
 
 There is not a whit of egotism in us now, we are 
 even smaller than the ant, a mere animalcule. The 
 Royal Gorge is indeed the climax of grandeur. 
 The shades of night are falling, and the exquisite 
 scenery is shut in by the drapery of nightfall, pin- 
 ned back here and there by the stars. We be- 
 grudge the veil of darkness which obscures the 
 view, every inch of which we have thoroughly en- 
 joyed, and over which we are naturally enthused. 
 There was no monotony about it all, for the scene 
 was an ever-changing one, with mountain, river, 
 gorge, canon, and now and then ranches, log-huts 
 and mining-camps looming up along the road, not 
 to mention the foliage, great green and red patches 
 
90 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 of which, interspersed with yellow, dotted the 
 mountain sides. 
 
 The trip to Grand Junction is too grand for mere 
 description. One had as well try to make a deaf 
 person appreciate the deathless harmonies of Wag- 
 ner or Lange, as to attempt to depict with word or 
 pen the beauties with which nature has endowed 
 Colorado. The colored porter's description is as 
 eloquent as any we can think of : " Yes, indeedy 
 Miss, nachuh has sho'ly been heah, an' she's heah 
 yet." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE WEST" PIKE'S PEAK "THE 
 
 GEM OF THE ROCKIES." 
 
 One of the cities of the far-famed Pike's Peak 
 region is Colorado Springs. It is a city of 20,000 
 inhabitants, and is a popular summer resort. Here, 
 one may enjoy all the comforts of life together with 
 conveniences, and a large share of pleasure the 
 modern city affords, not to mention abundance of 
 Colorado air, sunshine and scenery. 
 
 Driving through the city, one sees the elegant 
 and costly mansion along with the cosy home-like 
 cottage. Its streets are broad and bordered on 
 either side by shade trees, which effect is very pleas- 
 ing. Its hotels are metropolitan of size and ap- 
 pointment, its business houses, stores, churches and 
 schools, and clubs are imposing structures, thor- 
 oughly equipped, costly and up to date. 
 
 Here, some of the most influential business men 
 of the State reside. Colorado Springs is the seat 
 of the Colorado College. It is strictly a temper- 
 ance town, and for once we were in a city of 20,000 
 
92 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 inhabitants where there is not a single saloon. The 
 absence of these prominent exponents of other 
 cities is at once apparent to the visitor, and re- 
 freshingly unique. The society of the place is 
 charming. 
 
 One meets the most delightful people, highly 
 cultured and much-traveled residents, together 
 with numerous tourists from Old Glory's domain 
 and across the " big pond." The environments of 
 Colorado Springs are great in number and variety 
 of scenic wonders. Besides having superb roads 
 and boulevards, there are several lines of electric 
 railways leading to the great Cheyenne Canons, to 
 Manitou, the Garden of the Gods, and to other 
 points of supreme interest. 
 
 Here, the matchless panorama of the Pike's 
 Peak Range for 20 miles from north to south, is 
 ever in view, notching the sky in splendid serra- 
 tions, and dominated midway by the great peak it- 
 self. 
 
 Everybody who visits Colorado Springs visits 
 the famous Broadmoor Casino. It lies at the foot 
 of the mountains, and possesses attractions, as no- 
 table in its way, as they do. It is modeled after the 
 famous German and Italian casinos, and is a veri- 
 table temple of pleasure, perfect in its every ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 Colorado Springs has a climate that attracts the 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. 93 
 
 health-seeker. Here is located the State Blind In- 
 stitution, a handsome granite and red-brick build- 
 ing, well equipped for the instruction of those un- 
 fortunates to whom the sights and scenes of this 
 lovely State are lost forever. It was the good 
 pleasure of the writer to visit this institution, and 
 to be conducted through the buildings by a bright 
 lad of seventeen years, who, with his hands in his 
 pockets, walked from room to room, telling us 
 what was taught here and there. 
 
 We asked him how he could get about without 
 the use of his hands or a cane to locate his where- 
 abouts. His reply was : " If you had been here 
 seven or eight years, as I have, I presume you 
 could do the same, even though totally blind." We 
 went into the room where geography is taught, and 
 around the walls of which were raised maps. We 
 asked him to tell us some of the continents and 
 islands. By touching them he correctly told with- 
 out the slightest hesitation. One little blind boy of 
 ten years played " Georgia Camp-meeting" for us, 
 as well as anyone with sight could. It is wonderful 
 to see these children, some of whom are deaf and 
 dumb as well as blind, play at ball and other games, 
 during recreation hour, happy though so sorely af- 
 flicted. 
 
 The Printers' Home is also located at Colorado 
 Springs. It is another handsome building, and 
 
94 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 here a number of sick and disabled printers, many 
 of whom are victims of tuberculosis, are seeking 
 health. They are from almost every State in the 
 Union, and quite a number from Washington, who 
 formerly worked in the Government Printing Of- 
 fice in that city. 
 
 One never visits Colorado Springs without see- 
 ing Cheyenne Canon the North and the South 
 Cheyenne; the latter, though not so long as the 
 former, is superb, and is owned by two young men, 
 who inherited it from their father, he having pur- 
 chased the land as a homestead and developed and 
 improved it. To-day, it is a veritable gold-mine 
 for these two boys, who charge an admission of 
 25 cents to the canon. So often have we used 
 the expletives " grand, sublime, magnificent " in 
 describing Colorado scenery that they have long 
 since become trite. Indeed, there are no words to 
 describe the works of God and nature here. 
 
 Words are inadequate for description, and one 
 word must express all Wonderful. In going 
 through North Cheyenne Canon, we observed the 
 rock-formations on either side, to which names 
 have been ascribed. We passed Longfellow's 
 Monument, a massive pinnacle of rock towering 
 toward the sky, standing isolated from others of its 
 kind, fit emblem to honor the memory of the poet 
 laureate for whom it is named. Next arose before 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. 95 
 
 us, Prospect Dome, an imposing spire of 125 feet. 
 Then, the Pillars of Hercules loomed up in our 
 pathway, two companion rocks 800 feet high. The 
 torrent rushed by us, the queer and curious foun- 
 dations of rock loomed up ever and anon ; the scen- 
 ery continued to awe and inspire us as we climbed 
 up, up, up to the end of North Cheyenne Canon, 
 where there are entrances to three mines of for- 
 mer days, which, gay and alluring in their de- 
 ceptiveness, won man's confidence to their inmost 
 hearts, and then cast him off to seek more remuner- 
 ative creatures of their kind. We went into these 
 shafts part-way, then, retracing our steps through 
 North Cheyenne Canon, we proceeded to visit 
 South Cheyenne Canon, a most picturesque and 
 awe-inspiring spot. 
 
 Here are massive walls of richly covered gran- 
 ite, rising from murmuring streams, almost perpen- 
 dicular to the sky above. Their bold and rugged 
 cliffs are split and broken by the never-ending bat- 
 tle with the elements. Their lofty domes and tow- 
 ers stand alone and unsupported after centuries of 
 upheaval and commotion, inconceivable to man. 
 
 The lonely brook, with its crystal waters, winds 
 in and out in the deeply wooded recesses of the 
 mountains, and, with melodious murmur, glides 
 over the mossy logs and boulders strewn in its 
 path, beneath ferns and bushes arched above it. 
 
96 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Now it passes through the solitary glen, now un- 
 der the shadow of the gray old trees, the keepers 
 of the secrets of the ages past, where the tourist 
 may find undisturbed communion with Nature. 
 The canon is covered with moss and filled with 
 flowers of every tint and hue, ladening the air with 
 sweetest perfume. 
 
 As one enters South Cheyenne Canon, he be- 
 holds a great cleft in the granite monument, as 
 though some mighty hand had split and welded it, 
 that one might enter and behold the wondrous 
 works of time within. 
 
 At the right of the entrance is a massive granite 
 shaft towering almost to the sky, called " Eagle 
 Cliff." It is so called because our glorious Ameri- 
 can bird has chosen it a fit place to build his home. 
 Just before us is another giant, equally as grand 
 and impressive, and clinging to its side, half-way 
 down from its summit, and standing out in bold 
 relief against the sky, are " Vacant Chair" and 
 " Hindoo Baby," each a curious and suggestive 
 rock-formation. Passing through the gate, where 
 the toll, previously spoken of, is paid, two immense 
 pillars of rock stand squarely across the canon, 
 completely filling it, and demanding a halt. 
 
 The way seems barred, and the tourist is at a loss 
 to know which way to go, but the brook has found 
 its way and so must we. Here we find the most 
 
SEVEN FALLS IN CHEYENNE CANON. 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. 97 
 
 wonderful demonstration in the action of the water. 
 For hundreds of feet, the canon, at this point, has 
 been worn through the solid granite. On either 
 side, the perpendicular walls rise nearly 1,000 feet 
 high, and at one place, are but 40 feet apart, barely 
 giving room for the creek and the roadway between 
 them. Not far from these great pillars of rock, on 
 the left, is Observatory Point; next we come to a 
 graceful symmetrical pinnacle of granite, more than 
 300 feet high. It stands alone, like a watch-tower 
 of the God of War, its foot wrapped in a great dark 
 cloak of sombre evergreen. The burro-trail leaves 
 the canon here and winds its way through a thickly 
 wooded gulch to Point Lookout and Seven Falls. 
 Here, nature out-does herself in a grand display 
 of mighty cliffs and rushing waters. Here, is a 
 colossal amphitheatre, down one side of which 
 plunges the foaming torrent in seven distinct leaps 
 from a perpendicular height of 216 feet. To view 
 this, we ascend a mighty stairway and enjoy the 
 beauties around, above and beyond. It is said, 
 there is no place accessible to tourists which sur- 
 passes South Cheyenne Canon in scenic beauty, 
 not even excepting the Yosemite Valley and Al- 
 pine gorges. The entire canon presents a succes- 
 sion of the grandest views that can be imagined, 
 while beautiful brooks of crystal water, a flora un- 
 surpassed in variety and the finest hills in Colorado, 
 add to its surpassing attractiveness. 
 7 
 
98 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 We must not forget to say, in passing, that in 
 this canon we saw the famous burro " Dick," which 
 Helen Hunt Jackson, the poetess, has immortal- 
 ized in some of her poems. " Dick " is a white 
 burro, 39 years old, and famous for having been 
 used by the United States government 20 years 
 ago. He helped to build the cog-wheel railway up 
 Pike's Peak. The grave of Helen Hunt Jackson, 
 whose poems are filled with the glories of these 
 mountains she loved so well, is at the summit of 
 Seven Falls, in quiet Cheyenne Canon. 
 
 Leaving Colorado Springs and traveling a few 
 miles distant by steam or electric railway, one ar- 
 rives at the world-famous Manitou. Everyone has 
 heard of Manitou, and hundreds of thousands have 
 been to this queen of mountain resorts, which pos- 
 sesses a peculiar charm for. the tourist, and casts 
 about him a magic spell, under the bewitching 
 glamour of which he lingers. Manitou, the soft, 
 melodious Indian name, means Spirit. One read- 
 ily recalls those lines of Longfellow's Hiawatha : 
 
 " Gitchie Manitou, the Mighty! 
 Give your children, food, oh Father, 
 Give us food or we must perish, 
 Give me food for Minnehaha, 
 For my dying Minnehaha. ' ' 
 
 But Manitou is said to have gotten its name 
 some other way. A facetious stage-driver told us 
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE S PEAK, ETC. 9Q 
 
 quite a different story for the origin of the In- 
 dian name. A lady had been traveling through 
 this portion of Colorado more than a quarter of a 
 century ago, when there were few inhabitants in 
 the present city of Manitou. Reaching home, her 
 folk asked her about the sights and scenes of the 
 country. " Well, tell us what you saw there " was 
 the request of one. " Oh, I only saw a man or two" 
 was the response, and so Manitou got its name, the 
 story says. 
 
 Manitou is called " The Saratoga of the West." 
 It is five miles from Colorado Springs, and 80 miles 
 due south of Denver. It lies in a cup-like glen, 
 surrounded by mountains, and has for an impres- 
 sive back ground, high above the surrounding 
 summits, the lonely majesty of Pike's Peak. It is 
 famous for its mineral waters, picturesque sur- 
 roundings and the cog-wheel railroad to the sum- 
 mit of Pike's Peak. Its inhabitants number about 
 2,000. 
 
 There are two electric-light plants here and three 
 miles of streets lighted by arc lights. A beautiful 
 avenue, 80 feet wide, runs through the town, on 
 either side of which are handsome cottages, villas 
 and hotels of elegant design and construction. In 
 the centre of the town are the famous mineral 
 springs soda, sulphur and iron. These are in- 
 closed within miniature parks and pleasure- 
 
100 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 grounds, and to these sparkling mineral springs the 
 Indians brought their sick for healing long before 
 the coming of the white man's foot. Sparkling, 
 effervescent and highly agreeable to taste, their 
 waters are adapted to cure or alleviate a wide range 
 of chronic " ills which man is heir to." 
 
 There are resorts galore, but rustic, balmy, 
 healthful Manitou is at the head of the procession, 
 and offers more pleasure, distraction and recreative 
 opportunity than any of them. Climatically there 
 is no other region that so nearly approaches the 
 ideal, both in its conduciveness to health and its 
 ecstatic delightfulness; and, scenically, the whole 
 region rou'nd about is fairly covered with the weird, 
 the wonderful and the beauteous. The various 
 springs are Nature's own apothecary shop. Na- 
 ture was indeed lavish in showering her blessings 
 on Manitou. Her attractions are natural God 
 made them. Manitou ! There is symphony in the 
 soft, sweet sound of that Indian name for the Great 
 Spirit, for all who have felt the charm of the place 
 it designates. 
 
 One takes in the numerous environments for 
 which Manitou is remarkable, and some of which 
 are Glen Eyrie, Garden of the Gods, Cave of the 
 Winds, and Pike's Peak. We took the last men- 
 tioned first, preferring the morning to the after- 
 noon on the summit. Pike's Peak ! That historic 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. IOI 
 
 beacon summit which guided the early explorers 
 across the Great Plains, rears its snow crest in the 
 midst of a veritable wonderland. Here, one be- 
 holds Nature in some of her grandest and most 
 fantastic moods. Here, are massive, gigantic 
 mountain peaks rearing their heads in the regions 
 of perpetual snow. Here, when the world was 
 young, was the play-ground of Titan's force 
 rock-forms of every size, shape and color, rising in 
 airy pinnacles like the spires of Milan, or in solid 
 shafts, against which modern engineering might 
 beat in vain. 
 
 There are several ways in which the tourist may 
 ascend the Peak by wagon, on burro, by the cog- 
 wheel railway, or, if he has the grit of three Eng- 
 lishmen we met, he takes it afoot. Hailing from 
 Maryland, and being imbued with Southern blood 
 that loathes over-exertion, and loves ease and com- 
 fort, we took the cog. The railway is unique, not 
 to say wonderful. At the Iron Springs, the termi- 
 nus of the street-railway, one takes the car for the 
 summit of the Peak. The coach is fitted out as 
 any railroad coach is; the engine, which we shall 
 not attempt to describe, because we cannot, pushes 
 the coach from the rear up the mountain. In the 
 centre of the track is the cog-wheel arrangement, 
 and this is the distinctive feature which accom- 
 plishes this great feat of engineering. The grade 
 
IO2 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 in the road is wonderful, and at one part there is 
 an ascent of 25 per cent perpendicular for three 
 miles. 
 
 Were it not for the cog-wheel railway, only 
 those few of nature's physical aristocrats who have 
 superior development of limbs and lungs, would 
 be permitted to mount above the clouds and stand 
 " close to the sun in lonely lands." But the cog 
 reduces all men to a common level in the enjoy- 
 ment of this sublime pleasure without physical ex- 
 ertion and without fatigue of any kind. Any one 
 able to travel in a railroad-car can be lifted up to 
 the strange region of clouds and storms, and for a 
 few hours exist in the heart of eternal desolation. 
 To the common-place human being this trip is a 
 chapter from one of Jules Verne's romances. The 
 dullest mind is susceptible to grand, impressive and 
 poetic fancies, and these are sure to be aroused and 
 felt by the experience at the summit of Pike's 
 Peak. We did not make the ascent without trepi- 
 dation, knowing that the altitude seriously affects 
 some, specially those whose "too solid flesh will 
 not melt " (misquoted). But we gritted our teeth, 
 swallowed the lump in our throat, and said " Pike's 
 Peak or bust." 
 
 Difficult indeed is the task of attempting even to 
 describe what may be seen from the train ascend- 
 ing Pike's Peak. A picture for the mind of the 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE S PEAK, ETC. 103 
 
 varied tints and colors, and constantly-changing 
 panorama, can reach it only through the human 
 eye. The lower terminus of the cog-wheel road is 
 situated at the mouth of Engleman's Canon, the 
 sides of which are formed by the slopes of Manitou 
 Hiawatha Mountains. Rushing through the canon, 
 Ruxton creek, a sparkling mountain stream, swiftly 
 flows beside us, dashing madly on over massive 
 boulders and forming numberless cascades and 
 waterfalls far below. Its source is the perpetual 
 snow, and we follow it for two and three-quarter 
 miles. There are many scenes and points of inter- 
 est en route up the Peak. A short distance from 
 the starting point are Shady Springs, hidden under 
 the slope of the massive mountain upon which rest 
 Gog and Magog. To the right is the Lone Fish- 
 erman, who patiently waits at the top of the north- 
 ern wall of the canon. Now we enter the Great 
 Pass, where we see Echo Falls, named from the 
 echo rocks above, from the high walls of which the 
 sound of dashing waters is distinctly reverberated. 
 Just beyond is the natural creek tunnel, an arched 
 waterway formed by the fallen boulders through 
 which the stream flows. Passing the stupendous 
 Hanging Rock, that makes us shudder lest it lose 
 its equilibrium at that very moment, we are soon 
 at Artist's Glen, from where a good view of the 
 Garden of the Gods may be had. 
 
IO4 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Next on the right is Plum Pudding (like mother 
 used to make); on the left the Turtle and Punch, 
 and passing through a natural gateway we come in 
 view of Minnehaha Falls. Here is a picturesque 
 group of Swiss cottages set among the pines, and 
 occupied by pleasure-seekers. Lizzard Rock, Pin- 
 nacle Rock, Devil's Slide, the Elk's Head, the 
 Fleuride gold-mine are left behind, and we sud- 
 denly come upon the Half- Way House, a comfor- 
 table hotel situated in a beautiful grove at the foot 
 of Grand View Rock. Here, a short stop is made, 
 and several passengers, fearing bad effects from the 
 altitude at the summit, leave the car. Only a few 
 being overburdened with avoirdupois tissue, which 
 is an unfavorable condition in high altitudes, re- 
 main with those ambitious to reach the summit. 
 
 On we go, up, up through the narrow, rugged 
 walls of Hell's Gate, and enter the verdant Ruxton 
 and Aspen Parks, over which Bald and Sheep 
 Mountains stand as sentinels. Here, for two and 
 a quarter miles a comparative level stretch is trav- 
 eled and a good view of Grand Old Mountain is 
 had; as we are almost under the summit we gain a 
 better view of the altitude than from any other 
 point of view. Our train makes a stop for water, 
 as there is before us the longest and steepest in- 
 cline on the road, winding around the southern 
 side of the mountain. As we ascend, the moun- 
 
THE MOUNTAIN-CLIMBER. 
 
 
 MRS. RILEY PICKNICKING IN THE ROCKIES. 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. IO5 
 
 tains to the east seem to sink until they become 
 mere foothills, and our view to the east and south 
 becomes more extended. From Inspiration Point, 
 we see far below us a glacial lake covering no 
 acres, and glacial rocks, upon which are marks 
 showing the unmistakable action of ice in ages 
 past. These rocks are Mount Baldy and Mount 
 Garfield, Bear Creek Canon and the Southern 
 Mountains. 
 
 After passing Timber Line (11,578 ft.), we cross 
 a great field of broken rock, in which are small 
 areas where enough soil is found for some small 
 mosses and many low Alpine plants to take root; 
 and here, in season, there is a profusion of these 
 tiny flowers, which one could hardly expect to find 
 at such a high altitude. At Windy Point we get 
 our first western view, and are but a short distance 
 from the summit, which is reached one hour and a 
 half after leaving Manitou. The world is now be- 
 fore us, and rare indeed would be the art that could 
 picture to the soul, unaided by the sense of sight, 
 the unapproachable magnitude of the view that 
 now greets the bewildered eye. Spread out before 
 us is a mighty panorama of 40,000 square miles. 
 To the east is a gay confusion of buffalo plains, 
 streams and flowering fields dotted over with vil- 
 lages and cities. Colorado Springs, Manitou and 
 the Garden of the Gods are at our feet, and look 
 
IO6 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 like flower-beds. To the south are Seven Lakes, 
 the Raton Mountains of New Mexico, and the 
 famous Spanish Peaks; the cities of Pueblo, Flor- 
 ence, Canon City and Altman the highest min- 
 ing town in Colorado and the Arkansas Valley 
 and Cripple Creek. 
 
 To the west, protruding itself above the clouds, 
 is the Sangre de Cristo Range, spreading out its 
 sheet of perpetual snow, and freshening the air that 
 one breathes with the vigor it stimulates. Buffalo, 
 Blanca, Ouray, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Holy 
 Cross and Elbert Peaks are in this direction at dis- 
 tances varying from 60 to 150 miles. To the north 
 are the abyss, Gray and Long's Peak, and Denver 
 Castle Rock and Manitou Park in the Continental 
 Divide. Few persons, comparatively, know the 
 sensation of looking from a mountain top over 
 thousands of miles of the earth's surface; and to 
 those few who have realized this sensation, it af- 
 fords an indelible recollection, one of the experi- 
 ences of a lifetime cherished on memory's brightest 
 page. The barometer here stands about 17 inches, 
 and water boils at 184 degrees Fahrenheit. Can 
 you wonder then that the human body and human 
 mind in these conditions manifest new feelings? 
 One feels that he must get on his knees and wor- 
 ship the Great God of Nature, the Great First 
 Cause of all this grandeur and sublime splendor. 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. IO7 
 
 At the summit of the peak is located the United 
 States Signal Station building, the highest obser- 
 vatory in the country. It was built in 1882, but 
 is not in operation now. On the summit, there is 
 one lonely grave, covered with rocks, the plain 
 wooden headstone bearing this inscription : " In 
 memory of Mary O'Keefe, daughter of John and 
 Kate O'Keefe, who was eaten by rats, 1876." Tra- 
 dition says, Mary O'Keefe, losing her way in the 
 mountains, sank down exhausted and was eaten by 
 mountain-rats. 
 
 A popular fad of those who reach the summit of 
 Pike's Peak is to telegraph to their friends, or send 
 them a Pike's Peak illustrated postal card. These 
 are ten cents each, and the writing is in a very 
 shaky hand. This is not to be wondered at when 
 one is in the clouds and can, in reality, " push dem 
 clouds away " with one's hands. The greater won- 
 der is that he can write at all. 
 
 One of the party was an old man from Iowa, 
 aged 70 years. He had started at seven o'clock in 
 the morning to walk from Manitou up the peak. 
 It was too much for him, and we took him aboard 
 at the Pike's Peak News office. It was then ten 
 a. m. and he had walked to the altitude of 9,699 
 feet. We talked with him, and congratulated him 
 on his ambition and nerve. He said he had not 
 done so much after all, for the day previous a man 
 
IO8 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 and a woman from Kansas, carrying an eight- 
 months old baby, had walked to the summit. Not 
 knowing anything about Kansas endurance, we 
 presumed these people must have been English. 
 The idea of walking up to an altitude of 14,147 
 feet is not to be despised, but to carry a baby is 
 quite an unusual feat. 
 
 The Pike's Peak Daily News is published by an 
 enterprising woman, and is sold to those on the 
 train at 10 cents a copy, except to the clergy and 
 newspaper fraternity; to these, who are numbered 
 with the blest, it is presented gratis. Happily we 
 are in the latter category. The paper contains the 
 names of those who visit the peak daily. You give 
 your name as you make the ascent; returning, you 
 buy the paper, name and all. Quick work, isn't 
 it? But nothing astonishes you in Colorado, after 
 you have been here a while. It is altogether a 
 swift place, and in its bright lexicon of get-at-ive- 
 ness, there are no such words as " can't " or " fail." 
 
 The first ascent to the peak was made July I4th, 
 1819. It has been stated that the first woman to 
 stand on the summit of Pike's Peak was Mrs. James 
 Holmes, who is said to have reached the summit 
 August 5th, 1858. 
 
 Mrs. Samuel J. Riley is also a claimant for the 
 distinguished honor of having been the first woman 
 to reach the summit of the Peak, and it seems 
 highly probable that she was. 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. IOO, 
 
 Mrs. Riley, nee Mollie Devinney, was born in 
 Kentucky, and was one of three sisters who married 
 Kent county (Maryland) men. 
 
 Mr. Devinney, Mrs. Riley's father, moved with 
 his family from Kentucky to St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 and here the three sisters met the three Kent 
 county men, who, at different times drifted there, 
 and finally married them, a rather striking coinci- 
 dence in everyday life. One of these men was 
 Samuel J. Riley, the husband of the woman said to 
 have been the first to mount the summit of Pike's 
 Peak. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Riley 
 resided in St. Joseph, Missouri, when, in the sum- 
 mer of 1874, Mrs. Riley planned a visit to her 
 younger sister, Mrs. Joseph Dozier, who resides at 
 Colorado Springs. During her visit, Mrs. Riley 
 conceived the notion of making the ascent to the 
 summit of Pike's Peak. She was a frail, delicate 
 woman, and her friends and relatives attempted to 
 dissuade her from making the trip, believing the 
 hardships and trials would cause her death. She 
 was a woman of indomitable will, however, and 
 once having fixed her heart and mind on attaining 
 a goal, was determined to pursue it. She started 
 out, therefore, and in company with two gentlemen 
 friends, she made the trip in two days and a night 
 without the slightest harm to her health, and this 
 in the days when there was only a foot-path up the 
 
IIO WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 mountain height. The superintendent of the 
 Weather Bureau on the summit told Mrs. Riley 
 she was the first woman who had made the ascent. 
 Mrs. Riley married a nephew of Mr. Marion De 
 Kalb Smith, of Chestertown, Maryland, late Comp- 
 troller of the State of Maryland from 1892 to 1896. 
 
 She was a very ambitious woman, of a mild, gen- 
 tle disposition and lovely character, and drew about 
 her many admiring friends. She died in 1881 in 
 Texas, where her husband had removed. 
 
 In the picture " Mrs. Riley Picnicing in the 
 Rockies " Mrs. Riley is on the right, holding her 
 infant in her arms; the little boy below is her son, 
 and the little girl to the left, in the plaid dress, is 
 her daughter. In the centre is Mr. Joseph Dozier, 
 and to the left Mrs. Dozier, Mrs. Riley's younger 
 sister. 
 
 To Major Zebulon Pike, is due the honor of first 
 describing the peak which now bears his name. 
 Nearly a century ago (to be exact, November 5th, 
 1806), Major Pike first beheld the " Great Snow 
 Mountain." Under many difficulties and hard- 
 ships, Pike and some of his soldiers climbed the 
 intervening hill, and viewed the frowning battle- 
 ments of the great peak. After 14 days' climbing, 
 without succeeding in reaching the summit, Pike 
 was discouraged at the outlook and recorded in his 
 diary, " no human being could ascend to the sum- 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKE'S PEAK, ETC. Ill 
 
 mit." We should like to know his feelings to-day, 
 could he see the tourists who reach the uttermost 
 pinnacles of this " inaccessible " mountain by 
 burro-trail, mountain wagon, and Pike's Peak cog- 
 wheel railway. 
 
 The explorer, whose name it immortalizes, never 
 set foot at its base, to say nothing of its summit, 
 but as he first printed a description of its grandeur, 
 the credit of the discovery belongs to him. Since 
 its discovery, its fame has steadily increased, and 
 no mountain in the world is more widely known to 
 all classes and conditions of men than Pike's Peak. 
 Occupying as it does a commanding position in the 
 scenery of Colorado, it also occupies a command- 
 ing position in history and tradition. At its foot 
 rests Manitou, cradled among the hills. From its 
 snow-crowned summit descends the cooling 
 breezes which render this favored spot a delight to 
 all visitors whom good fortune has sent thither. 
 Here, bubble those fabled delicious waters of 
 health-giving springs rivaling in efficacy the 
 Fountain of Perpetual Youth, which Ponce de 
 Leon strove in vain to find, and, at last, still bravely 
 searching, lost that life which he had dreamed to 
 make immortal. 
 
 One meets, in traveling for scenery, a great many 
 very nice people. Our passengers up the cog 
 numbered 44, among them several from England, 
 
112 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Germany, Paris and two gentlemen from Copen- 
 hagen, Denmark. One of these was Dr. Alex. 
 Paulsen, chief of the military hospital at Copen- 
 hagen, in which there are 500 beds for sick and dis- 
 abled soldiers. His companion, one Mr. Lauritz 
 Dahle, and the doctor were " doing " this country. 
 They had started out from the Atlantic coast and 
 were working their way to Balboa's broad and 
 peaceful Pacific and the Golden Gate, whence 
 they go to Honolulu, Hong Kong, Java and Mal- 
 ta, returning to Denmark in April. " What do you 
 think of our country? " we asked Mr. Dahle. " It 
 is grand, lovely," was the reply. " I like Washing- 
 ton and Chicago, but New York best. In New 
 York it is so fine. I like the idea that the gentle- 
 men here are not allowed to smoke in public build- 
 ings." This was something that we did not know. 
 " The Americans," he continued, " are the very 
 cleverest people in the world. I think you think 
 so yourself, too." 
 
 At this we smiled a very conscious broad smile. 
 We Americans all think we're clever, and that's a 
 fact. Continuing in his praise of our grand old 
 country he said : " The people here are enterpris- 
 ing, energetic, but very nervous, very nervous in- 
 deed." We felt inclined to say, " tell us something 
 we don't know," for nervousness in our race is a 
 self-evident fact. " Colorado is grand," Mr. Dahle 
 
nHKB^F* 
 
 PIKE'S PEAK FROM THE GARDEN OF THE GODS-THE GATEWAY. 
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, PIKES PEAK, ETC. 113 
 
 continued, " It is the most beautiful State we have 
 visited in your country." " It is our Switzerland/' 
 we said, " do you think it compares with yours? " 
 " Yes, oh yes," was the reply, " it is just as beauti- 
 ful, these mountains are more beautiful than the 
 Alps which may be more snow-capped, but the 
 scenery of which is no better. This is a grand 
 mountain (referring to Pike's Peak), the scenery 
 here is magnificent." " But tell us of your own 
 country," we asked, " tell us of Denmark." " Den- 
 mark has 2,000,000 inhabitants, the oldest people 
 in Europe live there. We have no black people. 
 I like to see them here, they interest me. We have 
 not many Jews either. There are no common 
 schools there for children whose parents are not 
 able to pay to educate them, but those who are 
 able to pay must bear the expense. Our taxes are 
 three per cent of our annual income. We have a 
 good climate and beautiful forest." 
 
 "Are your winters very severe?" we asked. 
 " No, not very," was the reply, " there is not much 
 ice and little skating." Referring to exports, Mr. 
 Dahle said that England gets most of her butter 
 from Denmark. "But what are you writing? " 
 was the astonished query of our new acquaintance 
 of the cog-wheel railway, " do you belong to the 
 newspaper fraternity? " We soothed his fears by 
 telling him we had that honor, and he became as 
 close-mouthed as an oyster while we continued 
 8 
 
114 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 " taking notes." Asking the impression that our 
 people, individually, made upon the foreign tourist, 
 we received, hesitatingly, the reply that the average 
 American endeavored to make extortionate charges 
 on the foreigner traveling in this country, and sev- 
 eral cases were cited in illustration. To use Ameri- 
 can parlance, these gentlemen from Denmark said 
 our countrymen tried to " do " them at hotels, for 
 carriage-hire, and so forth, and that this trait gave 
 America a black eye abroad. We fancy it is " tit 
 for tat " when we visit them, and there is a sort of 
 evening up, after all. 
 
 In conclusion, what shall we say of Pike's Peak? 
 We have failed to describe its glorious splendor, for 
 description fails when the writer is human and the 
 subject so sublime. Its summit would attract the 
 eye anywhere, its foot hidden in verdurous hilis. 
 guarded by knightly crags, half buried in seething 
 clouds, its helmet vertical, frowning, plumed with 
 gleaming snow. The tourist realizes that he has 
 reached that height, " around whose summit 
 splendid visions rise." Pike's Peak, shining grand- 
 ly out of the pure ether, above all turbulence and 
 strife, seems to say : " Humble thyself, O man ! 
 Uncover thy head, forget not that as high as 
 gleams the splendor of this everlasting mountain 
 above thy gilded spires, so are the thoughts of its 
 Creator above thy thoughts, His ways above thy 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 COLORADO SCENERY GRAND CAVERNS WILLIAMS 
 
 CANON THE GARDEN OF THE GODS CAVE 
 
 OF THE WINDS GLEN EYRIE. 
 
 In the neighborhood of Manitou, Nature is in 
 her most majestic mood. A series of grand per- 
 spectives attract and charm the tourist. Driving 
 up Ute Pass, we visit Grand Caverns, and they have 
 their proper names, for they are indeed grand. The 
 Caverns are located up Agate Mountain in Ute 
 Pass, near the heart of Manitou. 
 
 They have been opened to the public since 1885, 
 during which time 120,000 visitors have passed the 
 portal to inspect the weird and wonderful crea- 
 tions of Nature. Following a short passage-way, 
 we were taken over a road hewn through massive 
 boulders, into the rotunda or vestibule, where we 
 got a first glimpse of the subterranean wonders, 
 while from this chamber radiate the various ave- 
 nues to the mystic chambers beyond. 
 
 In the vestibule are to be found forms of rare and 
 curious workmanship, stalactites and stalagmites of 
 alabaster, and other translucent compositions. 
 
Il6 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Leaving the vestibule, a passage is followed 
 through Canopy avenue, in which are found the re- 
 mains of the prehistoric occupants of the Caverns. 
 Alabaster Hall, radiant with sparkling fountains 
 and marvelous adornments, is a paradise of splen- 
 dor. Stalactite Hall, which adjoins this, is, as its 
 name implies, made up of figures of diversified 
 shapes, which hang from the ceiling with corre- 
 sponding growths from below, many of these meet- 
 ing in marble embrace, the completion of which 
 must have occupied countless ages. 
 
 The Narrows, a short and sinuous passage-way, 
 leads on to the Opera House, where attractions are 
 replete in dazzling array. Concert Hall presents 
 varied attractions which dazzle and mystify the be- 
 holder. The ceiling is high and majestic, the walls 
 and arches being symmetrical as though fashioned 
 by a master hand. Perched on a natural balcony 
 on one side is the organ, marvelously wrought, and 
 composed of thin stalactites, tuned to an almost 
 perfect gamut. Here, a musician regales the visi- 
 tor with selections on this natural instrument. The 
 impression one receives of Grand Caverns is of 
 something mighty, unreal and supernatural. Leav- 
 ing Grand Caverns, we proceed to Williams Canon, 
 the drive to which is a miracle among mountain 
 roads. Temple Drive to this canon is carved and 
 blasted from the corrugated and " impossible " side 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 
 
 of the mountains. It now presents with its solid 
 stone-walled sides, railway of heavy timber, and 
 even, easy grade as located by the engineers, the 
 safest and most interesting drive in the mountains 
 of Colorado. 
 
 Williams Canon, located as it is amid scenic 
 grandeur and panoramic picturesqueness, is indeed 
 beautiful. It is under the cap of the mountains, 
 every knob and peak of which possesses a peculiar 
 charm for the traveler. Here, there are castles and 
 fortifications chisseled out in by-gone ages. The 
 side walls of the canon are several hundred feet 
 high, and almost perpendicular. The rock has 
 been washed and eroded in every conceivable form 
 and shape. Through beautiful Williams Canon 
 and Temple Drive, we approach the Cave of the 
 Winds, this wonder of wonders, whose revelations 
 of Nature's freaks and fancies is beyond the highest 
 possible conception, or most extravagant expecta- 
 tions. The Cave of the Winds was discovered by 
 two boys, aged n and 14, respectively, who, play- 
 ing in the mountains about Williams Canon, saw 
 the opening and ventured into it. They told their 
 exploits, and further investigation followed. The 
 result was, the land was purchased by two men, who 
 developed and improved the roadway leading to 
 the Cave, and explored the mystery of this under- 
 ground palace. The original owners are now num- 
 
Il8 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 bered with those who " sleep the sleep that knows 
 no waking," and their wives are possessors of this 
 veritable gold-mine. The guide told us the re- 
 cords this season showed an enormous number of 
 visitors, those of a single day, on one occasion, 
 numbering 750. When the admission-fee is $i, 
 you can appreciate what it means to take in $750 
 per day. 
 
 It was the close of the season when we " took in " 
 the Cave, or it took us into its subterranean em- 
 brace, and on that day there had been 60 visitors. 
 This was considered a very poor day, but we 
 thought $60 a day good earnings. 
 
 But, not to digress the first chamber we enter 
 is Entrance Hall. Its dimensions are 50 x 50, with 
 a ceiling 8 to 10 feet high. Passing on, we enter 
 Curtain Hall, a room 40 or more feet long, 10 to 
 12 feet wide and 15 feet high. This room is singu- 
 larly ornamented with stalactite, and other forma- 
 tions; a very fine formation of calcite on one of the 
 walls is known as the " Curtain." The coloring of 
 this is more beautiful than if painted by hand, and 
 when seen under bright rays of magnesium light, 
 its beauty is beyond power of man to describe. We 
 next enter Canopy Hall, which is nearly 300 feet 
 long, 40 feet high and averages 30 feet in width. 
 The ceiling, side walls and floor are well covered 
 with calcite. The side walls are very rugged and 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 119 
 
 the floor slightly uneven. This " Hall " is pro- 
 fuse in ornamentation. Here are to be seen Sta- 
 lactite Niche, Bed of Cauliflowers, Frescoed Ceil- 
 ing, Lake Basin, Grandma's Skillet, Bats Wings, 
 Xenophon, Fringe of Stalactite, Prairie-Dog Vil- 
 lage, and Fairy Scene, all in this one room of the 
 cave. In this chamber, the picture of wings over- 
 hanging, images on the ceiling, the stalactites, the 
 indented rugged walls, all these, and the awful still- 
 ness of it all, is ghoulish in the extreme. From 
 here, we pass into a subterranean crooked way 
 called Boston avenue, because of its resemblance 
 to the crookedness of the streets of " The Hub." 
 At the further end it widens, and is ornamented 
 with overhanging walls and beams, and side rooms 
 and chimneys, indicating the great activity of the 
 water which doubtless caused it. 
 
 Turning to the right, we come to Diamond Hall. 
 This is 90 feet long, 12 feet high and 10 or more 
 feet wide. The ceiling is indented and so finished 
 as to be arched, with here and there domes, and the 
 whole frescoed and adorned with beautiful wreathes 
 of crystal and coral, which have been forming 
 throughout countless ages. In the brilliant mag- 
 nesium light which the guide carries, every inch of 
 the walls of this room sparkles and scintillates, each 
 conceivable color and shade giving perfectly the 
 effects to the walls of diamond mosaic work. This 
 
I2O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 room is indeed very appropriately called Diamond 
 Hall. 
 
 From here, we go to the grand art gallery of the 
 Cave, named Hall of Beauty. This matchless pal- 
 ace of pearl enraptures the visitor, and no language 
 is extravagant enough to express our praise, when 
 beholding the wondrous works of nature here, 
 where translucent stalactites of alabaster, with 
 drops of water trembling on their tips, sparkling 
 like myriads of diamonds, greet us. Cryptal 
 flowers of the most exquisite workmanship hang in 
 festoons from every crevice and corner. Sparkling 
 encrustations, reveling in beauty, the hoar frost of 
 the Arctic regions, and glittering like dew-drops 
 in the morning sun, are seen on every side. The 
 aesthetic decoration of the great arched ceilings 
 of Gothic and Greek architecture, with their per- 
 fect domes and castles wreathed and entwined with 
 sparkling flowers of the most delicate mould and 
 beautiful designs, is past all description. 
 
 Passing on to the further end of the Hall of 
 Beauty, the visitor is greeted by a pandemonium of 
 outlandish contortions, rightly named Dante's In- 
 ferno. Next we enter the Bridal Chamber. Here, 
 the curious has run riot. It beggars description. 
 On the floor of this Babel-like apartment, amid 
 stately statuary, we find a beautiful bride, and Lot's 
 Wife, while circling around in ghoulish glee on the 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 121 
 
 ceiling and casement, are wreathing reptiles, danc- 
 ing devils, acrobatic monkeys, beasts and birds of 
 every form, all in riotous postures. Airy creatures 
 here mingle with those of the infernal regions, rep- 
 resenting both pandemonium and paradise. In 
 this chamber, the geologist is puzzled and lost in 
 reflection, the poet is inspired and the painter has 
 a study before him. The weird wildness and con- 
 tortions one sees here, are sights never to be for- 
 gotten. One is amazed, awed and thrilled with a 
 sense of reverence, and feels that he should bend 
 his knee in adoration. One loves all the world 
 when beholding such sights, and would even hug 
 his mother-in-law, were she here, so great is his 
 wild happiness at having been blessed with the 
 privilege of witnessing such a marvelous sight, and 
 he commiserates those unfortunates who have not 
 seen it. 
 
 Next, we enter Crystal Palace. Not more antip- 
 odal are the scenes just described and those of the 
 chamber adjoining known as Crystal Palace. These 
 comprise four rooms closely connected, which are 
 in reality a casket of gems and jewels, and are the 
 very climax of all that goes to embellish, decorate 
 and beautify a cave. Here we saw the flowering 
 alabaster in its perfection. Unlike the gravity sta- 
 lactites, which grow from dripping water, this form 
 crystallizes from the atmosphere. The walls and 
 
122 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ceilings are closely malted or veneered with pure 
 white alabaster. The spurs or needles from one to 
 two and a half inches long, and in clusters, resemb- 
 ling chrysanthemums or chestnut-burrs, stand out 
 from the surface in the most graceful profusion 
 and as thickly as grass upon a lawn. These fade- 
 less flowers of crystal, interlooped, entwined and in- 
 terlaced into gorgeous wreaths and faultless fes- 
 toons of prettiest patterns, bright and brilliant, 
 glittering and startling, deck and grace this peer- 
 less palace. We must not neglect to mention the 
 Reception Hall in the Cave of the Winds, where in 
 every conceivable niche there are hundreds and 
 thousands of visiting cards, left here by those who 
 visit this wonderfully beautiful subterranean palace. 
 As long as memory lasts, we will recall with 
 intense pleasure this feast to the vision this rare 
 combination of the sublime and the beautiful. 
 
 Our next visit was to the Garden of the Gods. 
 No one knows exactly why this valley was named 
 the Garden of the Gods. There is nothing espe- 
 cially garden-like in its appearance, but, doubtless 
 through "apt alliteration's artful aid," the name 
 has become greatly popular, and it would now be 
 foolish to quarrel with it or make any attempt to 
 change it after all these years. There are, how- 
 ever, suggestions on every hand that Titanic forces 
 have been at work here, and it requires but little 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 123 
 
 imagination to ascribe these innumerable quaint 
 sculpturings, these magnificent architectural rock 
 marks, these grand and imposing temples not made 
 with hands, to the agencies of the gods. Here are 
 to be found carved in stone by those cunning in- 
 struments of nature the wind, the rain, the snow, 
 the frost, the sunbeam curious and often gro- 
 tesque figures, irresistibly suggestive of forms of 
 life. Now, one sees the statue of liberty leaning on 
 her shield, with the conventional Phrygian cap on 
 her head; over there, is a gigantic frog carved in 
 sandstone; yonder, is a pilgrim, staff in hand. 
 Groups of figures in curious attitudes are to be seen 
 on every hand. The lion, the seal, the elephant, 
 are all here, and indeed, a lively imagination is not 
 needed to discover in this Garden of the Gods an 
 endless variety of imitative forms of human beings, 
 of birds, beasts and reptiles. All of these figures 
 possess curious interest, and attract wondering at- 
 tention, but the notable and majestic objects are 
 the Great Gateway and the Cathedral Spires. 
 
 Two lofty tablets of carnelian-colored sand- 
 stone, sit directly opposite each other, about 50 
 feet apart, and, rising to a height of 330 feet, form 
 the portals of the far-famed Gateway. Rising as 
 they do from perfectly level ground, these up- 
 thrusts present a strangely impressive spectacle. 
 
 The Cathedral Spires are of a similar character 
 
124 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 to the Gateway, but their crests are sharply splin- 
 tered into spire-like pinnacles. The striking con- 
 trast formed by these crimson crags, outlined 
 against the deep blue sky and gilded by the high 
 white lights of the unclouded sun of Colorado, can- 
 not be described. 
 
 Paintings have been made in which artists strove 
 for this effect, but the result was bizarre and garish. 
 Art cannot reproduce it. What appears crude and 
 violent in colors on canvas, appears strong, bril- 
 liant and harmonious when beheld in nature. In 
 the Garden of the Gods, solitude is unbroken by the 
 residence of man, but we found here inanimate 
 forms of stone, quaint and grotesque suggestions 
 of human life. Here were hints of Athens and the 
 Parthenon, Palmyra and the Pyramids, Karnac and 
 her crumbling columns. 
 
 After their form, the most striking feature was 
 their color, which glows with an intensity of red, 
 unknown in any of the sandstones of the East. It 
 is impossible to describe the weirdness of this won- 
 derful garden, which, once beheld, can never be 
 forgotten. One has the impression of something 
 mighty, unreal and supernatural. It is truly a 
 Garden of the Gods, but of the gods of the Norse 
 Walhalla in some of their strange outbursts of wild 
 rage and uncouth playfulness. The scene is theat- 
 rical, and highly spectacular. The rocks here have 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 125 
 
 I 
 
 gone masquerading in all sorts of queer costumes 
 and characters. If one could live here for months, 
 he might find language flowing in its proper chan- 
 nels and be able to describe the savage grandeur of 
 the sight. 
 
 But one must hold his breath in the first stupor 
 of astonishment, and words are useless, worse than 
 useless to attempt such a picture as the Garden of 
 the Gods presents in its outlying wildness and 
 " ruinous perfection." To fully understand, one 
 must see for himself these relics of ruined strata, 
 these fanciful images of things seen and unseen, 
 which stand thickly over hundreds of acres like 
 mouldering ruins of some half-buried city of the 
 desert. There is little of tenderness or delicate 
 carving; these ghastly rents and seams are tragic, 
 and the grandeur of it all is terrible and gruesome 
 rather than beautiful. In the Garden of the Gods, 
 one feels that he is in the holy of holies, that he is 
 on the confines of another world, and that the veil 
 that divides him will soon be rent asunder. 
 
 ' ' Here the New West its wealth unlocks, 
 
 And tears the veil aside, 
 Which hides the mystic glades and rocks 
 
 The Red Man defied. 
 This greenwood girt with tongue and flame, 
 
 With spectral pillars strewn, 
 Not strangely did the savage name 
 
 A haunt of gods unknown." 
 
126 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Leaving the Garden of the Gods, we visited Glen 
 Eyrie, the site of a private residence owned and oc- 
 cupied in summer by General Palmer, whose winter 
 residence is in New York. Glen Eyrie is a most 
 interesting glen, and although not open to the pub- 
 lic, tourists are permitted to drive through the 
 grounds every day except Sunday. It is situated 
 in Queen Canon; and the character of the mono- 
 liths in this canon are even more wonderful than 
 those of the Garden of the Gods. The Major Do-mo 
 is a column of red sandstone, rising to a height of 
 300 feet, with a curious swell near the summit, 
 which far exceeds in diameter the base of the shaft. 
 It looks as though it might fall at any moment in 
 obedience to the laws of gravity. The effect of 
 one standing under the Major Domo is said to be 
 the same as when standing beneath the Leaning 
 Tower of Pisa, Italy. 
 
 We neglected to mention the Balancing Rock at 
 the entrance of the Garden of the Gods. This huge 
 rock is balanced in a manner opposed to all laws of 
 stable equilibrium, and is an object of special inter- 
 est to the tourist, and a favorite spot for photo- 
 graphing one's self on a burro. 
 
 Having seen so much of this world's grandeur, of 
 the everlasting hills, of nature in her most majestic, 
 capricious and fanciful moods, of savage wilder- 
 ness, of the beautiful and sublime, the gruesome 
 
COLORADO SCENERY. 127 
 
 and grotesque, of all in nature that is full of sur- 
 prises and pleasure, it was indeed difficult for the 
 writer to descend to the commonplace, and when 
 we did come out of the clouds it was with a dull 
 thud. For once, we wished ourselves a poet that 
 we might invoke the muses and lay a rhythmic of- 
 fering on the altar of their shrine, thus immortal- 
 izing the picturesqueness of lovely Colorado, one 
 of the newest portions of the new world. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 DENVER'S ODDITIES AND PECULIARITIES SOME 
 
 STRIKING FEATURES OF THE COMMON- 
 PLACE ORDER. 
 
 It will not do to say farewell to Denver and Colo- 
 rado without a few notes and incidents that present 
 themselves to the eastern tourist here, and which, 
 coming under no particular head are, therefore, un- 
 classified. 
 
 Passing along the streets of Denver, one is at- 
 tracted by the peculiar names on some of the signs 
 above doors and windows of various business es- 
 tablishments. While waiting for a car one day at 
 a prominent street corner there, we were gazing at 
 the beautiful Colorado sky, the color of which has 
 its perfection in this State, very probably because of 
 the rarefied air. While admiring the bluest of blue 
 skies, our attention was attracted to the building 
 opposite, on which was the sign " Cool and High." 
 Now why it should be cooler just midway that 
 building, we could not imagine, for it certainly was 
 not so high as others near by. On inquiry we were 
 told Cool and High was the firm who did business 
 there. 
 
I2 9 
 
 This oddity of names kept us on the qui vive for 
 others, some of which we remembered as follows : 
 
 A firm doing business in the northern part of the 
 city is Love and Joy; another man is " A. Beggar." 
 A tailor on Main street has his sign out " A. Swin- 
 dler, Tailor." We are told, few tailors will ac- 
 knowledge the same. On inquiry, we found this 
 particular tailor's name is Adam, which he invari- 
 ably abbreviates with " A." for he claims it is bad 
 enough to be A. Swindler, without having to be 
 Adam Swindler. 
 
 Then, there is a Fannie Toogood, a milliner, 
 here. Isn't it too bad she is too good for a milli- 
 ner? One Mr. Leadbeater has his sign out as a 
 plumber. His name is almost as appropriate to 
 his business, as are those of the firm of Salmon and 
 Trout, who are fish dealers here in Denver. Now, 
 since Mr. J. M. Salmon and Mr. S. L. Trout are 
 in the fish business, who dares reiterate with the 
 Bard of Avon that " there is nothing in a name? " 
 
 We gazed at a sign in the window of a popular 
 shoe-store for a long time, deliberating whether we 
 should walk in and take any risks. The sign read, 
 " Any man, woman or child can have a fit inside 
 walk in." Now, the writer objects to having a 
 fit anywhere, whether inside or out, and the sign 
 struck us forcibly. 
 
 Aside from peculiar signs and odd names, there 
 9 
 
130 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 were other things that attracted our attention along 
 the line of the commonplace in Denver. Although 
 we have traversed nearly the entire city, we have 
 yet to see shutters on any of the houses inside or 
 outside. These eye-lid appendages to our eastern 
 homes are altogether unknown in Denver. The 
 people seem to have no use for them whatever. 
 And, as to the houses themselves, one has to go 
 miles to find a frame-house. We do not recall 
 having seen a single one, but are told some of the 
 oldest houses here are frame. There is a law 
 against building a frame-house in Denver, which 
 has been in existence some years past. That is the 
 reason one sees only brick or stone houses. 
 
 Speaking of the Denver houses, reminds me of 
 what President Harrison said when visiting Den- 
 ver, a few years ago, as the guest of the G. A. R. 
 of this city. In his address before a large assem- 
 blage, the President said, in part: "You have 
 fine public buildings and elegant business houses, 
 but your homes and your schools appeal to me as 
 the most distinctive features of your city. These 
 homes and schools tell me what the people of Colo- 
 rado are." 
 
 To return to the schools the Whittier School, 
 at the corner of Twenty-fifth and Marion streets, 
 occupies a whole block. It has desk room for 
 i, 600 pupils, and has enrolled 1,480. There are 33 
 
rooms in the building and 33 teachers. Although 
 the school attendance is 1,480 (a little colony in 
 itself), yet the order is such that the near-by resi- 
 dents are scarcely conscious of the recess hour, or 
 when the school is dismissed. It is a great sight 
 to witness the dismissal of the Whittier school, the 
 largest in Denver. The western people think so 
 much of their schools and the education of their 
 children that there are many jokes at their expense. 
 
 Driving through an isolated district of the State, 
 we remarked to the driver on the location of a 
 handsome little school-building, where there was 
 not a house to be seen anywhere. " Oh, that's 
 nothing," said the driver, " why, we have a school 
 out here where the whole shooting match belongs 
 to one family." "How is that?" we asked. "Well, 
 you see, the husband is the superintendent of the 
 school; his wife, the teacher, and their child, the 
 school." Doubting this statement, the driver de- 
 clared he could prove the facts in the case, and 
 even went so far as to say that after a while the 
 child (the capacity of this school) died, and the 
 mother scoured the country to find another child 
 to keep up the attendance. " Oh, yes," continued 
 the driver, " we're obliged to have schools here in 
 this State, if there is only one child to go to 'em," 
 and we took his word for it. 
 
 There are so few colored people in Denver that 
 
132 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 there is no provision for separate schools for them, 
 and the few colored children are admitted to the 
 white schools. It is a rare thing to see a colored 
 person here, and in over two months the writer 
 cannot recall having seen more than a half-dozen 
 of the colored race. 
 
 Denver has no markets. All marketing is done 
 at the stores and " meat-markets " (as some of 
 them are called), where meats as well as vegetables, 
 pickles, mountain trout, and so forth, are on sale. 
 
 One, coming to Denver, or most of the western 
 cities, has to learn how to market all over again. 
 Here, they do not buy tomatoes or fruit by the 
 peck, but by the pound. It seems rather odd to 
 hear purchasers ask for a pound of peaches or 
 pears, but that's the way they buy fruit here. 
 
 There are no cisterns in Denver. The water is 
 soft and delightful for drinking as well as for all 
 cleaning purposes. It is practically melted snow 
 from the mountains. The manner of irrigating the 
 farms here has peculiar interest for the Maryland- 
 er, where there is rain in plenty and irrigation is 
 not needed. There is a syndicate which operates 
 the irrigating ditches. These are run in every di- 
 rection, and branch off to the various truck-farms. 
 Each farmer has " his day " for irrigating his land, 
 and on these occasions the gates are opened and 
 the land watered, for which privilege and luxury he 
 pays so much per inch (not linear, of course). 
 
DENVER'S ODDITIES. 133 
 
 Ashes are not gathered up by the garbage man 
 in Denver, but each house is furnished with an ash 
 pit at the rear of the back yard. These queer look- 
 ing arrangements lead the stranger to inquire as 
 to their usefulness, for they have the appearance 
 of the old-fashioned bake-oven, built of brick and 
 mortar. The ashes are deposited here, and here 
 they remain sometimes for six months and longer, 
 and, even then, on removal, are often found to be 
 alive. The nature of the coal here is said to be the 
 cause of this. Soft coal sells here for $3 per ton. 
 It conies from the mountains in the State and does 
 not smut, and its ashes are white. 
 
 Referring to the delightful climate, we were told 
 there is a town 62 miles from Denver where there 
 were but three mornings, from July to October, 
 when there was no frost. Every town has its pro- 
 vincialisms, and Denver is no exception. We were 
 surprised to hear a carving-knife called a " butcher- 
 knife." The creeks are called " cricks," and all 
 baggage is spoken of as " luggage." But the 
 queerest of all is that a farm is called a " ranch," 
 and there are numerous jokes on the Easterner, 
 who expects the ranch to be anything else than 
 what it is. A popular lawyer in Denver tells a 
 story, the truth of which he vouches for, and being a 
 lawyer we dared not doubt his veracity in the least. 
 
 He says, a gentleman who came out to Denver 
 
134 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 from Pennsylvania, being pleased with the city, 
 went back for his family to locate here. He at 
 once became an object of interest to his acquaint- 
 ances, who thought it wonderful that any man in 
 those early days had crossed the plains to that far- 
 away country of the Rockies and returned alive. 
 He was queried on all sides; and one fellow was par- 
 ticularly anxious to know how travelers lived out 
 there on the plains, what they subsisted on, and so 
 forth. The gentleman told him they were in no 
 danger of starving as there was plenty to eat. 
 " How do you get it, out on those barren plains? " 
 was the inquiry. " There are numerous ranches 
 along the road," was the reply. " Ranches, eh? 
 Do you encounter these ranches frequently? " He 
 was assured that there was a ranch at least every 
 five or ten miles along the road all the way across 
 the plains to Denver. " Ranches ! " the Easterner 
 again exclaimed with a puzzled expression. " See 
 here, are these ranches a very difficult game to 
 shoot?" 
 
 For cycling, Denver leads the procession. There 
 are more wheels to the square inch here than in 
 any other city in the United States. Everybody 
 rides a wheel men, women and children. There 
 are said to be over 40,000 wheels here. The sur- 
 face is so level, the air so buoyant, and the rainy 
 days almost unknown, that cycling is as great a fad 
 in Denver to-day as it ever has been anywhere. 
 
DENVER'S ODDITIES. 135 
 
 Bicycles literally overrun things, and they are 
 used in every line of business. Street-car com- 
 panies say they have lost $1,000,000 annually in 
 traffic since bicycles have become the rage. 
 
 In fact, one company went into the hands of a 
 receiver two years ago, alleging that the universal 
 wheel had impaired its earnings to such an extent 
 that it could not meet its interest demands. The 
 open weather and the fine, natural roads are largely 
 responsible for the popularity of the wheel, for it 
 is conceded that ordinary riders can use their wheels 
 daily for fifty weeks out of the fifty-two and not 
 suffer any annoyance from mud or snow. Add to 
 this the fact that neither lights, brakes nor bells are 
 required and the agility of the non-rider in taking 
 care of himself can be appreciated. 
 
 Denver is also said to be the only city in the 
 country where the bicycle vote controls elections 
 on municipal issues. 
 
 We cannot vouch for the authenticity of this, 
 but we were told that a young lady, standing on 
 the veranda of her home on a popular thorough- 
 fare, in five minutes counted 900 wheels passing. 
 Most women here ride diamond frames, and noth- 
 ing is thought of it. Nearly all lady riders wear the 
 divided skirt 
 
 Denver boasts a woman superintendent of 
 schools. Her name is Emma M. Hery, and she 
 
136 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 had been a teacher in Denver schools. Miss Hery 
 is 23 years old, of charming personality, being a 
 fine talker and a delightful writer. She is an active 
 member of the Denver Woman's Press Club, and 
 has done some fine writing, having taken prizes for 
 her short stories. When the bicycle craze first 
 struck Colorado, Miss Hery learned to ride, and 
 she was so delighted with the experience that she 
 at once wrote " A Love Story on Wheels." Miss 
 Hery is a staunch Democrat, and was elected on 
 the straight Democratic ticket by a plurality of 
 2,818. Her opponent, also a woman, had a strong 
 following. 
 
 Visitors, that we should call " green " or " hay- 
 seeds " in the East, are here called " pilgrims " and 
 " tenderfeet." We fear the verdancy of our east- 
 ern innocence has long since classed us in this cate- 
 gory. It took the writer some little time to find 
 out what a burro is. We heard them talked of 
 quite a little before we realized a burro is only an- 
 other name for donkey, or " Colorado Canary 
 Birds " as they are called. They are very useful 
 in climbing the mountains, and must get their 
 name from the manner in which they burrow their 
 feet into the mountain pass or burro-trail, and thus 
 take a secure footing. They are safe climbers and 
 sure-footed. They know every inch of their 
 ground. 
 
DENVER'S ODDITIES. 137 
 
 There are four leading newspapers in Denver. 
 Shades of get-in-the-push journalism, deliver us 
 from Annapolis' multiplicity, where there are a 
 half-dozen or more ! Denver's papers are The Re- 
 publican, The Rocky Mountain News, The Post and 
 The Times. All are progressive and up-to-date 
 newspapers, and each sells for five cents per copy. 
 Think of it five cents. That's making money, 
 isn't it? It nearly took our breath when we pur- 
 chased copies of the various newspapers, and were 
 asked a nickel for each. We indignantly walked 
 off, exclaiming something about our eastern 
 papers selling for a penny and being a great 
 deal better. One thing that struck us about 
 these Denver papers was that no advertisements 
 ever appear on the first page. We rather like 
 this idea, and agree with the western editor 
 who says " ads." on the first page spoil the appear- 
 ance of the paper. But for news, these western 
 papers are not equal to ours. So far as Maryland 
 is concerned, she might as well be wiped off the 
 map, for there is never any news in Denver papers 
 from Maryland. How we longed to see even a 
 weather report from " Maryland, My Maryland," 
 but longed in vain. We took the liberty to tell a 
 newspaper man here that our Baltimore Sun, the 
 leading organ in newspaperdom in Maryland, con- 
 tained, not only local and State news, but news 
 
138 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 from every part of the United States, even Denver; 
 and that Denver papers wanted to take lessons in 
 progressive journalism from our Baltimore Sun. 
 
 Women, in Denver, take as much interest in pol- 
 itics as men. Perhaps we should qualify this by 
 saying some women. As we stated in a previous 
 chapter, they are privileged to vote on all municipal 
 and State matters, and several of them are judges 
 of election. 
 
 We were not a little amused to see barouches 
 filled with ladies driving about the city, preparing 
 for their fall campaign. They had displayed a con- 
 spicuous cover on their horses, informing the pub- 
 lic they were for " Bryan and Free Silver." Great 
 interest was manifested in the fall election in Den- 
 ver, when a vote to buy its own water-plant was 
 taken. An ordinance has been passed by the city 
 council compelling the car company, The Denver 
 Tramway, to heat all of its cars during the winter 
 season. 
 
 A young lady from the East visiting Denver de- 
 clared she was an A No. i cake-maker. Her hos- 
 tess gave her an opportunity to demonstrate her 
 ability in that line. The cake was a failure. Moral 
 Cake cannot be made in Denver as it is made in 
 Annapolis or Baltimore. Less butter and less 
 sugar are required here, because of the altitude, 
 which is one mile above sea-level, and which ma- 
 terially affects the baking. 
 
DENVER S ODDITIES. 139 
 
 One does not expect to find such fine stores and 
 business houses so far West as he sees here. Every- 
 thing that can be procured East may be purchased 
 here for almost the same money. We were par- 
 ticularly impressed with the elegant display in one 
 of the leading furniture houses here, that of Coop- 
 er, Powell and Shaw. The very latest and hand- 
 somest furniture of all kinds was displayed, the 
 " Dutch Marquetry " being the latest and most 
 unique in bed-room furniture. Prices compare 
 favorably with those of the East, although the 
 freight so far West is a big consideration. We had 
 the distinguished pleasure of sitting in a chair that 
 cost $150, and which had been sold to a Denver 
 lady, whose reception room it is to adorn. We re- 
 marked to the salesman that if it cost $150 to sit 
 down, we would prefer standing the rest of our 
 natural life. 
 
 There is something about these western people 
 that commends itself to one from the East, some- 
 thing that invites admiration. The Easterner's 
 pride is provincial. He sends out no invitations to 
 his fellow-countrymen to come and dwell within 
 his gates. The Westerner is different. He blows 
 his own horn, and wants the outside world to have 
 a finger in the pie he has made. He has long since 
 lived down the idea that " too many cooks spoil the 
 broth." " The East is a good place to be born," 
 
I4O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 some one has said, " but the West is a better place 
 to grow." One seems to sprout here. There is 
 something in the climate or the altitude favorable 
 to expansion not of the imperialistic sort, how- 
 ever. Here the field is less circumscribed, and 
 more conducive to the sprouting tendency, which 
 is latent in those who, like the writer, have been 
 born into this vale of tears with an interrogation 
 point behind them. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 KANSAS CITY THE MID-CONTINENT METROPOLIS ITS 
 EARLY HISTORY ANOTHER CITY OF PHENOM- 
 ENAL GROWTH ITS LOCATION AND CLI- 
 MATE A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE IN. 
 
 Leaving- Denver, a night and day's ride over the 
 popular Rock Island route, brings one to the me- 
 tropolis of the mid-continent, Kansas City, a city 
 the growth of which is almost as astonishing as that 
 of the " Queen City of the Plains." While the 
 growth of Kansas City has also been " phenome- 
 nal," yet it has been healthy, natural and is now a 
 continuous growth. 
 
 During the first year of the war, business in 
 Kansas City was at a standstill, no money was in 
 circulation, and the municipality was paying its 
 debts in shin-plasters. As the government began 
 to issue paper money, a good deal of it was sent 
 here to pay the soldiers. This revived matters 
 somewhat, and during 1863 quite a number of wag- 
 ons were loaded for the Mexican trade. 
 
 In September, 1864, General Price made his cele- 
 brated raid through Missouri. He swept through 
 
I4 2 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 the counties on the south of the Missouri river, 
 driving all before him till he came to the crossing 
 of the Blue, about seven miles east of Kansas City. 
 Here, he was met and disastrously defeated by the 
 Kansas and Colorado troops under General Curtis, 
 when he fled south into Arkansas. This was 
 known as the battle of Westport. Had Price suc- 
 ceeded in forcing a passage to Kansas City, he 
 would have been met by the entire male population 
 of the town, behind fortifications which they had 
 thrown around the city in all directions. 
 
 In 1864, the latter part of the year, the railroad 
 fever was started by the opening of a railroad from 
 Kansas City to Lawrence, and, at the close of hos- 
 tilities, Kansas City was rapidly recovering her 
 ground. However, the panic of 1873 and the lo- 
 cust plague of Kansas City in 1874, hurt Kansas 
 City's trade to a great extent. But misfortunes are 
 often pioneers of fortune. The people of Kansas 
 City were compelled to buy wheat for consump- 
 tion in Iowa and Missouri; and the grain market 
 of Kansas City, then in its infancy, received a great 
 impetus by being made the handler of this wheat. 
 
 With the balance of the country, Kansas City, in 
 1876, began to progress with great strides, which 
 continued steadily up to the collapse of the "boom" 
 in 1887-88. Then the panic of 1893 came. The 
 people here were too anxious to get rich in a hurry, 
 
KANSAS CITY. 143 
 
 and while many are striving to attain riches to-day, 
 yet they are taking time to enjoy the pleasures 
 of living, which one cannot buy with money. 
 
 Business here to-day is being done on a safe con- 
 servative basis, and the outlook is very bright. 
 
 Kansas City has a magnificent railroad system. 
 Twenty-two lines enter this great mart and trans- 
 portation centre, and more are seeking entrance. 
 Some cities have prospered by reason of their nat- 
 ural advantages, and some cities by reason of their 
 energy, but Kansas City owes her advancement to 
 both. Geographical position and transportation 
 facilities have all to do with the growth of a city, 
 and Kansas City is no exception. Here was the 
 great bend of the mighty Missouri river and the 
 mouth of the Kaw. 
 
 The river turned north and the overland route 
 turned west at this point. It was the meeting and 
 parting place. The steamboats and the prairie- 
 schooners came together and separated here. All 
 around, 400 miles in every direction, was a country 
 marvelously prolific in every natural resource, and 
 a soil rich in every element necessary to the produc- 
 tion of everything grown in a warm and temperate 
 climate. Here was an immense alluvial valley 700 
 to 800 feet above the sea, 500 miles from the Great 
 Lakes, 1,000 miles from the Gulf, 1,500 miles from 
 the Atlantic and 2,500 miles from the Pacific. 
 
144 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Here was the converging point; the conditions 
 existed; Kansas City was evolved. The early his- 
 tory of Kansas City is full of interest. The city is 
 said to have been founded in 1821, when the Amer- 
 ican Fur Company established a supply depot here. 
 This was done on account of the city's location at 
 the junction of the two rivers. In these early days, 
 as now, navigable rivers were the highways of com- 
 merce. It is said, the time is not far distant when 
 the Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio rivers 
 will be the great highways of travel, the like of 
 which has not been seen in the world's history, and 
 Kansas City will take her place as one of the 
 world's capitals. 
 
 Some one has prophesied that with the opening 
 of the canal, joining the Gulf of Mexico to the Pa- 
 cific Ocean (a clear navigation at all seasons of the 
 year, barring ice, from Omaha to St. Louis, from 
 St. Paul to New Orleans, from Pittsburgh to Cairo), 
 Kansas City can make herself the world's granary. 
 Wheat, corn, pork and beef are what the world 
 (man and his domestic family) lives on, and Kansas 
 City will some day be the world's greatest market 
 for these staples. Kansas City gets its name from 
 the Kansas river, which flows into the Missouri at 
 this point, and the Kansas river gets its name from 
 the tribe of Indians of that name who lived in this 
 section. The Indian pronunciation of the name 
 
KANSAS CITY. 145 
 
 was Kanzau, from which the abbreviation " Kaw " 
 comes. The French explorers wrote the word 
 " Kansas." 
 
 In 1825, the Indians surrendered their title to 
 the land on which Kansas City stands. The fol- 
 lowing year, Jackson county was formed with Inde- 
 pendence as the county seat. The many Indian 
 tribes that were sent by the government to the ter- 
 ritory west of Missouri made Kansas City their 
 trading point. This was a great support to the 
 town for many years. In 1832, the Mormons made 
 settlements at Independence and Westport Land- 
 ing (as Kansas City was then known), but a year 
 later, the citizens drove them out and they con- 
 tinued their march westward. In 1824, when trade 
 was established overland with Mexico, Kansas 
 City became headquarters for fitting out the wag- 
 ons. Freight was carried up the Missouri and un- 
 loaded here. The fine pasture around was also an 
 inducement to the freighters to feed the horses and 
 the oxen. This trade continued until the advent 
 of the railroads, which now do the same thing as 
 the wagons, carry Kansas City products and wares 
 throughout the entire West and Southwest. 
 
 In 1860, Kansas City had a population of 4,418; 
 to-day, its inhabitants number 250,000. In 1860, 
 Kansas City had but two newspapers, both week- 
 lies; to-day, it has four dailies the Journal, the 
 
 10 
 
146 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Times, the Star and the World and several week- 
 lies. No city has made greater strides under more 
 unfavorable circumstances than Kansas City. Like 
 most other cities, the outbreak of the Civil War in 
 1 86 1 was a severe blow, its people having already 
 had a taste of the coming strife in their border 
 wars. No enmity of man for man was ever keener 
 than that developed in Missouri and Kansas be- 
 tween the "Yankee" settlers from the East and 
 the slave-owners. Kansas City had its experi- 
 ence already in the free-soil controversy and 
 Kansas wars of John Brown, his sympathizers and 
 followers. The city had a majority of loyal Un- 
 ionists, but being in a hostile state, she was repeat- 
 edly visited by bands of " guerillas." Trade soon 
 forsook her for Leavenworth and Atchison, and 
 her population dwindled to one-half. The mayor, 
 to protect the citizens from the secessionists, was 
 obliged to organize a regiment of United States 
 volunteers, and from this time the city was a mili- 
 tary post until the close of the war. 
 
 Kansas City is 750 feet above sea-level, while 
 Denver is one mile above, and is therefore more 
 than seven times as high. Coming from Denver, 
 the difference in the altitude of the two cities is very 
 perceptible. 
 
 Kansas City is built upon hills, and it is difficult 
 for one to go a block without having to climb one 
 
KANSAS CITY. 147 
 
 of these hills, or go down one in the most gingerly 
 fashion for fear one will lose his balance and topple 
 over. The tourist, coming from Denver, with its 
 level streets, wonders why progressive, enterpris- 
 ing Kansas City does not have a " shoot the chute " 
 arrangement on some of these steep grades, or a 
 hoisting machine, by which the more weighty of 
 God's creatures may be lifted up and down without 
 extraordinary effort, or excessive respiration. 
 
 Because of the steep grades throughout the city, 
 there are few electric cars, nearly all the lines being 
 cable. One of these cable-lines running over to 
 Union Depot, goes down what is called the "in- 
 cline " we should be inclined to call it perpendicu- 
 lar, for the steep grade, running over a trestle-work 
 as it does, reminds one of coming down Pike's 
 Peak. To the uninitiated, riding down the "in- 
 cline " for the first time is a thrilling experience, 
 and makes one's hair stand on ends like " quills 
 upon the fretful porcupine." There have been 
 accidents here, but not many, and the greatest care 
 is exercised by the car company to prevent them. 
 
 Kansas City, unlike the ancient metropolis, 
 Rome, is not built upon seven hills, but to the 
 writer it seemed to be built upon seventy times 
 seven. Because it is built upon hills, Kansas City 
 is a sort of rara avis. The occupants of its houses 
 can go to the street from most any floor. We 
 
148 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 were not a little amused because of this peculiar fea- 
 ture. When visiting one of the public buildings, 
 we entered in the customary way, from the side- 
 walk. After " doing " the ground floor of the 
 building, we ascended the stairs and were shown 
 the sights on the second floor. As there was noth- 
 ing to be seen of interest above, we made our exit 
 at the rear of the second floor and were amazed to 
 find ourselves on the sidewalk without descending 
 any steps. Remarking on this, we were graciously 
 informed that nearly every floor of the buildings 
 in Kansas City was on a level with the street. 
 From personal experience in climbing, it did not 
 take us long to find this an apt illustration of its 
 hilliness. 
 
 The climate of Kansas City is not unlike that 
 of Maryland. In its normal state it is mild and 
 salubrious, but, like the little girl of legendary 
 lore, whose ungracious qualities we paraphrase, 
 when it is hot, it is very, very hot; and when it is 
 cold, it is horrid. August and September are the 
 warmest months here, but this year October had 
 her " innings." She wasn't going to be outrun 
 in the race with the mercury, and let her sisters, 
 August and September, outdo her, so she work- 
 ed herself up to fever heat and above it, and in 
 the middle of the month the mercury registered 94 
 degrees. " Do you often have this weather in Oc- 
 
KANSAS CITY. 149 
 
 tober? " we asked one of the swear-by oldest inhab- 
 itants. " Oh, no/' was the quick response, " this 
 is altogether unusual, we haven't had a hot spell 
 like this in October for over 30 years." Evidently, 
 we were the " hoodoo," or maybe Kansas City was 
 extending us an unusually warm welcome; but we 
 preferred a cooler one, especially since we had left 
 Colorado in furs, and now had to fish out of the 
 bottom of our trunk a palm-leaf fan and organdies. 
 This is truly a great country where one can travel 
 from the temperature of one zone into the tem- 
 perature of another in the space of a night and 
 day. On the I7th of last October there was 
 snow on the ground in Kansas City, while on 
 the 1 7th of this October the temperature was 
 in the nineties. The winters here are unusually 
 mild. December is often as pleasant as May. 
 Driving is indulged in at Christmas the same as 
 any other time in the year as a pastime and a 
 pleasure, and poultry and stock can find outdoor 
 pasture nine months in the year. Kansas City, like 
 Annapolis, is a healthful place to live in. Her death- 
 rate is small compared with other cities of her size. 
 Kansas City's death-rate per thousand as compared 
 with that of some other cities is : Memphis, 24; New 
 Haven, 20; Baltimore, 19; Cambridge, 18; St. 
 Louis, 17; Hartford, 17; Reading, 14; Dayton, O., 
 12; Kansas City, 10; Denver, 10. 
 
150 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 To the geologist, Kansas City is extremely inter- 
 esting. Its vicinity is interlaid with what geolo- 
 gists term the upper coal measures. Although 
 these do not furnish coal, they furnish limestone 
 and sandstone for building purposes, and also 
 shales, fine clays and mineral paints. The city has 
 unlimited stone quarries, the veins of which are 
 from 1 6 to 18 feet thick. The bluff, or loess forma- 
 tion, has a thickness of some 80 feet; the clay from 
 it makes excellent brick. 
 
 Much of the limestone is hydraulic, and cement 
 is made from it. Kansas City has within itself all 
 the facilities for building houses. There is also 
 plenty of wood in the vicinity, and some one has 
 said there are groves and groves of from 30- to 50- 
 year trees, within 10 miles of Kansas City, that 
 would furnish all the interior finishings builders 
 would want. It is said, in this same territory wood 
 is given away. The Kansas City people don't burn 
 enough wood to make it an object of interest for 
 the country people to haul it to town. 
 
 Kansas City is of prehistoric interest. In the 
 masses of earth that have been hauled away from 
 the hills in building the city, all sorts of curious 
 relics have been found. Skeletons, one of which 
 was eight feet; and many of the bones found were 
 in masses of charcoal, tending to show that crema- 
 tion was practiced even in those early days. Axe- 
 
KANSAS CITY. 
 
 heads, flint-heads, and portions of stone-houses 
 have been found in digging away these hills on 
 which Kansas City is built. To its first settlers, 
 the site of Kansas City presented a very rugged as- 
 pect. High bluffs, towering up from the river, 
 here and there seamed by deep ravines, certainly 
 appeared a very uninviting place, upon which to 
 build a city. 
 
 The early settlers, however, never dreamed that 
 their own town would extend farther than the level 
 ground beyond the river. This ground is not now 
 sufficient to accommodate the railroads, which 
 have formed a belt, encircling the entire city: 
 also Kansas City, Kansas, the city across the 
 river, the name of which was formerly Wyandotte. 
 Kansas City has now 22 railroad systems, with 58,- 
 225 miles of track. It has two more roads than 
 Chicago. The first railroad coming into Kansas 
 City was the Missouri Pacific. It commenced 
 building from St. Louis on July 4th, 1850, and 
 reached Kansas City in September, 1865. 
 
 Kansas City's railroads traverse 30 States and 
 Territories. 14 roads own their own terminals, 
 and there are 1,550 miles of switch-track in the city. 
 190 passenger-trains and 337 freight-trains arrive 
 and depart daily from Kansas City. Between 5,000 
 and 6,000 men are employed by the railroad here, 
 and an average of 118,000 tons of freight is hauled 
 daily. 
 
152 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Kansas City, being practically at the centre of 
 this great spider-web of tracks, has the real control 
 of the business originated there, and is the gateway 
 through which must pass all passenger and freight 
 business for this territory. The advantages afford- 
 ed by the shipping facility and passenger conveni- 
 ence can be appreciated thoroughly only by those 
 who realize the volume of trade of the southwest 
 section. Having more railroads than Chicago, and 
 the area covered by them being more extended, and 
 more largely and variedly productive than the area 
 penetrated by the Chicago lines, Kansas City's fu- 
 ture is not in doubt. 
 
 If she ever expects to catch up with Chicago, 
 however, she must, like her, get water-transporta- 
 tion. All great cities in the world's history have 
 been built where they could reach the outside world 
 by ships and steamers. There is no exception to 
 this rule, either in ancient or modern times. What 
 have the cities of Glasgow and Manchester done to 
 bring the ships of the world to them? What did 
 the State of New York do at Hell Gate, and New 
 Orleans with her levees? What is Russia doing to 
 connect her seas? Instances without limit can be 
 cited to show how important water-navigation is 
 considered to the successful commerce of a city. 
 
 Water-navigation is the handmaiden of railroad- 
 transportation. When we can navigate the Mis- 
 
KANSAS CITY. 153 
 
 souri river, the western roads will not have to pay 
 that large tariff to the eastern lines in order to get 
 their consignments to the seaboard; the Missis- 
 sippi will not be the dividing line on the " long 
 haul," but will be the starting and ending point, 
 and the western roads will dictate tariffs to the 
 eastern. The West dictates in politics, and so it 
 will also in conveyance and transportation, which 
 are virtually making the price of food-products for 
 the world. Kansas City, as we have said, is built 
 upon hills. Coming from the East, we should be 
 tempted to call them mountains, had we not seen 
 those towers of Colorado, the Rockies; these of 
 Kansas City are, however, only bluffs. 
 
 The city has cut her streets through these bluffs, 
 leaving them 20 to 50 feet high, to be subsequently 
 lined with residences and gardens, which, when 
 completed in its entirety, will make the city pictur- 
 esque to a degree. This makes the city drainage 
 perfect, and there is hardly any necessity to flush 
 the sewers, although it is done. There was con- 
 siderable newspaper comment recently, during the 
 long spell of dry weather, about the necessity of 
 flushing the sewers, and arrangements had been 
 made by municipal authorities with the fire de- 
 partment to do the work. A good soaking rain 
 came, however, after a drought of six weeks, and 
 there was no need of flushing. 
 
154 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 The public square of Kansas City is a relic of 
 border times, when towns were built as forts around 
 an open square for the purpose of defense. It is 
 also copied from the Mexican style of laying off 
 towns. 
 
 All that can be done is being done by Kansas 
 Cityans to make their city a good place to live in. 
 The days of a struggling new town, where all are 
 after the acquisition of the dollar, is a thing of the 
 past. Society here is charming. It is not the " so- 
 ciety" which belongs to the old regime, the de- 
 scendants of which are a long string of aristocratic, 
 titled relatives besides their own immediate fam- 
 ily, and no money in the pockets of any of them; 
 but a society of intelligence and education has 
 grown up, and has impressed its ideas upon the 
 people, so that the public purse has been made to 
 pay for the grandest improvements. Kansas City 
 society stands for something. It is wide awake, 
 active, expanding in policy and progressive in its 
 men and methods, and from the time of its incip- 
 ient foundation its motto has been " Onward." 
 
 Kansas City's society men are its leading busi- 
 ness men. They are wide awake and progressive, 
 and believe their city is on another " boom." In- 
 deed Kansas City is always booming. The people 
 say it came into the world on a boom, and has con- 
 tinued booming ever since, but this particular 
 
KANSAS CITY. 155 
 
 boom that is on just now, is to be the best boom of 
 all. When her system of parks, which will encircle 
 the entire city, is completed, Kansas City will in- 
 deed be a very pretty city. Since she has relegated 
 her smoky factories and packing houses to the bot- 
 toms and placed her residence streets conveniently 
 far away upon the hills, there will be nothing to 
 mar her picturesqueness; and fresh air and the scent 
 of green foliage will be free. She has every mod- 
 ern convenience electricity; cheap telephones; 
 steam-heat-furnished houses and flats for rent; car 
 service, reaching by transfer all parts of the town 
 for five cents; stores, displaying the produce and 
 manufactures of every country and clime; horse- 
 markets; free libraries; public baths; public foun- 
 tains, and everything the model city affords. Kan- 
 sas City has 3,500 telephones in use; more, in pro- 
 portion to her population, than any other city in the 
 Union. There are no stores in Baltimore to com- 
 pare with the leading stores in Kansas City. One 
 of these is the elegant establishment of Emery, Bird 
 and Thayer. 
 
 Of the 160 miles of street-car service in the two 
 Kansas Cities, the Metropolitan Street Railway 
 Company operates 150 almost a monopoly, but 
 unlike other monopolies, most liberal in its policy. 
 It has 31 transfer points, which, contrasted with 
 other cities (St. Louis, for instance), is very much 
 
156 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 in favor of popularizing street-car service in Kan- 
 sas City. 
 
 The car-lines are electric and cable, and the cars 
 are the most modern, comfortable and safe, and 
 the service, polite and careful. The company car- 
 ries between forty and forty-five million passengers 
 every year, and issues between fifty and seventy- 
 five thousand transfers every day. You can get a 
 nine-mile car-ride in Kansas City for five cents. 
 
 Gas is still an important factor in lighting the 
 streets of Kansas City, and gas-lamps are to be seen 
 everywhere. The gas-works have a maximum 
 capacity for a city of 560,000. There are 225 miles 
 of main, and the annual consumption is 700,000,000 
 feet. The cost of gas is $i per 1,000. The gas 
 company pays 2 per cent of its gross receipts to the 
 city. There are 18,000 gas-stoves and ranges in 
 use in Kansas City. Several leading electric sys- 
 tems of the world are represented here by active 
 working plants, among which are the Edison, the 
 Sperry, the Fort Wayne, and the Thompson- 
 Houston system. 
 
 Kansas City was the first city in the world to 
 recognize the value of the patents of Prof. Elihu 
 Thompson, by installing a plant of apparatus of the 
 Thompson-Houston system, which has since been 
 most largely introduced and generally recognized 
 as the standard in arc lighting. Electricity is used 
 
KANSAS CITY. 157 
 
 for many purposes besides those of arc and incan- 
 descent lighting. It runs elevators, printing- 
 presses, stationary machinery of all kinds, besides 
 being largely and increasingly employed in traction 
 work. In Kansas City, may also be witnessed such 
 novel uses of this important force as welding, sol- 
 dering, horse-currying and clipping, hair-crimping, 
 cooking and search-light applications. Electricity 
 is also used here quite extensively in dentistry and 
 surgery, and from the various plants may be pro- 
 cured currents of all kinds, alternating or continu- 
 ous, in any voltage and any quantity required. 
 
 Kansas City has numerous large and handsome 
 banks, beside trust companies, savings institutions 
 and loan associations. Kansas City, Missouri, with 
 Kansas City, Kansas, is a larger community than 
 Milwaukee, and is the sixteenth city in population 
 in the Union. It is the ninth city in bank clear- 
 ings. The exchange of money is the barometer 
 of trade. In 1898, Kansas City's bank clearings 
 amounted to $580,000,000. What clearer proof is 
 there that Kansas City has more than her normal 
 share of business? Her bank clearings and sales 
 are almost identical in amount. The capital of na- 
 tional and state banks here is $7,500,000; deposits, 
 $39,200,000. 
 
 Kansas City owns her own water-plant. Would 
 that Annapolis did ! The water-works are now the 
 
158 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 city's property, and at an original cost to it of $3,- 
 100,000, are a paying investment. The receipts 
 for 1897 were $415,000. There are three reservoirs 
 with 86,000,000 gallons capacity, and with a pump- 
 ing capacity of 31,000,000 gallons in 24 hours. 
 The direct-pressure system is used. Like all oth- 
 er cities that take their water from the Missouri 
 river, the Kansas City consumers, if they want clear 
 water, have to do their own filtering. 
 
 Club life is an important factor in Kansas City 
 society. Society everywhere, as here, could not do 
 without the clubs, for the clubs are the spirit and 
 elixir of society. One finds few "thorough so- 
 ciety" men here who are not club men, and so- 
 ciety and club life are more or less synonymous. 
 Get into one, and you have a fair opportunity of 
 getting into the other. There are between 25 and 
 30 clubs in Kansas City, many of which have com- 
 modious and handsome quarters, and club life here 
 is found in evei> form the athletic and sporting 
 clubs to the bicycle and gun clubs. The gun club 
 of Kansas City holds some of the world's records 
 for both trap shooting and target practice. 
 
 Kansas City has 93 churches, the Roman Catho- 
 lic church having the largest number of edifices 
 19, the Presbyterian next 13. 
 
 It is a thoroughly metropolitan city in all things, 
 and yet it has inhabitants who pay no rent. These 
 
KANSAS CITY. 159 
 
 are not cave-dwellers, as they are in London and 
 New York, dwelling under the arches of great 
 bridges and in foundations, but squatters in tents 
 and log-houses along the river bank and on vacant 
 lots, seemingly no man's property. With all the 
 police vigilance, with all the grand free schools and 
 manual-training schools (of which we shall speak 
 later), it seems to be impossible not to have in this 
 vicinity, these disciples of Diogenes. 
 
 At the head and front of all that is progressive 
 and enterprising, with its indomitable workers who 
 have her commercial interests at heart, Kansas City 
 revels in the fact of " the only Kansas City," so far 
 as America is concerned anyway. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PUBLIC BUILDINGS, FIRE DEPARTMENT, LIBRARY AND 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Kansas City, like all other western cities, has a 
 large number of handsome public buildings. Many 
 of these are built after the fashion of the Chicago 
 sky-scrapers. 
 
 One of the largest and handsomest of Kansas 
 City's business blocks is the New York Life Insur- 
 ance Building. This building is 17 stories high 
 and cost over a million dollars. It is built of red 
 brick and brown sandstone, with marble trim- 
 mings. 
 
 The interior on the lower floor is elegantly fin- 
 ished in marble tiling and mosaic work, highly pol- 
 ished. The ceiling and side walls are artistically 
 decorated with floral designs in gilt. Besides being 
 the headquarters for the New York Life, the build- 
 ing is occupied by offices and banks, the Fidelity 
 Trust Company being located in commodious 
 quarters on the first floor. 
 
 Few have the privilege of visiting the tower at 
 the top of the building. Fortunately we were 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. l6l 
 
 among the few, and after securing passes, were 
 lifted above the " common herd " and had a fine 
 view of the city from the tower at the top of the 
 17-story New York Life Building. 
 
 There is no fire department in the United States 
 with a system which has attained such a degree of 
 perfection as the one in Kansas City. It was our 
 pleasure to visit the headquarters of this famous 
 fire department, and to witness several fire drills 
 here. The Kansas City Fire Department, in 1895, 
 carried off first honors in London, England, in a 
 competitive exhibition, over all comers. This de- 
 partment will be represented at the Paris Exposi- 
 tion in 1900. In its management and efficiency 
 the fire department is the pride of Kansas City, 
 and to this is due the low loss by fires here. Its 
 present status is: 7 steam-engines, 19 hose-reels, 
 i water-tower, 5 hook-and-ladders, 2 insurance 
 patrols, and i reporter. 
 
 There are 21 fire-engine houses in Kansas City, 
 and 77 head of horses in use in the service of the 
 fire department. The force consists of 160 men, 
 1 8 watch-boys, i secretary, i master mechanic, i 
 chief and 2 assistants. The chief is George C. 
 Hale, an inventor of several useful machines used 
 by the department. Among Chief Hale's invalu- 
 able inventions is the water-tower. It is 85 feet in 
 height, and throws an inch of water to the foot, 
 ii 
 
1 62 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Another invention of the Chiefs is the double and 
 single set of swinging harness, also the combination 
 automatic telephone, telegraph and graphophone, 
 which if set in motion by the heat in a burning 
 building, arouses those who are asleep, and tells 
 them exactly where the fire is. The arrangement 
 is most complete and unique. The assistant chief 
 showed us how it worked, but to do so, he had first 
 to light a piece of paper and hold the flame to the 
 wire attached to the machine, as only heat of this 
 sort will set it going. 
 
 All the public buildings, stores and business 
 houses of Kansas City have this wonderful inven- 
 tion of Chief Hale's, and think it invaluable. If 
 there is a fire at Armour's packing house in the 
 middle of the night, this combination machine will 
 awaken Mr. Armour at his home in the city, and 
 tell him distinctly, "A fire in the Armour Com- 
 pany packing house," naming the exact floor or 
 part of the building burning. It is impossible to 
 describe the mechanism of this machine; to appre- 
 ciate it, one must see it work. 
 
 The dispatch with which the horses are hooked 
 to the engine and hose-carriage or hook-and-lad- 
 der, here, takes one's breath. There was an exhi- 
 bition given for our benefit. In one and a half sec- 
 onds from the time the alarm was sounded, the 
 double-horse team was in the street, and within 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. 163 
 
 three seconds, the four-horse truck. As the gong 
 sounds, each horse is in his place, the swinging 
 harness drops, the men clasp it, and all is done and 
 the horses and truck are out in the street before one 
 has time to take his breath. 
 
 During the year, there has been added to the ser- 
 vice a new fire-alarm system. The new system was 
 installed July ist, 1898, and consists of a metallic 
 circuit the switch-board being placed at Fire De- 
 partment Headquarters, where all alarms are re- 
 ceived and transferred. Each engine-house is pro- 
 vided with a long-distance telephone. The system 
 is divided into six circuits, which are so arranged 
 that by throwing a switch, all engine-houses on the 
 different circuits can be instantly connected into 
 one circuit. When an alarm of fire is given from a 
 subscriber's telephone, it comes direct to the Cen- 
 tral Telephone office; the operator there transfers 
 the same over a trunk line to the operator at Fire 
 Headquarters, thus putting him in instant commu- 
 nication with the subscriber who is giving the loca- 
 tion of the fire; the operator at Fire Headquarters, 
 on receiving the location of the fire, immediately 
 transfers the same, by throwing a switch and giv- 
 ing the location of the alarm to all the engine- 
 houses at the same time. This system is also con- 
 nected with the Fire and Police Signal boxes, lo- 
 cated on the street corners in different parts of the 
 
164 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 city. There are in service 120 signal boxes which 
 are connected directly with the switch-board at 
 Fire Headquarters. When the boxes are used for 
 fire-alarm purposes, the number of each box is re- 
 corded through a relay, and the number appears on 
 a tape; in addition to having the location thus 
 recorded, the operator is placed in direct com- 
 munication with the police officer or citizen giv- 
 ing the location of the fire, thus enabling the 
 fire department to ascertain the exact location of 
 the fire, which often proves of great value in lo- 
 cating fires in large buildings and unfamiliar places. 
 The use of the telephone in connection with the 
 fire-alarm boxes very often enables an officer or cit- 
 izen to communicate with Fire Headquarters and 
 turn in an alarm of fire at some distant location of 
 the city. 
 
 Kansas City has several libraries, but her new 
 public library is the one which attracted us, and of 
 which we shall speak. The library was opened to 
 the public in 1895 in a new and handsome granite 
 building of two and a half stories, built after the 
 Greek style of architecture, and occupying half a 
 block. 
 
 Engraven in granite around the exterior of the 
 building are the names of famous poets and men of 
 letters, such as Bryant, Whittier, Irving, Emerson, 
 Agassiz and others. The library contains 47,000 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. 165 
 
 volumes, 5,600 of which are juvenile books. The 
 school board keeps the Children's Library intact, 
 appropriating funds for that purpose. It is cus- 
 tomary in the children's room to placard the dates 
 of celebrated historical events. 
 
 On October I9th, the day of our visit, at the en- 
 trance to this room was displayed a placard telling 
 that this was " Cornwallis' Day," and the anniver- 
 sary of the close of the Revolutionary War. In 
 Annapolis it was celebrated as " Peggy Stewart 
 Day." The idea is a good one, and calls to the 
 mind of the school children (large numbers of 
 whom visit here daily), the important events in his- 
 tory. We were delighted to see so many children 
 reading historical books in this room and looking 
 for references on some school topic, with their 
 school-books beside them. 
 
 The establishment of a public library is the chief 
 event in the history of a city's intellectual progress. 
 From the amount of money expended in this way, 
 more healthful entertainment is to be had from the 
 reading of books and newspapers than from any- 
 thing else. Society is what men and women seek, 
 and a good book is the best companion one can 
 generally find. Kansas City's library cost $200,- 
 ooo. In the rotunda of the library is a handsome 
 brass memorial tablet to George Sheidley, the 
 Kansas City philanthropist, who bequeathed $25,- 
 
1 66 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ooo for the public library. We were impressed 
 with several inscriptions painted in conspicuous 
 places in the rotunda; one of which was: "There 
 is nothing that solidifies and strengthens a nation 
 like reading of the nation's own history; whether 
 that history is recorded in books, embodied in cus- 
 toms, institutions or monuments." 
 
 The American people are greedy for knowledge, 
 and eminently recognize that the printing-press is 
 the greatest agent in the dissemination of knowl- 
 edge. To this end there is a reading-room, where 
 beside books, are to be found files of newspapers 
 of all the prominent eastern and western cities. 
 Here, the traveler, provided he hails from a city of 
 any degree of importance, may go and read his 
 town's papers to his heart's content. On the sec- 
 ond floor 'of the library are the Art Gallery, Wo- 
 man's Club Room (these western cities revel in 
 women's clubs, of which there are any number), 
 High School room, Board of Education room, and 
 rooms of the superintendent and assistant superin- 
 tendent of schools. In the Art Gallery is a col- 
 lection of handsome paintings loaned by the Art 
 Association here. In this collection are 23 oil- 
 paintings by Raphael, del Sarto, Titian, Fra An- 
 gelico, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Murillo and others 
 all the works of the best European copyists, from 
 the gallery of L. Pisani, Florence. 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. l6/ 
 
 The paintings are the same size as the originals, 
 and framed identically. The collection, which is 
 known as the best collection of art in the West, was 
 presented to the Kansas City Art School by Wil- 
 liam R. Nelson in 1896, with the essential condi- 
 tions that all fees charged for admission were to be 
 devoted to purchase additions to the collection, and 
 that the gallery be open on Sundays. The paint- 
 ing of the Sistine Madonna is the best copy in ex- 
 istence. Another very handsome work of art in this 
 collection is an allegorical scene of " Wind, Show- 
 ers, Spring." The Three Graces, Venus and Mer- 
 cury. It cost $4,500 and weighs 500 pounds. The 
 basement of the library building is set apart as a 
 museum, and is filled with all kinds of curiosities, 
 war relics, Indian curios, and so forth. Kansas 
 City is proud of her public library, and she has 
 reason to be, as it shows the great strides she has 
 made intellectually as well as in every other way. 
 She has seven other libraries beside this one of 
 which we have spoken. 
 
 What shall we say of the Kansas City schools? 
 Indeed, there is so much to be said, we scarcely 
 know where to begin. The first public school- 
 house was erected in Kansas City in 1868 think 
 of it ! only 31 years ago ! and to-day, no State in the 
 Union has better schools and greater educational 
 facilities than Kansas City. Boston, the Athens of 
 
1 68 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 America, as old as she is, one of the first Puritan 
 settlements, had better look to her educational lau- 
 rels, lest the infantile city of the mid-continent 
 wrest them from her. The present number of 
 Kansas City's school-buildings is 26 white and 8 
 colored. There are in all 500 teachers here. The 
 white children attending school are 18,912, the col- 
 ored, 2,608. The assessed valuation of the public 
 schools in Kansas City is $64,00x3,000. Among the 
 schools (" Ward Schools " as the grammar schools 
 are called), it was our pleasure to visit, was the 
 Whittier school. This is one of the best con- 
 ducted and most thoroughly equipped schools in 
 the city, and is situated at the corner of Indiana and 
 Peery avenues. There are enrolled here between 
 900 and 1,000 pupils, with an average attendance 
 of 850. The principal is Mrs. Josephine Heer- 
 mans, whose salary is $175 per month. She has 
 17 assistants, whose salaries range from $65 to $75 
 per month. The teacher of the kindergarten de- 
 partment, whose hours are from 9 a. m. to 12 m., 
 receives $50 per month. Western teachers, you 
 see, are much better paid than those in the East. 
 
 There are no separate primary and grammar 
 schools in the West as in the East. The two are 
 consolidated and taught in the same building. 
 Nearly every school has its kindergarten depart- 
 ment, taught by three-year graduates of some well- 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. 169 
 
 known kindergarten schools of instruction. Peo- 
 ple in the West believe in the kindergarten work, 
 and have proved its efficacy in pupils who have 
 gone into the High School all the way from the 
 kindergarten as the beginning. 
 
 Recently, a Kansas City High School student 
 said he had no trouble whatever with geometry. 
 It seemed to him he had studied it all his life, so 
 natural were the figures. Then he recalled that he 
 had learned these same figures and angles in his 
 folding work in the kindergarten, years before. 
 We hope to see a kindergarten department in the 
 Annapolis school in the near future; for kinder- 
 garten, taught philosophically, prepares the child 
 for that which is to follow, makes him think and 
 reason, teaches form, color and outlines, and lays 
 the foundation for future usefulness. It makes 
 school a pleasure for the little ones and yet prepares 
 them, step by step, for the graded department. 
 
 At this particular kindergarten on this particular 
 occasion, the children were being taught the differ- 
 ent fruits and vegetables, their outline and color. 
 To impress this, cards were given them on which 
 they outlined in worsteds of appropriate color the 
 fruit in question. Some of the work was very well 
 done. Then, they were taught about the growth 
 and cultivation of this fruit, and supposing they 
 were farmers and some of them city people at 
 
WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 the stores and markets, they bought and sold their 
 products. The supposition was almost as realistic 
 as was David Harum's horse-trading " supposin' 
 twar'n't Sunday." Children enter the primary or 
 kindergarten departments, as parents prefer, at the 
 age of six, and graduate into the Central or Manual 
 Training High School at the age of fourteen. 
 
 The first-year primary class is perhaps one of the 
 most interesting in the Whittier school. The 
 teacher, Miss Baker, is bright and happy, and en- 
 thused with her work; naturally the class is what 
 the teacher is, an unusually bright and interesting 
 set of little ones, as interested in their work as their 
 teacher. Miss Baker's method is the Cornell 
 method of teaching the little ones from paper dolls 
 and mounted pictures. They were having a lesson 
 from the picture-cards when we visited them. 
 It was really a lesson in Greek mythology, which 
 seems preposterous to teach children of six years 
 old, but which to be' appreciated, must be seen. 
 The little ones are taught the contour of the 
 Greek face, the features and the Greek style of 
 dress. They handle the pictures as tenderly as 
 they would their dolls, and when the teacher asked 
 for those who would like to tell the story of the 
 pictures, all hands went up, and all were anxious 
 to tell. 
 
 A few were chosen, and we shall not soon forget 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 how intelligently these little tots told who was 
 Zeus, Apollo, Aurora and other gods and goddess- 
 es represented in the pictures they held. Some 
 one may ask of this method of teaching, " What is 
 the worth while? " We know of no better answer 
 than a conversation that took place between the 
 teacher and a little six-year-old. " Oh, Miss Bak- 
 er, guess whom I saw this morning?" "I don't 
 know, Mary," said the teacher, " tell me." " I got 
 up very early this morning," said the little one, 
 " and I saw Aurora." " And what color did she 
 wear? " asked the teacher. " Oh, she was all in a 
 bright rose color," said the child, showing the con- 
 ception she had formed of the goddess of the morn- 
 ing. The class study the art pictures, and the dia- 
 logue lessons are interesting and helpful. The chil- 
 dren learn to express themselves well, and this 
 means much. The teacher is doing a wonderful 
 work which will tell for itself later on. 
 
 There is one bad feature in the Kansas City 
 schools, which seriously affects the progress of 
 work in the kindergarten and primary departments, 
 and this is that children are permitted to enter 
 school any day in the year. This disorganizes the 
 classes and makes more work for the teacher, and 
 is unfortunate for the child. For the best inter- 
 ests of all concerned, children should only be 
 allowed to enter school twice a year, in September 
 and February. 
 
172 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Calisthenics is taught in the Whittier school 
 after the German system of Carl Betz. The 
 method of teaching geography here is very suc- 
 cessful. It takes away from that study, distasteful 
 to most pupils, the grind and humdrum part of it. 
 It broadens their ideas and teaches the children 
 what man is here for, how he has built cities and 
 made towns. It teaches them of the raw materials, 
 the manufacture, the product, the distribution. 
 The lessons are divided into 18 topics, and two 
 weeks are given to each topic. Reading is also 
 taught in a most interesting and profitable manner 
 in the Whittier school. Great attention is paid to 
 supplementary reading. The children in all grades 
 read comprehensively and exceedingly well. They 
 demonstrate the conception of what they have read 
 by writing an extract of the reading lesson in their 
 own language. At first, we were inclined to doubt 
 the wisdom of putting such reading into the hands 
 of the children, but reading the extracts was the 
 " proof of the pudding." The third grade read 
 Hawthorne's "Wonder Book," Bunyan's " Pil- 
 grim's Progress " and " Robinson Crusoe." The 
 fourth grade read Ruskin's " Ethics of the Dust," 
 and "The Tempest." The fifth grade read Bry- 
 ant's translation of Homer's " Odyssey " and 
 "Miles Standish." The sixth grade read "The 
 Merchant of Venice " (the Riverside Park edition) 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 and " Evangeline." The seventh grade read six 
 books of the "Iliad," "Julius Caesar," " Henry V.," 
 " Macbeth," " Emerson's Essays " and " The Lady 
 of the Lake." 
 
 Such reading as this gives the children power. 
 It gives the pupil grasp in all parts of his work, and 
 is a pleasure to the high schools, when these pupils 
 enter there well trained, well drilled and ready to 
 take up the more advanced work. The Whittier 
 school is only one of the perfectly conducted ward 
 schools of Kansas City, and typical of what these 
 excellent schools are. It is not a difficult matter to 
 discern that western people think and believe " ed- 
 ucation is the chief defence of nations," and that 
 " our schools are all the days and nights of our ex- 
 istence." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BITS OF THE CITY'S PROGRESS HER POSTOFFICE, 
 
 PARKS AND THE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL 
 
 BUILDING. 
 
 One of Kansas City's principal streets is Balti- 
 more avenue, which bids fair to have a succession 
 of fine buildings upon it. The Equitable Life In- 
 surance Company of New York has just selected a 
 site upon this avenue where it will build a $1,000,- 
 ooo structure. The Physicians' Building and 
 the Labor Temple are two other edifices that 
 will shortly be put up, and will add $1,500,000 more 
 to Baltimore avenue. But the most important 
 building upon this thoroughfare, to the heart of a 
 Baltimorean, is the magnificent new hotel, The 
 Baltimore, completed at a cost of several hundred 
 thousand dollars, and opened to the public for the 
 first time on June loth last. It is one of the finest 
 hotels in America, and will compare most favorably 
 with the best of them in New York. The Balti- 
 more was built by Mr. Bernard Corrigan, a mil- 
 lionaire Irishman. Mr. Corrigan's wife is a native 
 of Baltimore, and she was permitted to christen the 
 new hotel hence its name. 
 
BITS OF CITY S PROGRESS. 175 
 
 The decoration of The Baltimore follows the 
 Greek style in coloring and architecture. Retreat- 
 ing panels in circular form are enriched with car- 
 touches combining the elements of the Baltimore 
 arms, adapted in their form and proportion to clas- 
 sic types. The Baltimore arms are also prominent 
 in the dining-room, which is a handsome colonial 
 interior. 
 
 Kansas City does not mind spending money to 
 please her people. She believes in enterprise and 
 progress whether the cost to obtain it be large or 
 small. Every year, the city spends any amount of 
 money on the streets, and has adopted one of the 
 finest systems of sprinkling the principal thorough- 
 fares every night. At the parks, six months in the 
 year, free entertainments are given, such as band 
 concerts, theatricals, picnics, electric pictures, and 
 so forth, only costing the car-ride to and from the 
 park to see them. And what of her parks? The 
 city has been wisely planned for future develop- 
 ment. Her advantages created some difficulties 
 and suggested some improvements. After the 
 proper location of railways, by which every part 
 of the city is easily reached, then the enterprise of 
 these lines established beautiful private parks. 
 
 Among these are Troost, Budd, Washington and 
 Fairmount embracing many hundred acres. To 
 supplement this, the city acquired by gift from one 
 
176 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 of her own citizens, a magnificent natural park of 
 1,134 acres. It has a frontage of nearly three miles 
 along the Blue river, and is so diversified by stream, 
 hill, valley, forest, meadow, some precipitous bluffs 
 and deep ravines, that the highest achievements of 
 the landscape gardener and the master touches of 
 nature's handiwork may each be seen at a turn in 
 the road. This great gift was appropriately ac- 
 knowledged by a public acceptance, June 25th, 
 1896, attended by nearly 20,000 people. Fair- 
 mount Park does not belong to the city, but is 
 owned by a company. It contains 60 acres; is 
 well managed, and its beauties are enjoyed in sum- 
 mer by Kansas City's thousands. Its superinten- 
 dent is one Mr. Warfield. There are a number of 
 cottages at the park occupied by Kansas City 
 people during the heated months. 
 
 There are a large dancing-pavilion, theatre, rus- 
 tic summer-houses, an artificial lake, together with 
 various attractive features characteristic of all 
 parks. It is reached by electric railway and car- 
 riage road, and is about seven miles from the city. 
 With its numerous inside parks, connected with the 
 general system, Kansas City promises to be one of 
 the brightest and prettiest cities as well as one of 
 the healthiest and happiest. 
 
 The present Kansas City postoffice is nothing 
 to boast of. Business is being done in an old build- 
 
BITS OF CITY'S PROGRESS. 177 
 
 ing which is very dilapidated and much the worse 
 for wear. A handsome and commodious govern- 
 ment building of granite is in process of construc- 
 tion near by. It has been eight years in building, 
 and the delay in finishing it is a great source of an- 
 noyance to the postoffice officials here, who are 
 much overcrowded in their work. There seems to 
 be no definite time set for its completion, however, 
 but when completed it will have cost over $2,000,- 
 ooo. One would never take the tall, heavily-set 
 country farmer with chin whiskers a la hayseed 
 variety, for the postmaster; but this is he, and his 
 name and title make him known to the world as 
 Col. S. F. Scott. 
 
 He must be a politician with a big " pull " or he 
 never could have been appointed postmaster, for 
 he knows absolutely nothing about the workings 
 of the office over which he is supposed to reign su- 
 preme. We began to question him as to the re- 
 ceipts, management, and so forth, and after a series 
 of " I don't know's " he politely informed us we 
 were "too much for him" and as politely turned 
 us over to another gentleman with an unpro- 
 nounceable and an unspellable name. He in turn 
 turned us over to some one else, and we began to 
 despair lest we were "too much" for the whole 
 postoffice department. There is always luck in 
 three's, and the third gentleman (a Mr. Jarboe), 
 
 12 
 
178 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 who at least knew his business, politely showed us 
 the internal arrangements of the Kansas City post- 
 office. To him, we are indebted for much of the 
 following information: There are seven lady 
 clerks employed in this office, two of whom work 
 in the city mailing department, and five who do 
 clerical work or serve at the stamp windows. Last 
 year there were $600,000 worth of stamps sold at 
 this office. Twelve to fifteen tons of mailing mat- 
 ter pass through the Kansas City office daily. The 
 letter-mail alone amounts to from 1,500 to 2,000 
 pounds daily, and there are from n to 12 tons of 
 second-class matter per day. On Wednesdays and 
 Thursdays, this amounts to 22 tons, because the 
 weekly papers on these days increase the mail's 
 weight. 
 
 To the assistant superintendent, Mr. D. F. 
 Clawges, we are also indebted for information. 
 Small letters are a great source of annoyance at 
 the postoffice, also letters containing keys, coins 
 and other hard substances. These are sometimes 
 torn open by the stamping machine and cause 
 trouble. And what shall we say of the stamping 
 machine this wonderful evidence of man's genius, 
 thought and mechanism! The Barr-Fyke ma- 
 chine for stamping letters is the one in popular fa- 
 vor. This is the invention of a Kansas City man, 
 Mr. Barr, a railway postal clerk on the Sante Fe 
 
179 
 
 Road, who not having the time to perfect the ma- 
 chine, enlisted the interest of Mr. Fyke, also a 
 Kansas City man. Running regularly, the Barr- 
 Fyke machine stamps easily 40,000 letters per hour, 
 but under pressure it may stamp from 60,000 to 
 100,000 per hour. The die, with date, and so 
 forth, is changed every half-hour. 
 
 We saw the stamping machine in operation both 
 in Denver and in Kansas City and the result was 
 wonderful. This office also operates the Barry 
 Postal Supply Company's stamping machine, man- 
 ufactured in Oswego, N. Y. ; but this does not work 
 as smoothly as the Barr-Fyke, and will not stamp 
 postal cards. The machines are worked by an elec- 
 tric motor. The Barr-Fyke machine has needles, 
 and the Barry machine is worked by a belt arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 The Kansas City postoffice is complete in its 
 management. There are 94 carriers, 14 substi- 
 tutes and 89 clerks. Each carrier works 8 hours 
 per day, and is supposed to walk 18 to 20 miles 
 daily. There is no body of men who do their work 
 at the office with more dispatch, and without or- 
 ders, than these carriers. Each man knows his 
 work and does it in the best possible manner in the 
 least possible time. The carriers mark the time of 
 their arrival and departure from the office by means 
 of a key, corresponding with their numbers, that 
 registers automatically on an electric clock. 
 
l8o WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 In Kansas City, as in Denver, the carrier deliv- 
 ering the mail will also collect it from the residents 
 when desired, a great accommodation for those not 
 wishing to go to the nearest box, sometimes two or 
 three blocks away. The carriers in the West her- 
 ald their approach by a whistle, like that of the 
 watchman's in the East. There are only 275 letter- 
 boxes in Kansas City, a small number for a city of 
 225,000 inhabitants. The heaviest mail is that for 
 the Bank of Commerce and the Armour Packing 
 Company. The former at one delivery frequently 
 receives a mail-pouch full of letters, and the mail 
 for the Armour Company is so heavy they send a 
 wagon to the office for it. 
 
 In a previous chapter, we have spoken of one of 
 the Ward schools of Kansas City, which are prepar- 
 atory to the high schools. Two years ago, there 
 were three high schools here, two large and one 
 small, beside a colored high school. The three high 
 schools are now consolidated and the Central High 
 School, an elegant and commodious building, cor- 
 ner of Eleventh and Locust streets, is the one high 
 school of the city, with its adjunct, the Manual 
 Training School. The Central High School has a 
 seating capacity of 1,678 pupils, and an average at- 
 tendance of 1,500 pupils. There are 50 teachers in 
 the building, about equally divided in number be- 
 tween males and females. Of the 25,000 pupils in 
 
BITS OF CITY'S PROGRESS. l8l 
 
 enrollment in the Kansas City public schools, 
 3,000 of these are in the high and manual training 
 schools. 
 
 Two lady clerks are employed in the office of the 
 high school, one, a graduate of Ann Arbor, acts in 
 the capacity of substitute in case of sickness or ab- 
 sence among the regular corps of teachers. In the 
 office are large blackboards showing the hours of 
 recitation in the various departments of school 
 work, and one may glance at the board and know 
 just what study is being taught in each room, and 
 by what teacher. Another good feature is that the 
 attendance is registered on this board, and at a 
 glance the visitor may see just how many pupils 
 are in school that day, how many absent and how 
 many tardy. This does away with the annoyance 
 of looking into the roll-book to satisfy the Board of 
 Trustees on this point. One of the lady clerks at- 
 tends to this work, besides receiving excuses for 
 absence and tardiness, thus relieving the principal 
 of this duty. 
 
 The principal of the High School is Prof. E. C. 
 White, with Prof. I. I. Cammack as assistant prin- 
 cipal. The school is graded very much like a col- 
 lege, the classes being Freshman, Sophomore, Ju- 
 nior and Senior. The average age of graduation 
 is between 17 and 18 years, although one bright 
 boy in the present senior class is but 15 years of 
 
1 82 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 age. The Kansas City High School cost $35,000. 
 The people are proud of their high school, and 
 justly so. They think nothing too good for the 
 schools in the West, and the sooner this feeling is 
 cultivated in Annapolis the better for her home 
 school. Last year's graduating class numbered 
 243, the year previous 253, and this year's class 
 numbers 300 graduates. All the schools in the 
 West are co-educational, but the girls are in the 
 majority, being 2 to i. High schools here call at 
 8.30 a. m. and close at i p. m. There are six reci- 
 tation periods, during the day, of 45 minutes each. 
 
 At the close of the period, electric bells ring in 
 all rooms in the building, and the change is made 
 in various departments of study. Pupils who do 
 not recite go to the study-hall. A number of stu- 
 dies are elective, and open to individual students as 
 their powers qualify. To those not taking all 
 branches, the intermediate period is employed in 
 the study-hall under the supervision of a teacher. 
 The seating capacity of this room is 200. Of the 
 six recitation periods, there are four in which every 
 student is compelled to recite, the other two are 
 optional. 
 
 The principal is a western man and a graduate 
 of the Missouri University; the assistant principal, 
 beside being an A. B. of a western university, has 
 taken a post-graduate course at Johns Hopkins, 
 
BITS OF CITY'S PROGRESS. 183 
 
 Baltimore. Among the interesting departments 
 visited, was the chemical laboratory, where Prof. 
 Peters was experimenting with hydrogen gas be- 
 fore a well-prepared class of bright students. The 
 class in mathematical astronomy, and that in litera- 
 ture, where the teacher was giving a lecture on 
 Chaucer, were also very interesting. 
 
 Five languages are taught in the school beside 
 English, viz.: French, German, Latin, Greek and 
 Spanish. Although Chicago not long since claim- 
 ed that she was first to introduce into her public 
 schools the study of Spanish, that language has 
 been taught for the past five years in the Kansas 
 City High School. 
 
 This country, being contiguous to Spanish terri- 
 tory, Spanish is essential to business and trade, and 
 is therefore taught in the public schools here. The 
 teacher of Greek is a young lady, a graduate of 
 Ann Arbor. Greek is an elective course, but the 
 classes are large, the teacher being exceedingly 
 popular. The Latin teacher is Prof. Minckwitz, 
 son of the noted professor of that name at Munich. 
 No higher compliment could be paid Prof. Minck- 
 witz than that his Latin books have been recently 
 adopted as text-books in the schools of New York 
 city by the board of education there. 
 
 In the department of physical geography, each 
 pupil is provided with a mounted globe. The in- 
 
184 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 structor finds study from these globes much more 
 profitable than from maps, especially in studying 
 meridians and circles and determining longitude 
 and latitude. This class, at the time of our visit, 
 was analyzing limestone found in localities near 
 Kansas City. 
 
 In the botanical laboratory, the class was study- 
 ing the commercial sponge beneath a powerful 
 magnifying glass. In the room where drawing is 
 taught, where the talent, latent in so many public- 
 school children, is developed in these Kansas City 
 boys and girls, the pupils were busy copying from 
 models and still life. Here were models for anat- 
 omy-drawing, and flowers, fruits and birds. Later 
 on, they will be taught to draw from life, and mod- 
 els will pose in historic costume and character for 
 the class. 
 
 A novel feature of these western schools is that 
 they each have a matron. She is a kind-hearted, 
 motherly woman, fond of children, and interested 
 in their welfare. To her room, which is large, com- 
 fortable and home-like, the sick and ailing children 
 are sent. She looks after their comfort and min- 
 isters to their wants, and if the case is serious, tele- 
 phones for a carriage and has them sent to their 
 homes. On wet days, she sees that the pupils re- 
 move wet clothing and shoes for dry ones. She is a 
 friend to all the girls, and to the motherless, a 
 
BITS OF CITY'S PROGRESS. 185 
 
 mother. Some pupils come from homes not blest 
 with this world's goods. These, the matron sees, 
 are provided with warm winter-clothing and such 
 things as are needful. A great amount of good 
 is accomplished by the matron, whose Christian life 
 and character cannot fail to have a beneficial influ- 
 ence throughout the entire school. 
 
 One of the pupils of the Central High School, 
 Arthur Thompson, a bright lad of 14, is ambitious 
 to enter the United States Naval Academy, at An- 
 napolis, and to this end he is preparing himself. 
 He told the professors of his desire to graduate 
 from the school that sent out Dewey, Schley and 
 Sampson, and they have taken a peculiar interest 
 in the boy, and are encouraging him in every pos- 
 sible manner. He has a bright face and converses 
 intelligently, and to all appearances is blest with 
 such qualities of grit, nerve, ambition and determi- 
 nation as Deweys and Schleys are made of. 
 
 The Kansas City Central High School is an in- 
 stitution that shows the city's advancement along 
 the line of education. " Knowledge is power " and 
 the young man and young woman here are made to 
 know and feel its power in these monuments of 
 learning in the West. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US MUNICIPAL HEAD- 
 QUARTERS THE KANSAS CITY JAIL OTHER 
 
 PLACES OF INTEREST. 
 
 " A prophet is not without honor save in his own 
 country," and so it is with the articles of sustenance 
 that go to support the prophet's life. One has to 
 come West to know what others think of us and 
 our oyster- and fish-produce in Maryland. There 
 is a " Maryland Oyster House " in Denver, but we 
 turned up our noses at the very idea of eating 
 oysters so far away from base. 
 
 At Kansas City, we were not a little amused to 
 see on the menu of a fashionable cafe, " crab meat 
 a la Maryland"; under oysters, " Baltimore extra 
 selects"; under lobsters, "Baltimore a la Mali," 
 the prices of these exclusive Maryland dishes vary- 
 ing from 50 to 75 cents per single serve. Mary- 
 land is famous everywhere for her luscious bivalves 
 and shell-fish. 
 
 Most buildings in Kansas City, even though 
 comparatively new, are dirty and smoky looking, 
 because of so many factories, perhaps. In this re- 
 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US. 187 
 
 spect, Kansas City is the Pittsburgh of the West. 
 One cannot wear linen and have it spotless very 
 long here. A man in duck trousers would be a 
 novel sight on the streets of Kansas City, and a 
 lady cannot wear a white dress more than once. 
 Little specks of greasy smut float about in the air, 
 and lodge everywhere. These same greasy parti- 
 cles of soot are no respecters of persons, and one 
 riding in the street-cars soon gets a dirty face. 
 
 The City Hall, though comparatively a new 
 building, is very dingy looking. It occupies one 
 block, and is seven stories high. In the "6o's," 
 the ground on which the municipal headquarters 
 now stand could have been purchased for $200; 
 but to-day, it could not be purchased for $200,000, 
 so great has been the boom in Kansas City real es- 
 tate. We cannot speak too highly of the courtesy 
 shown us at the City Hall by the officials, and 
 the interest they took in explaining the workings 
 of the several departments there. The Kansas City 
 police department has 140 patrolmen, 10 sergeants, 
 4 lieutenants, 4 captains and 10 detectives. 
 
 Several rooms in the City Hall are appropri- 
 ated by the detective department. Here is to be 
 found a gruesome array of knives, pistols, clubs, 
 and so forth, each of which has a history, and most 
 of which have been instruments of death. 
 
 Here are dark lanterns that have figured in rob- 
 
l88 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 beries; one of them is the lantern of the notorious 
 Kennedy, the train-robber. There are parapher- 
 nalia of opium joints, and gold bricks that confi- 
 dence men have palmed off on the unwary. 
 
 Here is the rogues' gallery, where there are over 
 1,000 photographs of men and women thieves. 
 Among these is the picture of Jesse James, the 
 bandit, and the Taylor brothers, who killed a 
 caravan of Mormons. There have been seven 
 hangings in Kansas City, the gruesome evidences 
 of which the hangman's knots are displayed 
 here in the cases. In the detective departments 
 there are whole outfits of burglars' tools, and im- 
 plements for safe-robbery. 
 
 The old method of photographing criminals for 
 future identification is replaced by the new one of 
 measurement. This is called the Bertillion system, 
 named for its inventor, a Frenchman. By this 
 method the criminal is measured head, trunk, 
 limbs and his entire measurement recorded. It is 
 always accurate, and no two individual measure- 
 ments are identical. The record of the measure- 
 ment is in the nature of a cipher, and if three num- 
 bers are telegraphed by the police of another city 
 relative to a criminal, the officials immediately rec- 
 ognize that criminal's identity by means of the 
 Bertillion system. The system is considered inval- 
 uable. 
 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US. 189 
 
 Perhaps the most unique and complete arrange- 
 ment in any of the departments is that in the tele- 
 phone office. Here, the chief operator is kept 
 busy. His is no sinecure position, for every two 
 minutes some officer calls up, reports and asks if 
 there is anything new. There is an automatic reg- 
 ister that records by telegraphy the name of each 
 officer, his number and the box from which he is 
 reporting. There can be no mistake, and no offi- 
 cer can report for another by this arrangement. 
 
 The fire and police alarms are unique. There are 
 1 20 boxes, and in less than an hour every officer 
 knows of every accident, fire or anything of inter- 
 est to the department, that has happened through- 
 out the city. Citizens are furnished with emer- 
 gency keys, and in case an officer is not about at 
 the time of a fire or an accident, they can turn in 
 the alarm to the department. 
 
 We visited the noted Kansas City police court, 
 where so many famous cases have been tried. The 
 Humane Society has its offices in the City Hall. 
 The agent is Col. J. C. Greenman, an officer of the 
 Civil War. He takes great interest in the work, 
 and has enlisted the sympathy of the public school 
 children, 4,000 of whom are enrolled as members 
 of the Band of Mercy, and who declare they will 
 " speak for those who cannot speak for themselves." 
 The Kansas City jail does not compare with the 
 
WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Baltimore jail which is the pink of cleanliness and 
 in perfect sanitary condition; this one is not. 
 Kansas City is in Jackson county, and is one of the 
 two county seats, the other being Independence. 
 There are, therefore, two county jails. There is 
 also a county marshal, who attends to all of the 
 criminal business of the county. 
 
 The fact of the county having two county jails, 
 which were provided by a special act of the Legisla- 
 ture, is a little puzzling to strangers. There are 
 fifteen deputies. The Kansas City jail has at pres- 
 ent 155 prisoners, 60 of whom are negroes, and 
 20 of whom are females. Five are in for murder, 
 awaiting trial. In this State they never hang a 
 woman. A negress in jail here who confessed the 
 murder for which she was arrested, is serving a term 
 of 50 years. There have been only seven hangings 
 in this State the last execution was on March 
 3Oth, of this year. Lynching is unknown here. The 
 prisoners are fed twice a day, at 7.30 a. m. and 1.30 
 p. m. Good, wholesome food is served them from 
 a neat and clean kitchen. The cooking is done by 
 steam. It was a sorrowful sight to see a number 
 of children among the prisoners, one a boy of only 
 ii years, who had snatched a pocket-book. A 
 white boy of 13 years said he was there for stealing 
 a horse, but that his father had " put him up to it." 
 
 What amount of home missionary work there is 
 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US. 
 
 for the good people who want to evangelize the 
 world ! Among the prisoners is the notorious Im- 
 boden, a relative of the General of that name. He 
 is an extremely clever fellow, and well educated. 
 He started a bank in Kansas City on 35 cents, 
 " roped in " the moneyed men of the town, and 
 bought out two other banks, all on 35 cents. An- 
 other of the distinguished (?) prisoners is a first ser- 
 geant in the United States Signal Corps, who saw 
 active service during the late war with Spain, and 
 who was in the charge on San Juan Hill. He is in 
 jail here for having stolen a lot of copper wire be- 
 longing to the government. He is an interesting 
 talker, and well informed on Cuba and Porto Rico, 
 and took pleasure in showing us a number of pic- 
 tures he had photographed of various scenes at 
 those places. 
 
 Missouri is said to have the largest penitentiary 
 in the United States, in which there are at present 
 2,600 prisoners. In the county jail of Kansas City 
 there are at present 49 prisoners serving time, and 
 65 at the Independence jail; the others are awaiting 
 trial. A chain-gang of the prisoners serving time 
 in the jails of both county seats is to be formed, and 
 the men put to work on the county roads. The 
 county doesn't believe in supporting the prisoners 
 in idleness for an indefinite number of years. 
 
 One of the most delightful places to visit in 
 
WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Kansas City is the Elks' Home, corner of 7th street 
 and Grand avenue. The club house and grounds 
 occupy a space of 1 12 by 1 13 feet, and cost $40,000. 
 The building is the Wisconsin building from the 
 World's Fair, and was brought here from Chicago 
 in sections. Indeed, the Elks' handsome club 
 house is made up of three buildings from the 
 World's Fair the Indiana, the Fisheries and Wis- 
 consin buildings. 
 
 On entering the foyer, decorated with palms and 
 tropical plants, and hung with elegant tapestry and 
 handsome oil-paintings, the mellow light from the 
 large stained-glass windows above the double stair- 
 way of the Wisconsin building sheds a subdued 
 glow; and one stands charmed for a moment by the 
 pleasing effect, which is indeed artistic. There are 
 340 members of the B. P. O. E., No. 26, of Kansas 
 City. Of these a large number are bachelors, and 
 have sleeping apartments at the club, where the 
 dormitory is handsomely furnished. 
 
 The second floor of the building is appropriated 
 for reading-rooms, pool-rooms and the lodge-room. 
 In the last mentioned is the mounted head of an 
 elk, a very fine specimen. It has twelve antlers, 
 six on either side of the head, and is illuminated 
 with a red, white and blue incandescent light, and 
 the effect is very beautiful. This head has been in 
 possession of the Kansas Elks for over 20 years. 
 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US. 193 
 
 In another room are the horns of a steer which 
 measure seven feet from tip to tip. One of the bil- 
 liard tables, exquisitely carved, took a prize at the 
 World's Fair. There are also several handsome 
 paintings here from the World's Fair, and a num- 
 ber of pictures of Indians in costumes made of elks' 
 teeth. When one realizes the elk has only two 
 teeth, he can appreciate how long it takes to ac- 
 cumulate enough for a garment, and how valuable 
 it must necessarily be. 
 
 One of the handsomest apartments in the Elks' 
 Home here is the bar, the side walls of which are 
 made of panels of glass one and a half inches thick, 
 which were portions of the Fishery Building at the 
 World's Fair. There are 20 tons of glass in the 
 walls, and each panel has an iridescent backing in 
 green and looks as though grass and ferns are 
 growing behind it. The frieze is ornamented at 
 intervals with a bow of tiny gondolas, each bearing 
 an incandescent light. When the prism chande- 
 liers are lighted, the scene is one of fairy land. The 
 Kansas City Elks are very proud of their handsome 
 club house, which is said to be the most elegantly 
 equipped Elks' Home in the country. 
 
 In seeing the sights of Kansas City, one is sure 
 to take in the Mount Candy and Cracker Com- 
 pany's plant, at the northeast corner of 9th and 
 Santa Fe streets. Here, there are " sweets for the 
 13 
 
194 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 sweet," and it is interesting as well as instructive 
 to see that candy, like everything else, ourselves 
 included, is fearfully and wonderfully made. The 
 Mount Candy and Cracker Company has a plant 
 occupying 80 by 100 feet. Their building is five 
 stories high and they employ 120 hands, half of 
 whom are women. The firm does a large business, 
 and on the day of our visit it shipped three car- 
 loads of candy, one order, to a firm in Joppa, in 
 the central part of the State. Three car-loads of 
 crackers had also been shipped to the same firm a 
 few days previous. 
 
 The greater part of the candy in this factory is 
 cooked by steam in a vacuum, the thermometer 
 registering 260 degrees. An interesting feature of 
 candy-making is that of the " drops," which are 
 moulded by machinery into long sheets, that when 
 cool are so brittle the " drops " easily separate. 
 Rolling and twisting candy into sticks is also a 
 method in which there is not a little art. In the 
 caramel department of the Mount Company there 
 is one girl whose fingers are so deft and skillful in 
 the art of wrapping caramels, and she works so 
 rapidly, one can scarcely see her fingers; she really 
 makes them "fly." She averages 800 pounds of 
 wrapped candy in six working-days, and earns from 
 $7.50 to $9 per week, while her sister laborers earn 
 only $3.50 per week. 
 
 All candy is not made of sugar; for cheaper 
 
WHAT OTHERS THINK OF US. 
 
 grades, a great deal of glucose is used. The moulds 
 for the better grade of candy are made of rubber, 
 those for cheaper grades are made of starch. 
 
 The cracker department is also interesting in its 
 details. Here, seven barrels of flour are put into 
 one hopper at a time and made up into dough. 
 The factory averages 40 barrels of flour per day for 
 the best goods, and from 60 to 70 barrels for the 
 ordinary goods. The base of nearly every cracker 
 is a vanilla wafer, and from these are shaped and 
 moulded all other crackers and plain and fancy 
 cakes. The dough is rolled into thin sheets by 
 machinery, and baked in an immense oven, on re- 
 volving metal shelves. In this way, at an even 
 temperature, there is no such thing as burning the 
 crackers. At each revolution, some are removed, 
 and others placed in the oven. Thus, an immense 
 amount of work is accomplished in the least pos- 
 sible time. 
 
 Neatness is everywhere apparent in the Mount 
 Candy and Cracker Factory, which is a well man- 
 aged and thoroughly equipped establishment. Al- 
 though visitors are not generally allowed, through 
 the courtesy of the management, the writer was 
 afforded the pleasant privilege extended the 
 chosen few of seeing the inside workings of the 
 candy factory, and of having the novel experience 
 of actually walking on candy a rather unusual 
 occurrence in every day life. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY THE GATEWAY OF 
 
 THE WESTERN FARMER AND STOCK GROWER 
 HOW THE KILLING IS DONE. 
 
 Everybody has heard of the great Armour Com- 
 pany's packing-houses, and everybody eats some- 
 thing in the course of a year that has passed 
 through either the Armour's plant at Chicago or 
 the one at Kansas City. To go through one of 
 these plants is a sight one never forgets. 
 
 The Armour Packing Company's plant in Kan- 
 sas City is situated partly in Missouri and partly in 
 Kansas, and there is reason for crossing the line of 
 these two States, as we shall see later. The 
 ground-acreage covered by the buildings, and used 
 for other purposes, is 30 acres. The floor-acreage 
 in the buildings is 90 acres, and that of the cold-air 
 rooms, 30 acres. 
 
 The storage-capacity is 200,000,000 pounds. 
 The Armour Beef House of Kansas City is the 
 largest in the world, being seven stories high, with 
 a storage-capacity of 15,000 dressed cattle, and 
 covering an area of 300 by 500 feet. There are 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 1 97 
 
 i, 800 employees at the Armour Packing Com- 
 pany, who clear the building at the mid-day hour in 
 five minutes. It is a sight worth seeing to witness 
 this army of workers men, women and children 
 pour forth from the main entrance at the noon 
 hour to get their luncheon. It reminds one of a 
 volcano belching forth humanity. 
 
 The distribution of the products of the Armour 
 Company extends to every country in the world. 
 In the various departments of the company's plant 
 almost every trade, art and science is employed. 
 In the lard-packing room are tin cans, barrels and 
 hogsheads filled with lard, thousands of which are 
 packed daily, and shipped to all parts of the world. 
 All the tin cans and pails used for packing are made 
 on the premises. There are 14 ice-machines here, 
 producing a refrigeration equal to the melting of 
 1,350 tons of ice every 24 hours. There are 6 en- 
 gines that run the ice-plant and pump the air into 
 30 acres of cold storage. These engines were made 
 by the Frick Company, of Waynesboro, Pennsylva- 
 nia. 
 
 All refuse is drawn off into tanks, and the grease 
 refuse is shipped to the Armour Company at Chi- 
 cago for soap making, as no soap is made at the 
 Kansas City plant. Cleanliness is a dominant 
 characteristic throughout the plant, and the tidiness 
 of all the departments is remarked by the visitors. 
 
198 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 The " Silver Churn " Butterine rooms are as clean 
 as the kitchen and pantry of a model house-keeper. 
 The butterine capacity is 100,000 pounds daily. 
 We spoke of the plant extending across the line of 
 the States of Kansas and Missouri. By an act of 
 Legislature, butterine is not allowed to be manu- 
 factured in the State of Missouri. This department 
 is therefore across on the Kansas side of the plant. 
 In the butterine department, a large number of 
 men and women are employed in moulding, rolling 
 and wrapping in paraffine paper and linen, the 
 prints and rolls of butterine, which are packed and 
 shipped, and which the unwary cannot tell from the 
 genuine article, " all wool and a yard wide." 
 
 The daily killing-capacity of the Armour Pack- 
 ing Company in Kansas City is something start- 
 ling, but the following figures are correct; and he 
 who doubts may come here and see for himself with 
 what dispatch the hog, the cow, and the sheep for- 
 feits its life to sustain man's. The killing is quick- 
 er than lightning and like it; the striking never oc- 
 curs twice in the same place. There are 12,000 
 hogs, 4,000 cattle and 5,000 sheep killed here daily. 
 When we say killed, we also mean cleaned, dressed 
 and sent into the refrigerating room. We saw 
 hogs going into the refrigerating room in ten min- 
 utes after we had seen those same hogs alive. 
 Everything is done with neatness and dispatch, and 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 199 
 
 every man has some particular part in the work of 
 the great machinery in this plant. 
 
 The cattle are herded in a large shed, all unmind- 
 ful of their fate. They are lifted up a chute, a door 
 raises and they enter their death-trap, a small box- 
 like apartment, into which, as they enter, they are 
 dealt a stunning blow between the eyes with a 
 sledge-hammer. 
 
 The men employed for this work are skilled in 
 the art of killing these animals, and sejdom miss 
 the aim. In most cases, death is instantaneous, 
 but when it is not, the animal is shot. Like human 
 beings, some die harder than others, but to the av- 
 erage animal, death comes quickly. There are two 
 cows in each pen and six pens on each side, making 
 twelve in all. Every time the cattle are run in, the 
 men, two of whom do the killing, kill an average 
 car-load of cattle, which is 24. Immediately after 
 the killing, the animals roll out, are attached by the 
 hind legs to an iron hook, lifted to the cog over- 
 head and carried to one of the largest rooms in the 
 building, where hundreds of men are at work tak- 
 ing off the hides and heads, and cleaning the cattle 
 yet warm in their life's blood. In this room, one 
 actually " wades in blood " to use the extravagant 
 expression of the renowned " Teddy." Here, 
 skilled laborers are employed. One man takes the 
 head off quicker than you can wink. 
 
2OO WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 He knows just where to stick the knife, and is so 
 accustomed to the work, he can take a cow's head 
 off with his eyes shut. The heads are split, the 
 brains taken out and the head ground for fertilizer. 
 Nothing in this world is wasted. Everything is 
 utilized, and just here we have one of the most for- 
 cible illustrations of this truth. The horns are 
 mounted and used for various things, useful and 
 ornamental; the skins are tanned and sold for leath- 
 er; the hair is for plaster-mixing, and the intestines 
 for sausage and pudding. Nothing is wasted, even 
 the blood of the hogs is used for purifying a certain 
 kind of sugar, and the best blood is caught in vats 
 and sold. Another set of men take off the legs at 
 the first joint, and this is also done with extraordi- 
 nary dispatch. From the time a cow is killed, until 
 it is skinned, cleaned, halved and hung ready to be 
 sent into the refrigerating room, is so brief, that we 
 actually saw the muscles of several animals twitch 
 as they were on their way to the cold storage. 
 
 The killing is all done in the upper stories of the 
 building. This requires a great deal more of ma- 
 chinery and accompanying expense, but better fa- 
 cilitates the work. The skins drop down seven 
 stories and are tanned on the lots below. 
 
 The lard is purified in vats in the upper stories of 
 Armour's, where it is churned with paddles and 
 made as white as snow. It then passes through 
 pipes, and is drawn off into cans and kegs. 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 2OI 
 
 The electric-light capacity of the plant is enor- 
 mous. One can understand this when we tell you 
 it is equal to that of a well-lighted city of 25,000 
 inhabitants, or in other words, the electric-light 
 plant here would be sufficient to light a city three 
 times as large as Annapolis. There is a govern- 
 ment inspector employed in each department of the 
 plant. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most unique and interesting 
 parts of the plant is that where the hog-killing is 
 done. When we say 12,000 hogs are killed daily 
 at this plant, it seems fabulous; but when we tell 
 you we saw hogs sent into the refrigerating room 
 ten minutes after they were alive and squealing, 
 now all scraped, cleaned and dressed, you may 
 credit the foregoing statement. 
 
 The hog is ushered into his death-trap under pro- 
 test, and grunts and quarrels to the last of his hog- 
 ship. Strung up by the hind legs they are sent 
 along a cable to the apartment where the " stick- 
 ing" is done. With the blood streaming from 
 them, they are rolled into vats of scalding water, 
 hoisted by machinery to the seventh floor, and as 
 they ascend, the machinery scrapes them clean. At 
 the seventh floor, they pass along the cog before 
 an array of skilled workmen, each of whom does 
 some part in the work of cleaning and dressing the 
 hog. There appears to be an "endless chain" of 
 these hogs. 
 
2O2 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 All animals killed here are in good condition, 
 and most of them are fine specimens. Even the 
 cattle killed for canned goods are not of the poor 
 class one would expect this line to be. Any visitor 
 from the East who fails to see the Armour Packing 
 Company's plant, misses a great sight indeed, and 
 an object-lesson from which much valuable infor- 
 mation is to be obtained. A cordial invitation is ex- 
 tended by the company to the general public to 
 visit its plant during working-hours, and courteous 
 guides are furnished for the purpose of showing the 
 visitor the evolution of the hog, the steer, the sheep 
 and the chicken into the varied and manifold prod- 
 ucts that the great Armour Packing Company 
 places on the market. 
 
 It must be remembered that this wonderful pack- 
 ing-house is the gateway through which pour the 
 contributions of the western farmer and stock 
 grower, whose supplies keep the company's chim- 
 neys smoking. The finished products of this great 
 Armour Packing Company are enjoyed by you, 
 and all of the carnivorous public. 
 
 Kansas City promises to be a city of conventions, 
 and to this end she has prepared herself by building 
 the largest auditorium in this country. 
 
 Convention Hall, for so it is called, is a marvel in 
 size and architecture, and a monument to the enter- 
 prise of a great city which " has on a big boom " 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 203 
 
 in the closing years of this famous nineteenth cen- 
 tury. It is the hall in which the National Demo- 
 cratic Convention will be held in July and is situ- 
 ated at Thirteenth and Central streets, four blocks 
 from the retail district of the city. It has been 
 classed by travelers as one of the largest and most 
 perfectly constructed auditoriums in the world. 
 
 Convention Hall was built by the people of Kan- 
 sas City. A series of entertainments were held for 
 which 25-cent tickets were sold. Everybody pa- 
 tronized, and the funds were soon raised to build 
 the hall, which cost $400,000. Its seating-capacity 
 is 25,000, and its most unique feature is that there 
 is not a stair in the building. 
 
 Although there are three galleries, the ascent is 
 made by an incline, a winding entrance, reminding 
 one of a burro-trail up a mountain pass. The Kan- 
 sas City Convention Hall has the distinguished 
 honor of being the only building in the world in 
 which one can go from pit to dome on a bicycle. 
 Although such an immense building, occupying 
 four blocks and seating 25,000 people (three times 
 as many as the inhabitants of Annapolis), the Con- 
 vention Hall can be cleared in a few minutes, as 
 there are any number of exits on each of the four 
 streets by which it is bounded and from the bal- 
 conies and roof-garden. It is estimated that the 
 hall can be emptied at the rate of 5,000 per minute. 
 
2O4 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 The first story of Convention Hall is of the re- 
 naissance style of architecture, the second story 
 in peristyle, with groups of columns. The build- 
 ing is of bridge construction, without a column, 
 the roof being supported by great steel girders that 
 span its 200 feet of breadth. Its interior is white 
 with brown trimmings. Its acoustic properties are 
 perfect and received especial praise. Hon. Wil- 
 liam J. Bryan, who last June addressed the head 
 camp of the Modern Woodmen of America in the 
 hall, said later: 
 
 " It is hard to conceive how Convention Hall 
 could be improved upon for the purpose of large 
 public gatherings." 
 
 Maurice Grau and Dwight L. Moody, the evan- 
 gelist, also praised it highly. 
 
 Anywhere in the building the speakers or singers 
 on the stage can be heard with distinctness. In 
 Convention Hall, all entertainments are held, and 
 it is usually filled when anything is going on there. 
 To see the lower floor, boxes, stalls, loges, and 
 galleries filled, to gaze on 25,000 people assembled 
 in one building, to look out over this sea of human 
 faces is indeed thrilling and awe-inspiring. Chi- 
 cago has made several attempts to build such a hall, 
 but before completion the structure has burned 
 down or collapsed, as it did recently. Kansas City, 
 therefore, bears the palm in convention halls, and 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 2O5 
 
 in this, as in several other things, outranks the 
 Windy City. 
 
 It was our good pleasure to see Convention Hall 
 in almost every phase of entertainment, and thus 
 get an idea of its usefulness. One of these was the 
 Megaphone Minstrels, given during carnival week 
 by 125 of Kansas City's society business men, who 
 were well trained by their musical director, and 
 many of whom did themselves credit in rag-time 
 melodies and the cake-walk. The Megaphone 
 Minstrels are always a feature of carnival week, and 
 their announcement means a crowded house and a 
 successful entertainment. The " Karnival Krew 
 Bal Masque " was also held here. This was a novel 
 sight to an Easterner. The floor was cleared for 
 dancing, and thousands of characters, historical 
 and grotesque, mingled here in a sea of colors. 
 
 Dinahs and Topsys danced with Deweys, Schleys 
 and Uncle Sam; ballet girls with monks. Hand- 
 some and valuable prizes were given the best cos- 
 tumes and groups. The " chain-gang " was a tak- 
 ing group of ten men in prison garb, who did the 
 lock step. 
 
 The most unique figure was the double woman. 
 She had two faces, two bonnets, two aprons and 
 two fans, each of which she used with dexterity. 
 Her shoes turned the toes both ways. She walked 
 backward and forward with equal cleverness, fan- 
 
2O6 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ning herself in either position. Indeed it was im- 
 possible to tell whether she was going to school or 
 coming home. 
 
 An interesting feature of this particular evening 
 was the grand march, in which there were over 
 1,500 people. The Chinese in Kansas City are a 
 numerous colony. They took as much interest in 
 the carnival as those to the manner born. They 
 paid $2,000 to the San Francisco colony to get the 
 costumes worn in the parade. With their accou- 
 trements, flags and musical instruments, they pa- 
 raded the hall several times to the strains of their 
 music, which, however, is without harmony or 
 symphony. 
 
 Another entertainment held at Convention Hall 
 during our sojourn in Kansas City was the national 
 female bicycle race, in which there were eight con- 
 testants for the world's championship. France, 
 Germany, Sweden and America were represented, 
 the latter by a Kansas City, a Minneapolis and a 
 Chicago girl. In its new phase, Convention Hall 
 presented another feature of its usefulness. The 
 track was elevated to an angle of 50 degrees. 
 Twelve laps was a mile. The contest lasted six 
 nights, an hour and a half each night. The cham- 
 pion of America, the Chicago girl, won each night, 
 and therefore holds the championship of the world 
 among female bicycle riders. The contest was ex- 
 citing throughout, and very close. 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 207 
 
 On another occasion, the great Convention Hall 
 was the scene of the Kansas City Horse Show. A 
 horse show anywhere is a very swell society event, 
 and swelldom is always there, and " Solomon in all 
 his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Horse 
 shows have long since become full-dress parades 
 for society women, and the Kansas City show was 
 no exception. The arena was covered with tan 
 bark, and there was no sound of horses' hoofs. The 
 arena was- 112x200 feet, surrounded by a 1 2-foot 
 promenade. The fine array of carriage-horses, 
 saddle-horses, high steppers and hunters was the 
 strongest argument that the horse has by no means 
 " had his day," nor is to be relegated into innocuous 
 desuetude. The horse show here compares favor- 
 ably with that of New York, and is as great a so- 
 ciety event. 
 
 There seems to be nothing that cannot be held 
 in the Convention Hall, as it is capable of meta- 
 morphosis from a Priest of Pallas grand ball, and 
 Megaphone Minstrels to a horse show and bicycle 
 race-track. Western cities are famous for carni- 
 vals. They begin in mid-summer with the Peach 
 Carnival in Colorado, the watermelon and the 
 grand husking party, the great flower carnival at 
 Colorado Springs, and extend all along the States 
 to Illinois, where Chicago has her Fall Festival. 
 Denver's carnival is called the " Silver Serpent," 
 
2O8 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 and the floats and characters of the street-parade 
 carry out the idea in a shimmering, glistening mass 
 of color and iridescence. It is held the last of Sep- 
 tember, and like Katisha's left elbow, people come 
 miles to see it. It is not, however, to be seen only 
 on presentation of visiting-card, but it is free. This 
 year it was a grand success, and merchants did a 
 red-letter business. Denver's carnival lasts a week. 
 
 Kansas City " goes one better " ; her carnival 
 lasts ten days. She has christened hers the " Priest 
 of Pallas" and " K. K. K.," which transcribed 
 means the " Kansas Karnival Krew." Kansas 
 City's street-fair far excelled that of Denver. Here 
 the street-fair had displays of every mart of trade 
 represented in this most enterprising mid-continent 
 metropolis. There was machinery showing the 
 workings of soap factories and manufactories of all 
 sorts. Two firms had an exhibition of how they 
 manufactured overalls, shirts, ladies' waists, dresses, 
 and so forth. In the street-fair, we saw each step 
 in the work; and here there were dozens of working 
 men and women with the machinery buzzing 
 around them, each doing his or her own particular 
 part of the garment. Was there ever such enter- 
 prise in the East? Think of the expense that one 
 of these exhibits in the street-fair entailed; yet the 
 business men here do not hesitate for that. 
 
 An admission of 10 cents was charged at the 
 
ARMOUR PACKING COMPANY. 2OQ 
 
 street-fair during carnival season, and hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars were the gate receipts. This 
 is a hustling, bustling community. Everybody is 
 wide awake and up and doing. There are no idlers 
 here, no drones in the bee-hive, and this is the se- 
 cret of their success. 
 
 Kansas City is building a Paseo, or public park 
 along her principal thoroughfare. It is to have 
 fountains, a colonnade and when completed will 
 cost $100,000. 
 
 About ten years ago from '85 to '89 the bot- 
 tom dropped out of real estate here, and a number 
 of moneyed men went down with the crash. Busi- 
 ness now, however, is booming, and ground, that 
 once sold for $100 an acre, cannot be bought to- 
 day for $100 a square foot. 
 
 There are not many wheels in Kansas City. 
 There are so many hills, bluffs and " inclines " that 
 riding a bicycle is almost too great a physical feat 
 for the average Kansas Cityan. Kansas City is in 
 this respect also unlike Denver, where there are 
 40,000 wheels and one-fourth of the population, 
 men, women and children, ride a bicycle to the det- 
 riment of the car companies. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 KANSAS CITY SIDE-LIGHTS AND A FEW CHORDS OF ITS 
 SOCIAL HARMONIES. 
 
 There is a Curfew law in Kansas City. At 9 
 o'clock in the evening the Curfew sounds in warn- 
 ing notes, and all children on the streets unaccom- 
 panied by parents are taken in charge by the legal 
 authorities. 
 
 Kansas City is a distinctly representative com- 
 munity. There are people here from all points of 
 the compass, and all parts of the United States 
 North, East, South and West. There are many 
 elegant homes and handsome residences here, and 
 a great deal of wealth is represented. There are a 
 number of multi-millionaires in Kansas City. 
 
 There are beautiful drives throughout the city, 
 and no city has finer boulevards. Kansas City dif- 
 fers from most other cities. One can go up into a 
 building two or three stories and still be on the 
 ground floor. Kansas City, like Chicago, has its 
 street-railway tunneled under some of its streets. 
 One of these tunnels extends for three blocks 
 through a bluff. 
 
 Theatres are open on Sunday in Kansas City, as 
 
KANSAS CITY SIDE-LIGHTS. 211 
 
 they are all through the West, and Sabbath-break- 
 ing horrifies the Easterner. 
 
 Until recently the names of the streets were not 
 marked at the street corners, but an appropriation 
 of several thousand dollars has been made, and 
 the signs bearing the names are fast going up. 
 Some streets have the names carved in the side- 
 walks at the street corners. In the past year, there 
 have been 50 miles of sidewalk laid in Kansas City, 
 where there was formerly board walk. 
 
 Kansas City has the largest manufactory of agri- 
 cultural implements in the world. It has five pack- 
 ing-houses and these, together with its stock-yards, 
 employ 8,321 persons, equal to over 40,000 people 
 directly dependent on them for a living. Their 
 killing-capacity is 10,000 cattle, 25,000 hogs and 
 6,000 sheep daily. 
 
 Its manufactures consist of smelters, saw-mills, 
 breweries, iron and steel, brick and clay, flour and 
 meal, candy, furniture, box factories, agricultural 
 implements, harness, planing-mills, lime, soap, ice, 
 oil, tinware, mattresses, paints, carriages, cooper- 
 age, syrups, glue, copper works, brooms, awnings 
 and gas. One-third of the cattle in the entire 
 United States as given by the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment in Washington, is here in the Kansas City 
 market. 
 
 There are numerous handsome stores in Kansas 
 
212 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 City, and they do an extensive business. The mer- 
 chants believe in advertising their stock, and the 
 daily papers are full of "ads." of all business 
 houses in the city. One street in the shopping 
 district is called Petticoat Lane, because the ladies 
 frequent this locality. Most of the stores are de- 
 partment stores, and one can here purchase any- 
 thing from a shoe-string to a brickhouse. The 
 largest establishments have tea-rooms in the upper 
 floors, where a delicious luncheon, with the best 
 service, may be had at moderate prices. 
 
 A feature of the schools is the cloak-rooms. At 
 the Manual Training High School each pupil has 
 his or her own locker with a key, the same as a club- 
 man has. In this way there is no trouble from loss 
 of wraps or misappropriation of overshoes. 
 
 In the West there is always an " Orpheum " 
 theatre and a " Trocadero " in every city, and Kan- 
 sas City is no exception. 
 
 Among the prominent cigar stores there is one 
 of which Jesse James, son of the late notorious 
 highwayman of that name, is proprietor. He is 
 very proud of his name and the notoriety attached 
 thereto, and is largely patronized. 
 
 Kansas City is all we have claimed for it, and 
 more. It is a typical western city, filled with east- 
 ern people, yet it is far ahead of us in many ways. 
 We, of the South and East, are a cultured people 
 
KANSAS CITY SIDE-LIGHTS. 213 
 
 with high ideas and aspirations. Let us awake 
 from the lethargy in which we have too long in- 
 dulged! Let us get some of this enterprise and 
 progressive spirit of the West, and let us attain that 
 high place in the business world for which our capa- 
 bilities and environments have so eminently fitted 
 us! 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 " ARMOUR ROSE " SELLS FOR $2,5OO THE FAMOUS 
 
 KANSAS CITY STOCK-YARDS A SIGHT WORTH 
 
 SEEING FROM KANSAS CITY TO OMAHA 
 
 OVER THE BURLINGTON ROUTE 
 
 OMAHA, THE SCENE OF 
 
 THE GREAT WESTERN 
 
 EXPOSITION. 
 
 Few people who hear and read of " stock-yards " 
 realize what they are, or have any real conception of 
 their enormous size and the great amount of busi- 
 ness done here. The Kansas City Stock- Yards are 
 famous. They are located in the " Bottoms " and 
 after a long car-ride the visitor reaches the inter- 
 esting locality. 
 
 The best time to visit the stock-yards is early in 
 the morning, when some of our Maryland folk are 
 not up, for we are not very early risers in Maryland 
 towns. At half past three, all is astir in the stock- 
 yards, and business has been going on for quite a 
 while. Cattlemen are driving from pen to pen, in- 
 specting the stock preparatory to making a large 
 deal in the same. 
 
FROM KANSAS CITY TO OMAHA. 215 
 
 One ascends a small flight of steps at any con- 
 venient portion at the outskirts of the yards, stands 
 on the platform and "views the landscape o'er." 
 Miles and miles of cattle appear to stretch out in all 
 directions as far as one can see. These are herded 
 together in numerous compartments, waiting to 
 be sold, and perhaps to be killed that very day. 
 As soon as it is daylight the cattlemen ride through 
 the various avenues of this vast yard, inspecting the 
 stock, the merits of which are set forth by the 
 guides, employees of the company. 
 
 When sold, each man's stock is herded in sepa- 
 rate enclosures and finally driven over an incline 
 and across the bridges to the Armour, Swift or 
 Dold packing-houses. Not an animal that is in 
 this vast arena early in the morning is there in the 
 evening. Every one of the thousands and thous- 
 ands has been sold, and the next morning sees a 
 new lot in their places. In 1898, 9,268,635 cattle 
 were driven out of these stock-yards for packers' 
 and city use alone, not to speak of the calves, sheep, 
 horses and mules driven out. The cattle business 
 is an immense business here, and the Kansas City 
 Stock- Yards are the largest in the world. In the 
 neighborhood of the stock-yards is the cattle-show, 
 and the auction-rooms where fine blooded stock are 
 put up for sale. 
 
 The scene in the auction-room is a very exciting 
 
2l6 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 one. The owner displays his fine stock to the best 
 advantage. After having the animal bathed, and 
 his horns polished, his hair curled and brushed until 
 its gloss is equal to that of a colonial dame's pride 
 and glory and crowning adornment, he walks the 
 animal around the arena of the auction-room for 
 public inspection and admiration. The inspection 
 begins at 9 o'clock, when the auctioneer tells of the 
 genealogical history of the blooded cattle to be 
 sold. Indeed, to hear the auctioneer tell who the 
 animal's sire and grandsire were, and dwell upon his 
 choice combination of blue blood, and high class 
 of individual merits, one would suppose the cow's 
 ancestors came over in the Mayflower with all the 
 rest of aristocracy. (It's a wonder that the May- 
 flower didn't sink, anyway!) After the animal's 
 history and family-record are given and the several 
 branches of the family-tree flutter and bend in the 
 breeze of ancestral pride, the bidding begins, spir- 
 ited and lively. 
 
 The auctioneer warms up to his business. He 
 pleads for order and quiet. He becomes hoarse, 
 then grows warmer, and finally takes off his coat 
 with one hand, while he mops the perspiration from 
 his brow with the other. Even the women (for 
 there are a couple of dozen present), begin to catch 
 the contagion of excitement, and are on tiptoe of 
 expectancy to see who the purchaser of that grand 
 
FROM KANSAS CITY TO OMAHA. 217 
 
 specimen of the Curtice Hereford stock is to be. 
 The auctioneer puts up Lamplighter, Jr., son of 
 the World's Fair prize-winner. He weighs 2,380 
 pounds, and has a long line of distinguished blood- 
 ed ancestry to back him. Lamplighter, Jr., finally 
 sells for only $1,000. Stock of the Hereford sort 
 comes high, but the cattlemen must have it, and 
 after all, a thousand dollars isn't much to pay for 
 an animal that may die next day or that same night. 
 Oh, no, " Armour Rose," the famous cow that help- 
 ed to build the Kansas City Convention Hall, sold 
 for $2,500 the day previous. 
 
 Armour Rose is two years old and weighs 
 1,200 pounds. She is also of the Hereford stock, 
 and is as pretty and chubby as can be. She was 
 sold to John Sparks, of Nevada for $2,500. She is 
 a cow with a history. Mr. Armour gave her to be 
 voted for, or raffled, the proceeds to be appropri- 
 ated to building the large auditorium in Kansas 
 City. She was won by a lady, to whom Mr. Ar- 
 mour offered $1,000 in cash, for the cow. The lady 
 did what any of us would have done, accepted the 
 thousand, and Mr. Armour took the cow. The 
 next day Armour Rose was put up at auction at 
 the stock-yards and brought two and a half times 
 as much, to the discomfiture of the winner. The 
 Hereford stock have dark-brown curly hair, short 
 brightly polished horns, dark-brown legs and white 
 
2l8 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 feet. They are beautiful cattle, and said to be very 
 valuable. A visit to the stock-yards, cattle-show 
 and auction-room impresses one that cattle are like 
 people, there is a great deal in their stock, and good 
 blood and a long line of ancestry stand for some- 
 thing the world over. 
 
 Leaving the Kansas City Stock- Yards, we 
 wended our way to the station, preparatory to start- 
 ing for Omaha, and the Trans-Mississippi Exposi- 
 tion at that time in progress. It was not without 
 regret that we said good-bye to Kansas City, and 
 the many kind friends who had shown us the inter- 
 esting sights and scenes of that progressive West- 
 ern metropolis. Our route this trip was over the 
 Burlington, one of the most popular roads of the 
 West and Northwest, and a road which is well 
 patronized. Its road-bed is easy, its cars among 
 the finest equipped in the West, with all modern 
 conveniences and appliances, its service complete 
 and its officials polite, courteous and obliging. 
 
 From Kansas City to Omaha, the Burlington 
 Route runs through the Missouri Valley, rich in 
 farm lands. Here, large farms of grain stretch 
 away for miles, and this is one of the largest and 
 richest farm districts in the country. We saw a 
 farm of i ,200 acres of corn which produces 70 bush- 
 els to the acre, and which is owned by one, Mr. 
 Rankins. Our train put off 100 men at this point 
 to be employed in corn-husking on this farm. 
 
FROM KANSAS CITY TO OMAHA. 2 19 
 
 Observing the moist, black soil, common along 
 the route, we inquired relative to its usefulness. 
 It is called gumbo, and is taken to Watson, burned 
 in a kiln and becomes a red clay, and is used along 
 the Burlington road-bed for ballast. The first 
 town across the line in Iowa is Hamburg, a thrifty 
 business-like little city. 
 
 We have always been gifted with a great amount 
 of southern pride, and the following little pleasan- 
 try has a tendency to enhance that vainglorious- 
 ness. 
 
 " I am sure you are a southern lady," said the 
 conductor whom we had been interrogating. 
 "Why do you think so?" we inquired. "Be- 
 cause you are so careful to say ' thank you ' for any 
 little service rendered, and I have noticed that 
 southern ladies are always mindful of this. I have 
 been on this road for sixteen years, and come in 
 contact with a great many people in the course of 
 a year, and even in the course of a day. I am some- 
 what observant myself, and it has been my experi- 
 ence that the most appreciative and polite ladies 
 who travel are from the South. They never forget 
 their manners." We have been shaking hands with 
 ourselves ever since. 
 
 The Burlington Station at Omaha is a gem of 
 loveliness. It cost $400,000, and is the handsom- 
 est station in the United States, except the one at 
 
220 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 St. Louis. It is built of granite in the Greek and 
 Roman style of architecture, with massive Doric 
 pillars on the exterior, supporting the entrance 
 above which are cut in the stone, figures and char- 
 acters representative of western industry, such as 
 mining, agriculture, and so forth. The design of 
 the entrance to this depot is very similar to that of 
 Gen. Grant's tomb at Riverside Park, New York. 
 
 In the interior, the pillars are of onyx, the side 
 walls of marble tiling and the floors of mosaic pat- 
 tern. The chandeliers, of brass, with myriads of 
 incandescent lights, shed a soft mellow glow, and 
 the effect in this marble palace is indeed beautiful. 
 Palms and tropical plants decorate the rotunda and 
 waiting-rooms, and one imagines himself in one of 
 the World's Fair buildings or a mausoleum rather 
 than a railroad station. No expense has been 
 spared to make the Burlington depot at Omaha a 
 magnificent building, thoroughly equipped with 
 every comfort and convenience, besides being most 
 artistic in ornament and design. Coming into 
 Omaha by this route, one is favorably impressed 
 with the sight. 
 
 Omaha has a population of 105,000. It is a 
 clean attractive city with many handsome buildings 
 and elegant homes. Like Denver and Kansas City, 
 it is noted for its excellent school system and hand- 
 some school-buildings. The Omaha High School 
 
FROM KANSAS CITY TO OMAHA. 221 
 
 is one of the finest in the country. The building, 
 an imposing red-brick structure considerably pff 
 from the public thoroughfare and on a high, ter- 
 raced elevation, was once the State capitol building. 
 When the capital was removed to Lincoln, this 
 building was taken for the high school. There are 
 over 2,000 pupils enrolled at this school. The 
 Lake Street School is next in size to the Omaha 
 High School. The court house is a handsome 
 granite building, located amid beautifully terraced 
 grounds. The postoffice is another handsome 
 building of which Omaha may feel proud. 
 
 Across the Missouri river from Omaha, Ne- 
 braska, is Council Bluffs, Iowa, a city of no little 
 importance. Many men doing business in Omaha 
 reside at Council Bluffs. Omaha, the seat of the 
 Trans-Mississippi Exposition of last year, and the 
 Greater America Exposition of this year, has sur- 
 prised the world. Coming Expositions may be 
 bigger in point of size, but in point of beauty and 
 interest the Omaha Exposition will probably never 
 be excelled. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE OMAHA EXPOSITION ITS BEAUTIES DISSOLVED 
 
 FOREVER THE LAST GREAT EDUCATIONAL 
 
 AND AMUSEMENT ENTERPRISE OF 
 
 THE CENTURY. 
 
 On November ist, the Omaha Exposition, the 
 last great educational and amusement enterprise of 
 the century, passed into history, and its countless 
 beauties dissolved forever. 
 
 There is something pathetic in the reflection that 
 never again within the lives of most of those of the 
 present generation, will another opportunity be of- 
 fered the people of the great West such an exposi- 
 tion within their midst as the Greater America Ex- 
 position just closed. 
 
 It has been in progress two years. Last year it 
 was known as the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, 
 and was the first of its scope and magnitude which 
 history has allotted to the West. Its wonderful 
 proportions, and its unprecedented success were a 
 world's surprise. Its successor, the Greater Amer- 
 ica Exposition, born of its embers, rivaled it in 
 magnitude, and surpassed it in beauty and educa- 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 223 
 
 tional worth, but was not so successful in point of 
 attendance. For this latter reason, many interest- 
 ed in the enterprise, lost money this year. 
 
 Expositions are the indices of the progress of all 
 that is best in civilization. They are growing in 
 popularity, especially in the South and West. The 
 immediate future is rich in promises of great na- 
 tional and international enterprises of this char- 
 acter. This year brings the world's fair at Paris; 
 in 1901, Buffalo will open its gates to the com- 
 mercial, industrial and educational world; in 1902, 
 will occur the Ohio Centennial and Northwest 
 Territory Exposition at Toledo, and in 1903, 
 St. Louis will celebrate the anniversary of the 
 Louisiana purchase. Each of these will doubtless 
 be the wonder of its day, as its builders will have 
 had the benefit of the experience of former build- 
 ers; but never again within the lives of most of 
 them will the people of the West enjoy an oppor- 
 tunity to witness so grand and edifying a spectacle 
 within their doors as the one whose beauties have 
 dissolved forever. Expositions like the one just 
 closed at Omaha are of more educational value than 
 a year's ordinary schooling. 
 
 The main buildings for exhibit purposes, occu- 
 pied over 700,000 square feet, and every foot of it 
 was occupied by varied lines of exhibits of unpre- 
 cedented beauty and richness. The buildings were 
 
224 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 all white, and reminded one of that great " White 
 City " at Chicago seven years ago at the World's 
 Fair. These buildings were all of ornate design, 
 classic architecture and stately proportions, sur- 
 rounding a wide lagoon with picturesque balus- 
 trades and connected by alluring and beautiful col- 
 onnades. In these buildings was to be seen the 
 most interesting, if not the most comprehensive, 
 representation of the products of American inge- 
 nuity and handicraft ever attempted, showing by 
 means of model machinery in actual operation, the 
 processes by which American artisans outstrip the 
 rest of the world in the excellence and abundance 
 of the products of their labor. 
 
 The dominant purpose of the Greater America 
 Exposition project was to bring the American 
 people into actual contact with representative types 
 of the remote, but interesting sea-girt lands known 
 as the Philippine Islands, as well as Cuba, Porto 
 Rico and Hawaii. To this end, there were to be 
 seen at the Omaha Exposition comprehensive ex- 
 hibits of the people's products; the possibilities, 
 habits, customs and industries of the new American 
 dependencies. There were located here in the Mid- 
 way Plaisance, villages of Cubans, Porto Ricans, 
 Hawaiians and Filipinos, assembled in their native 
 habitations, and portraying the routine of domestic, 
 social, industrial and commercial life in their far- 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 225 
 
 away homes. Such an enterprise which was nat- 
 ural in scope and magnitude, was of intense patri- 
 otic interest to all students of national affairs and 
 governmental politics. Although visiting the ex- 
 position during its expiring days, after the frost had 
 touched and withered some of its beautiful floral 
 decorations in the grounds, there was yet remain- 
 ing enough to tell us that the grounds had been dis- 
 tinctly tropical, that throughout more than 200 
 acres enclosed by the exposition fences, there were 
 thousands of luxurious palms, giant cacti, rare 
 tropical flowers, and other treasures of the warmer 
 and more fecund climes. 
 
 The entrance fee was the same as at the World's 
 Fair. The building nearest the entrance and nat- 
 urally the first visited, was the Government Build- 
 ing. This building contained a splendid exhibit. 
 Here were to be seen the entire contents of the fa- 
 mous Libby Prison War Museum, composed of the 
 relics of the wars of this nation, and of great his- 
 toric importance and value. In one part of the 
 building was displayed an immense collection of the 
 relics and trophies of the late war with Spain; the 
 campaign in Cuba and Porto Rico. There were 
 from the Philippine Islands four car-loads of cu- 
 rious and interesting exhibits, relics of Dewey's 
 famous victory, trophies of the war in and about 
 Manila, and interesting objects collected from va- 
 15 
 
226 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 rious parts of the island. In addition to all this, 
 there were regular government exhibits of life-sav- 
 ing apparatus, and the like. Of the many things 
 that attracted our interest, time and space will per- 
 mit us to mention only a few. One of these was a 
 United States flag made of red, white and blue paper 
 roses, by the young ladies of Richmond, Virginia, 
 in 1803. Another was the oldest cannon in Ameri- 
 ca, one of the largest and most celebrated in the 
 Confederate navy. This gun was in service on 
 board the warship " Palmetto Tree " and upon the 
 evacuation of Charleston it was thrown overboard, 
 rather than let it fall into the hands of the Federal 
 forces. It had remained at the bottom of the 
 Charleston harbor from 1865 to 1891. 
 
 Strolling about the Government Building, we 
 were attracted by a crowd standing about a frame. 
 Curious to know what the object of attraction was, 
 we became one of the gathering. Although time 
 was valuable, we waited to get at closer range, and 
 did not regret waiting. The object of interest 
 proved to be a poem written in 1862 by H. Booze, 
 late sergeant of Company E, 44th Indiana Volun- 
 teer Infantry. It was entitled " Old Libby," and 
 was the experience of the writer, who related in 
 verse his horrible suffering in that famous prison. 
 The familiar word " Annapolis " caught our eye in 
 the last stanza, which we give verbatim : 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 227 
 
 "We soon reached the harbor at old Annapolis town, 
 On the shores of our own Maryland, 
 Where they gave us new clothes, and more victuals, all 
 
 free, 
 And a home near their city so grand, 
 
 The change from vile prison to Liberty's home, 
 Was so sudden, so joyous and great, 
 That hell turned to heaven, could only compare 
 With the joys of our blissful estate." 
 
 Here was one poor fellow, at least, who thought 
 Annapolis " so grand," and we congratulated our- 
 selves we hailed from the same town. Who would 
 have ever imagined one would see anything from 
 Annapolis, or about it in the Omaha Exposition! 
 The world is not so large after all. In Denver we 
 saw a pencil-sketch of an Anne Arundel county 
 home, the residence of Col. Boyle, and here we see 
 reference to the good treatment received by a sol- 
 dier in those " times that tried men's souls," while 
 at Annapolis, " on the shores of our own Mary- 
 land." 
 
 There were pictures of scenes in Andersonville 
 Prison, Camp Sumter, Georgia, in 1864, and il- 
 lustrations of how the famous tunnel was dug. We 
 saw the chisel that did the work, and a chain ten 
 and a half feet long whittled from one block of 
 wood by an ex-prisoner of war. A gruesome relic 
 was the photograph of John W. January, of the 
 1 4th Volunteer Cavalry, who, owing to bad treat- 
 ment while a prisoner at Andersonville and Flor- 
 
228 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ence, was reduced to a famished condition. The 
 bones of his feet decayed, and he himself cut them 
 both off. He weighed only 48 pounds when ex- 
 changed. This man is to-day alive and well. He 
 is in business in Chicago, and wears artificial feet. 
 One often hears the extravagant remark, " I would 
 not do such and such a thing to save my life." This 
 man dared to cut off his own feet to save his life. 
 
 Among other interesting exhibits in this build- 
 ing was a printing-press, upon which Owen Love- 
 joy and his brother printed their anti-slavery paper 
 at Alton, Illinois, in 1837. A m b destroyed the 
 office, killed Mr. Lovejoy, and threw his printing- 
 press into the Missouri river. Another exhibit 
 that attracted a great deal of attention was an old- 
 fashioned marble-top table, beside which Gen. 
 Grant and Gen. Lee sat during their interview at 
 Mr. McLean's house at Appomattox Court House, 
 Virginia, April gth, 1865, and upon which the terms 
 of Lee's surrender were written, bringing to a close 
 the greatest civil war known to history. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most interesting modern ex- 
 hibits in the Government Building was Gathmann's 
 modern aerial torpedo, 18 feet long. This weapon 
 is capable of destroying any battleship in existence. 
 No fortification of the present day can withstand 
 one hour's bombardment, as its destructive power, 
 accuracy, aim and range are wonderful. This in- 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 22Q 
 
 vention will bring forth a revolution in warfare. 
 It destroys an ironclad as quickly as a vessel of 
 commerce. Congress has appropriated money to 
 build cannon for firing this torpedo. There are 
 over 100,000 objects of historic interest comprised 
 in America's War Museum in the Government 
 Building, from which a vast amount of instruction 
 was to be acquired. 
 
 Leaving the Government Building, one next 
 finds his way to the Agricultural Building near by. 
 Here, a week could be profitably spent viewing and 
 studying the cereals and all farm-products of these 
 wealthy western States, of which only twenty years 
 ago little or nothing was known; particularly is this 
 true of Nebraska. Twenty years ago, nothing was 
 known of Nebraska's soil and climate, and every 
 act of the new settler in crop-growing was an ex- 
 periment. Twenty years ago, when this country 
 was being settled, Chicago had 400,000 people. 
 To-day, it has over 2,000,000. Omaha had 20,000. 
 To-day, it has 165,000. Minneapolis had 23,000. 
 To-day, it has over 200,000. There are only single 
 instances out of hundreds of similar growths. It is 
 the West Nebraska and Kansas which supplies 
 these and a hundred other large cities with beef, 
 pork, flour, butter, eggs, chickens and fruit. 
 Twenty years ago, the East supplied all the fine 
 grades of butter and cheese. It was supposed the 
 
230 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 West never would be able to produce choice but- 
 ter and cheese. To-day, the Dakotas, Nebraska 
 and Kansas rank among the first, and lead the east- 
 ern States in quality and flavor. The development 
 of the dairy-industry is astonishing. The average 
 Nebraska creamery can ship butter to New York 
 or Boston at a cost of less than three-fourths of a 
 cent a pound above the price paid by New York 
 and Vermont dairymen. That condition, together 
 with a cheap feed, gives it a complete monopoly of 
 the dairy-industry as of beef and pork. Twenty 
 years ago, it was believed that trees or fruit would 
 never grow here. To-day, there are many thrifty 
 orchards in bearing condition as far west as the 
 Colorado line. Twenty years ago, alfalfa was un- 
 known. To-day, after learning all the peculiarities 
 of this wonderful plant, the farmers of western Ne- 
 braska find themselves able, by its use, to raise 
 hogs and fit them for the market at a cost of less 
 than one cent a pound. 
 
 Twenty years ago, the farmers of Nebraska were 
 obliged to ship all their cattle and hogs to Chicago. 
 To-day, the second and third largest stock-yards 
 and packing centres in the world are Kansas City 
 and Omaha, making the very best of markets with- 
 in a few hours' ride of the farmer's door. 
 
 Twenty years ago, this section had practically no 
 home-market. To-day, there are in Colorado, 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 23! 
 
 Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, manufacturing indus- 
 tries that employ over 150,000 hands, whose an- 
 nual earnings aggregate $74,235,565. Twenty 
 years ago, this was a new country with old and un- 
 profitable methods and ideas. To-day, it is an 
 older country with new and profitable methods and 
 ideas. 
 
 So much for Nebraska and the strides it has 
 made in a single decade. The first exhibit that at- 
 tracted our attention was that of Dawson county, 
 this State. Dawson county, only fifteen years ago, 
 contained nothing but buffaloes and Indians; to-day 
 it has 29,000 acres under irrigation. The farmer 
 pays a perpetual water-right of 50 cents an acre for 
 irrigation. In 1898, Dawson county produced 
 150,000 bushels of wheat, 200,000 bushels of corn, 
 950,000 bushels of oats, 600,000 bushels of barley, 
 400,000 bushels of rye and 25,000 acres of alfalfa. 
 The exhibit of this county was very artistic. 
 Among the handsome decorations was a face, en- 
 tirely of cereals, and made of hog millet, silks of 
 corn, milomace and other grain. 
 
 Polk county, Iowa, had a handsome display, 
 in which was a large American Eagle and a 
 handsome United States flag, made entirely of 
 corn, the work of a young man of skill and inge- 
 nuity. The " Burlington Route " exhibit was 
 unique. Here was a table spread for Thanksgiving 
 
232 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 dinner, on which were the products of the State. 
 The cloth was made of plaited corn-husks, of a 
 creamy sheen, with red border. The father, moth- 
 er, two sons and a daughter were seated about the 
 table. Their faces were of putty, their hair of corn- 
 silk, their teeth of grains of corn and their clothing 
 of corn-husks and corn-silk. No two were dress- 
 ed alike, and their appearance was as neat and ar- 
 tistic as it was novel. Above their heads was 
 " Happiness," and on a card suspended from the 
 table was : " Mother, ain't you glad you came to 
 Nebraska?" 
 
 This is the question the husband asks the wife at 
 each Thanksgiving dinner, for these figures of this 
 family-group surrounding this well-filled table rep- 
 resent people living in Nebraska along the Bur- 
 lington Route to-day, the road that holds the 
 world's record for " 1,025 miles in 1,047 minutes." 
 The legend of this family-group is as follows : In 
 1868, the son of an Illinois farmer, acting upon the 
 advice of Greely, goes West to grow up with the 
 country. With a yoke of oxen and a good prairie- 
 schooner, he starts out, and after four or five weeks' 
 travel at fifteen miles a day, reaches the great 
 "American Desert," somewhat on the divide be- 
 tween the Republican and Platte rivers, 100 to 150 
 miles west of the Missouri river. He finds an en- 
 tirely undeveloped country, but recognizes in its 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 233 
 
 magnificent soil, salubrious climate and pure water, 
 in never-failing supply, three all-important factors 
 for future prosperity and happiness. 
 
 He applies to Uncle Sam for 160 acres of this 
 vast domain. Uncle Sam gives it to him with 
 pleasure on payment of a small fee. He builds 
 himself a sod-house, digs a well, and while his 
 neighbors (few and far between) break up only 30 
 or 40 acres with one yoke of oxen, he at once gets 
 to work with two yokes, and, with a 1 6-inch break- 
 ing plow, breaks up 60 acres the first season. He 
 is not going to spend half of his valuable time cook- 
 ing and washing dishes, so he gets himself an in- 
 dustrious little wife to attend to these things. These 
 two young people of industry and good sense, live 
 30 years together, raising three children two sons 
 and one daughter healthy and intelligent natives 
 of the " Tree-Planters' State." To-day, the farmer 
 is 53 years old, has a good house, barn, windmill 
 and tank, a fine lawn, plenty of shade-trees, thor- 
 oughbred Herefords and fine horses. 
 
 His children are well educated, and his fine farm 
 of 800 acres is well stocked. He is one of the 
 wealthiest farmers in Nebraska, and to this end evi- 
 dently followed the Biblical injunction, one of the 
 mottoes on the Agricultural Building: "Honour 
 the Lord with thy substance, and the first fruits of 
 thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with 
 plenty, and thy presses burst out with new wine." 
 
234 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 Linn county, Kansas, also had a fine exhibit. 
 Here was a church made entirely of wild grass, and 
 here was Kansas pop-corn n feet from the roots, 
 15 feet in all. Here, we also saw a huge heart 
 made of corn, and what more appropriate emblem 
 could there be, for is not corn the life-blood of our 
 nation? " Bleeding Kansas " was indeed well rep- 
 resented in these exhibits. 
 
 The handsomest exhibit in the Agricultural 
 Building was that of Douglas county, which won 
 the first prize. This exhibit was a marvel of art. 
 In Douglas county, " corn is on top/' and to em- 
 phasize this, a huge top was made entirely of corn. 
 In this county, there are 217,074 acres of land, of 
 which 74,000 acres are in corn. Eighty-five per 
 cent of the seed of the whole United States is grown 
 in this county. In this exhibit we saw the Douglas 
 county court-house made entirely of seed lettuce, 
 onion and tobacco seed. It was indeed a marvel 
 of art. There were ears of corn in this exhibit 14 
 inches long, not one ear, but dozens and dozens of 
 this length, with the corn in most perfect rows, not 
 one grain " out of line " with its fellows. There 
 was also a new species of beet, the mangel-wurzel 
 variety, on which cattle are fed. Douglas county, 
 Nebraska, has 27 distinct varieties of pop-corn. 
 We saw an ear of corn that weighed 2 pounds and 
 i ounce. The columns supporting this exhibit 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 235 
 
 were all made of the agricultural products of the 
 county. 
 
 There was a watermelon here that weighed 86 
 pounds, a squash weighing 157 pounds, and corn 
 so high that it would take a man on a step-ladder 
 to husk it. There were radishes 12 inches long, 
 and watermelons grown in winter, as well as 
 those grown in summer, and fruits of all sorts 
 and varieties. Indeed, it is a question what 
 Douglas county, Nebraska, does not produce. A 
 great attraction of this exhibit was the battleship 
 " Maine," made of corn, on the deck of which a 
 good view of the booth could be had. 
 
 Lancaster county, in which Lincoln, the State's 
 capital, is situated, had a fine display. In this 
 county, the general agricultural experimental sta- 
 tion is located. Lincoln has the only sugar-beet 
 school in America. Here, the farmer's boy, during 
 the winter months, may be taught scientific farm- 
 ing, dairying, and given lessons on the good and 
 bad qualities of stock and poultry. These are ob- 
 ject-lessons; the animals are brought before the 
 class and the lessons taught in this manner. If 
 there is any school in the East or South where farm- 
 ers' boys are instructed, during the winter months 
 of idleness on the farm, in scientific farming, and 
 the like, we shall be glad to be informed of the fact, 
 for to our knowledge the idea is exclusively west- 
 ern. 
 
236 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 From one of these farmer-boys' schools, we saw 
 a beet which had been analyzed and the analysis of 
 which showed eighteen and two-tenths per cent 
 sugar. The clay of this county does not change 
 color after bricks are made and burned. Agricul- 
 tural implements were also displayed in this build- 
 ing, many of them of modern invention and im- 
 provement. Among these was a corn-planter of 
 recent invention, that will plant 20 acres of corn a 
 day. 
 
 The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building was 
 filled with a bewildering display. Here, machin- 
 ery was in operation. One could see silk-weaving 
 from the beginning of the raw silk to the cloth; the 
 manufacture of hats, from the raw material to the 
 finished article, in short, a hundred different ar- 
 ticles of commerce were being made here at the 
 same time and under the same roof. In the Elec- 
 trical Building was to be seen all the latest and 
 most interesting electrical apparatus and appli- 
 ances; dynamos, telephone exchanges, exhibitions 
 of lighting, heating and cooking. In brief, scores 
 of interesting and curious things, such as can only 
 be found in a display of this kind, and which must 
 be seen to be appreciated. 
 
 The colonial exhibit consisted of many interest- 
 ing articles of commerce, industry and manufac- 
 ture from foreign possessions; implements of agri- 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 237 
 
 culture, vehicles, plants, ornaments, products and 
 fruits, and many interesting things from Cuba, Por- 
 to Rico and the far-off Philippines. The Art Mu- 
 seum at the Exposition contained over a thousand 
 of the rarest works of brush and pencil from the 
 collection of connoisseurs of wealthier cities. Here 
 were costly bric-a-brac, elegant statuary, display of 
 ceramics, all arranged amid the most artistic fur- 
 nishings and brilliant coloring. Some one has said, 
 an exhibition may largely be judged from its art 
 exhibit, that this is the key-note by which an idea 
 may be formed of the magnitude and importance 
 of the entire exhibition. If this be true, Omaha's 
 Greater America Exposition was indeed a success. 
 The walls of the Fine Arts building were covered 
 with magnificent collections of paintings repre- 
 senting every school of art, ancient and modern, 
 and divided into sections of oil, water-color, pastel 
 and pen-and-ink sketches. One of the noted col- 
 lections was the Elegantarium Collection of an- 
 tique art gathered from the old French Creole fam- 
 ilies of the South. 
 
 The Chicago Record's collection of 200 sketches 
 of the war scenes in Cuba, Porto Rico and the 
 Philippines, and the collection of Indian pictures 
 loaned by Mr. Ernesti, of Denver, are deserving of 
 special mention. To Col. John R. Key, art di- 
 rector, much credit is due for the magnificent col- 
 
238 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 lection and its pleasing arrangement. Col. Key is 
 a Marylander, a cousin to Francis Scott Key, of 
 "Star Spangled Banner" fame, and has a number of 
 relatives residing in Annapolis. He is an affable 
 and genial gentleman, much traveled and highly 
 cultured, and an artist of merit. Several of his 
 paintings were on exhibition here. Among these 
 were paintings of the World's Fair; one being the 
 " Court of Honor/' a handsome painting full of 
 light and color. Col. Key does not consider that 
 the art exhibit has been a success, financially. Of 
 the many pictures in the art exhibit that struck our 
 fancy we shall only mention two, " The Trackless 
 Ocean " and " Be Mine." " The Trackless Ocean " 
 is a magnificent painting by Warren Shepherd. It 
 took the gold medal at the art exhibition in Den- 
 ver in 1884. In this painting, nothing is visible 
 but the trackless waste of waters and the heavens. 
 The moonlight glistens with startling effect upon 
 the waves, and light and shade are harmoniously 
 blended. The coloring of the blue-green ocean is 
 true to nature. The picture has been much ad- 
 mired. 
 
 " Be Mine " appeals to one at sight. This paint- 
 ing represents two bootblacks on either side of a 
 dog with an intelligent face. Each boy is using all 
 of his persuasive power on the dog to induce him 
 to become his own particular property. The art 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 239 
 
 exhibition must be exceptionally fine, since a 
 gentleman from Berlin, much traveled, said there 
 was the greatest number of art gems here that he 
 had seen in any collection. 
 
 In the liberal arts exhibit were two vases val- 
 ued at $5,000 each. They represent " Liberty " 
 and " Progress," and have been previously exhib- 
 ited at Vienna, Paris, London, Berlin, Chicago and 
 New York. One vase represents the taking of the 
 Bastile in 1789, the other, "Progress," represents 
 from the discovery of America by Columbus, to 
 Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. 
 
 The Hawaiian School exhibits were particularly 
 interesting. The Pohukaiwa School at Honolulu, 
 Hawaiian Islands, had specimens in drawing, 
 patching, composition and solutions in arithmetic 
 worthy of any of our schools in these parts. 
 
 The Horticultural Building was a gem. At night 
 the approach was through a fairy-like lawn where, 
 hidden among the shrubbery, were hundreds of 
 multi-colored incandescent lights. 
 
 Entertainments were daily features at the exposi- 
 tion. There were, during our visit, exhibitions of 
 high diving by the world's champion divers, who 
 leaped from an elevation of 60 feet to the lagoon 
 beneath. The " Olympia," with " Admiral Dewey " 
 aboard, crossed the lagoon amid the explosion of 
 numerous sub-marine mines. There was a " burial 
 
24O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 at sea," when Madame Johnson, tied hand and foot, 
 was sewn in a sack, weighted and cast into the lake, 
 and cutting herself loose, emerged after remaining 
 beneath the water two minutes and a quarter. 
 
 There was a sham battle of Indians, and a band 
 concert at night, in the concert hall, by a Cincin- 
 nati orchestra of 47 pieces. The grounds by day 
 were as beautiful as a poet's dream, but by night 
 they were a dream of loveliness. Their electric 
 effulgence obscured the splendor of the heavens. 
 The moon paled, the stars waned before the flash 
 and gleam of over 45,000 electric lights, which 
 flashed and gleamed in symmetrical lines of daz- 
 zling light along the outlines of the buildings and 
 the majestic columns of the colonnade. This 
 splendid illumination was one of the crowning feat- 
 ures of the exposition. 
 
 The display was most effectively arranged. The 
 exposition which had been seen by day was grand 
 and beautiful, but when night spread its sable 
 wings, a fairy scene sprang into existence each 
 outline defined, each tower and minaret clearly cut 
 and brilliant with myriads of electric lights 
 flashing like stars of ever-changing, shimmer- 
 ing brilliancy. The illumination of the Court 
 of Honor is beyond description. Lights flashed 
 from cornice and arch, from balustrade to lofty 
 spire, from pillared colonnade to gilded dome, rear- 
 
THE OMAHA EXPOSITION. 24! 
 
 ed aloft on the Government Building. The elec- 
 tric fountain, at the western end of the lagoon, was 
 a veritable rainbow of changing lights; now, clear- 
 est white like showers of diamonds, now, shell rose 
 to softest green, and then, from sprays and showers 
 of crimson to all the colors of the rainbow mingled, 
 shifting, changing, a dream of fleeting beauty. 
 
 Around the Court of Honor, gardens of tropical 
 plants bloomed by day, and blossomed in yet more 
 brilliant hues by night. Three thousand lights 
 clustered and colored to represent full-blown flow- 
 ers, lighted the foliage, and gave the effect of fairy 
 gardens. Concealed lights threw into bold relief 
 each group of statuary upon the buildings. The 
 effect was marvelous. Those who are qualified to 
 judge, pronounce the electrical illumination at 
 the Omaha Exposition to have been the most mag- 
 nificent ever arranged far surpassing the brilliant 
 illumination at the World's Fair. There, a great 
 many more lights were used, but they were more 
 scattered; here, the grouping and designs followed 
 out, contributed largely to the beauty of the scene. 
 The Greater America Exposition was a credit to 
 Omaha, and the State of Nebraska, and indeed, to 
 the whole United States. 
 
 It has passed into history, reflecting the stirring 
 events of America during the closing two 
 years of the nineteenth century. It will, probably, 
 16 
 
242 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 not only be the last great educational enterprise of 
 the century, but the most unique. It had a theme 
 and a purpose distinctly its own. It was a worthy 
 enterprise of a worthy town. The Chicago Wreck- 
 ing Company purchased the buildings for $50,000. 
 The Omaha Exposition was built and conducted 
 without asking a dollar of contribution from na- 
 tional, State, county or city treasuries, but it en- 
 joyed the voluntary support and aid of the heads 
 of the departments of the national government in 
 the acquisition of war exhibits and those from the 
 insular dependencies. The Omaha Exposition is 
 a thing of the past, its countless beauties have dis- 
 solved forever, and there is something pathetic in 
 the fact that the last great educational and amuse- 
 ment enterprise of the century has passed into his- 
 tory. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 INCIDENTS ON THE CHICAGO AND NORTH- 
 WESTERN RAILROAD RIDING 
 
 IN A MAIL-CAR. 
 
 Leaving Omaha for Chicago over the Chicago 
 and North-Western Railroad on the homeward 
 trip, to one who has been at all observant, the scen- 
 ery along the road has grown familiar, and special 
 points of interest are again looked out for. Among 
 these is Kate Shelly's old home, and the new one 
 too, the gift of the Chicago News. 
 
 Both houses stand side by side, and on the morn- 
 ing of our return trip, Kate and her mother were 
 on the veranda, waving to the train as it spun past 
 their home. The reader will recall the brief men- 
 tion made in a previous chapter of Kate Shelly's 
 bridge. Kate is a plain, everyday, ordinary woman, 
 now 34 years old, of little education but a great 
 deal of pluck and heroism, and who lives in Iowa, 
 along the Chicago and North- Western Railroad 
 between Boone's and Ames, in that state. 
 
 Some years ago, she swam the Des Moines river 
 
244 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 at night, and signaled an approaching passenger- 
 train about to cross a bridge which had become 
 weakened by the heavy rains, and which had given 
 way under a freight-train. She thus saved many 
 lives. For this heroic act the Chicago and North- 
 Western Railroad gave her $5,000 and an annual 
 pass over their road, also a gold medal with their 
 stamp studded with diamonds. 
 
 The Chicago and North- Western is the only road 
 that has a double track from Council Bluffs to Chi- 
 cago. The new road-bed is not quite finished, and 
 when completed will be one of the finest roads in 
 the West. Passing along the road, one has a good 
 view of the Indian Reservation in Iowa. In early 
 summer, on the outbound trip, we saw these In- 
 dians scattered about near the railroad; now it has 
 grown colder, and they have moved their camp 
 farther away upon the hills, into the shelter of the 
 woods. On this occasion, a number of them were 
 in their cemetery, burying one of their dead. They 
 wore their characteristic dress, and were wrapped 
 with beautiful red and Roman-striped blankets. 
 The graves are queer looking objects, and have 
 board coverings. The Indians on this reservation 
 are said to be a bad set, and the white man is shy 
 of them. 
 
 Farther on, the Chicago and North- Western 
 tracks cross a handsome steel bridge over the Miss- 
 
IOWA RIVER, NEAR TAMA, IOWA. 
 
FROM OMAHA TO CHICAGO. 245 
 
 issippi. Here, one sees the two States, Iowa and 
 Illinois, together. 
 
 Several large saw-mills are located on the Iowa 
 side of the river, and rafts of logs are seen floating 
 down the great Mississippi. The Mississippi Val- 
 ley Stove Company has a large manufactory on the 
 Illinois side, and does an extensive business. The 
 day's ride from Omaha to Chicago is long and te- 
 dious to one who attempts to sit still, but to the 
 human interrogation-point, which numbers the 
 writer among its class, the fourteen hours' ride can 
 be made very pleasant. 
 
 We visited the baggage-car, and although this 
 was one of the " dull days," the baggage-master 
 told us that in 1 6 years of his experience in this ca- 
 pacity on the Chicago and North- Western road he 
 had not known a busier season than the past sum- 
 mer. He also said that in those 16 years there had 
 not been a single accident. Visiting the mail-car 
 is a privilege accorded but a chosen few, and can 
 only be obtained by special permission. To one 
 who has never visited a mail-car or ridden in one, 
 the sight and experience is a revelation. This car 
 is a regular postoffice on wheels. 
 
 Here, the railway postal clerk and his four as- 
 sistants, assort and distribute the mail from pouches 
 put on at the various stations, placing the mail 
 matter in pigeon holes the same as at the post- 
 
246 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 office. The West-bound mail is always twice as 
 heavy as the East-bound. The mail for New Eng- 
 land and New York city is heavier than all other 
 East-bound mail. A great deal of foreign mail 
 passes through the mail-car, and much registered 
 matter. If one doubts to what extent our business 
 houses do business with foreign countries, he has 
 but to see the letters a single business house sends 
 to France, Austria, Arabia, Porto Rico, New South 
 Wales and other foreign countries. 
 
 A mail-car usually handles 15 tons of mail each 
 trip. The mail-pouches are sacks weighing from 
 200 to 400 pounds each. The mail is always heav- 
 ier at the first of the week. The letter-mail is al- 
 ways heavier on Monday, probably because Sunday 
 is the popular letter-writing day. The paper-mail 
 is heavier at the last of the week because of the 
 weeklies. The railway postal clerk and his helpers 
 have no easy job. Recently, on a Chicago and 
 North- Western mail-train, three men handled 800 
 packages and 33,000 letters on one trip, working, 
 however, 1 5 hours a long day's work. Each man 
 is responsible for his own work, and is required 
 to leave the mail-car in perfect order. Each man's 
 work is labeled with name, day and date, and all 
 errors are charged up against him. 
 
 Annapolis is a place of no little importance, after 
 all. One sees something about, or from it or on 
 
NEAR LOVELAND, IOWA. 
 
 GLEN ELLYN. ILLINOIS. 
 
FROM OMAHA TO CHICAGO. 247 
 
 the way to the historic town by the Severn, every- 
 where one goes, even in a railway-car; for here, in 
 a railway postal car, we saw a letter on its way to 
 Annapolis to a cadet at the Naval Academy. For 
 fear this one little letter might be lonely on its long 
 journey to the town " Richard Carvel " has again 
 made famous, we sent another along with it to bear 
 it company. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CHICAGO, SKY-SCRAPERS THE CITY HAS A RIVAL 
 
 RELICS OF WITHERED GLORY THE WORLD'S 
 
 FAIR GROUNDS THE NEW 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 So many have been to Chicago, and have seen 
 its massive " sky-scrapers " and public buildings, 
 that we shall not attempt to describe it, but only 
 mention a few facts that, perhaps, everybody 
 doesn't know. 
 
 Chicago long since has had many imitators of 
 these multi-storied buildings, and although one of 
 these is 23 stories high, New York " goes her three 
 better," and has a building of 26 stories. Chicago 
 can no longer include among the things for which 
 she is famous "the highest buildings in the 
 country." 
 
 Once in Chicago, one naturally desires to visit 
 the World's Fair grounds, and recall the experience 
 of seven years ago. The grounds are scarcely rec- 
 ognizable, and save for the reminders of its with- 
 ered glory, it is hard to believe that such beauties, 
 of a few years ago which have dissolved into noth- 
 
CHICAGO SKY-SCRAPERS. 249 
 
 ingness, ever existed. The park, where once these 
 magnificent palaces of art stood, is visited daily by 
 hundreds of people, and on Sunday by thousands. 
 
 The lagoon, or one of them, still nestles on its 
 bosom the " Nina," " Pinta " and " Santa Maria "; 
 Columbus' three ships reproduced. They have re- 
 cently had a dress of paint, and look quite fresh for 
 such ancient models of navigation of the fifteenth 
 century. Then, there is the Iowa State Building 
 standing, at least its exterior, for it has been con- 
 verted into a resting place for weary travelers, and 
 seats are provided here. 
 
 The German Building is intact along the Lake 
 shore, and is the only one of the foreign buildings 
 remaining in the grounds. Here, lunch is served, 
 and it is a kind of restaurant. It is difficult some- 
 times to come down to things of earth, and to real- 
 ize that in the building where we once saw the 
 Oberamergau clock in operation and the beautiful 
 stained-glass windows, statuary, and the like, that 
 such a mundane thing as appetite is catered to. 
 
 The Palace of Fine Arts still remains, but oh, in 
 such a dilapidated condition! It is dark with 
 smoke and weather, all of its entrances have gone 
 but one, its columns are crumbling, and its statuary 
 ornamenting the exterior is a sorry sight. Indeed, 
 it has not only seen better days, but it has seen its 
 best days. One forgets the exterior when he en- 
 
250 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 ters, and again sees the relics of Columbus, pictures 
 of all descriptions, ethnological departments of all 
 countries, zoological exhibits and many things we 
 saw seven years ago. Guards are stationed here 
 now, just as they were then. 
 
 Many of the large pieces of statuary the owners 
 did not care to move, are still in the Fine Arts 
 Building, the only one of all the " White City " that 
 remains to tell of its existence and recall this most 
 wonderful, and educational enterprise of this coun- 
 try in honor of its discovery and its discoverer. 
 The Larabede Monastery, built after the style of 
 the one in which Columbus left his little boy while 
 he made his cruise, is still standing on the Lake 
 side. In summer it is used as a sanitarium, and in- 
 valids board here to get the Lake breeze and sun- 
 shine. 
 
 Chicago's new library is a magnificent granite 
 building which occupies a block. Its interior 
 decoration passes description, and some who have 
 seen both, say it compares favorably with the in- 
 terior of parts of the great Congressional library at 
 Washington. The interior of Chicago's Public Li- 
 brary is of white marble, spotlessly clean, and one 
 marvels that it can be kept so in dirty Chicago. It 
 is ornamented with mosaic work in green and pearl 
 and glistens in the sunlight and under the efful- 
 gence of the numerous incandescent lights, like 
 diamonds and precious stones. 
 
CHICAGO SKY-SCRAPERS. 251 
 
 The effect is most beautiful. At the entrance, 
 in front of the broad stairway, are two arches of 
 marble, one higher than the other. On the outer 
 arch are names of ancient poets and writers of 
 Greece and Rome; among them Plato, Horace, Vir- 
 gil, Homer and Livy. On the inner arch are modern 
 poets and writers Longfellow, Whittier, Byron, 
 Irving, Shakespeare and others. Various appro- 
 priate quotations adorn the niches. One of these 
 from Milton is : "A good book is the precious 
 life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treas- 
 ured up on purpose to a life beyond." One from 
 Bacon says: "The real use of all knowledge is 
 this, That we should dedicate that reason which was 
 given us by God, for the use and advantage of 
 man." 
 
 Another from Isaac Barrow says : " He that 
 loveth a book will never want a faithful friend; a 
 wholesome counsellor; a cheerful companion; an 
 effectual comforter," and a quotation on the walls, 
 from Victor Hugo, says : " A library implies an 
 act of faith which generations still in darkness hid, 
 sign in their night, in witness of the dawn." In all 
 the lettering, the old-fashioned way of using the v 
 for u is adopted, and which, until one grows accus- 
 tomed to, makes it difficult to read easily. In the 
 Chicago Public Library there are 25,000 volumes. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MILWAUKEE, THE CITY OF BREWERIES CHICAGO'S 
 
 SABBATH BREAKING THE ZOO BUILDINGS 
 
 MOVED FROM PLACE TO PLACE. 
 
 A popular trip out of Chicago is the two-hours* 
 run on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail- 
 road to Milwaukee. The ride is through a beau- 
 tiful section of the country, well built up, and with 
 lovely Lake Michigan in view nearly all the way, 
 the road running parallel with the Lake, the deep 
 bluish-green waters and choppy white-caps of 
 which remind one of the grand old ocean. The 
 towns en route have Indian names, such as Wah- 
 kegan, Racine, Kenosha and others of like sound. 
 
 Milwaukee is a city of 280,000 inhabitants. It is 
 not unlike Baltimore in appearance. Its City Hall 
 is an odd-looking, brown-stone building with a 
 high tower, occupying a triangular space in the 
 centre of the town. It reminds one of the No. 9 
 Engine House in Baltimore. The Milwaukee post- 
 office is a handsome granite building of recent con- 
 struction, and worthy a city of much larger size. 
 There are numerous hotels here handsome in con- 
 
MILWAUKEE'S BREWERIES. 253 
 
 struction and elegantly furnished, the Pfeister be- 
 ing the most " swell " and expensive. The stores 
 are very fine and a great deal of business is done 
 here. Milwaukee is quite a thrifty town. It is 
 largely a German town which is indicated by the 
 large number of brewers and breweries. Milwau- 
 kee is noted chiefly for its manufacture of beer, and 
 the large "Allis" manufactory and steel and iron 
 works. 
 
 Few people know that the site of Chicago was 
 bought from the Indians for less than the price of a 
 high-grade bicycle. Chicago is a city of 2,000,000 
 inhabitants and one of the most progressive cities 
 in the world, although one of the most stupen- 
 dously wicked. The Chicago zoological gardens 
 are said to have no equal in the country. Every 
 creeping and walking thing upon the earth is to 
 be found here. It has a larger and finer collec- 
 tion of animals than Central Park, New York; 
 Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and City Park, 
 Denver, or any other zoo in this country. 
 
 In Chicago, some theatres are used for church 
 service on Sunday morning, and for a vaudeville 
 Sunday night. There is no more regard for the 
 Sabbath day in Chicago by the masses, than in 
 the most benighted regions of earth, where the 
 Christian religion has never penetrated. It is not 
 an uncommon thing to see people moving on Sun- 
 
254 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 day in Chicago, and large furniture vans, loaded 
 with household furniture, being driven along the 
 streets. Stores are in full blast here on Sunday, 
 and one can purchase anything he wants from a 
 shoe-string to a brick-house. It is nothing to see 
 painters at work painting buildings or decorating 
 signs on Sunday, and we even saw a gang of men 
 at work macadamizing a street on the Sabbath. 
 Nobody seems to think anything of it, and if one 
 is inclined to remark that there was such a law 
 given to Moses on Mount Sinai about remember- 
 ing the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, one is consid- 
 ered a fossil, or a crank. 
 
 This is the only city in the world where a build- 
 ing was begun at the top and finished on the 
 ground floor. It is a 1 7-story building, and it 
 happened in this way : The contractors had erect- 
 ed the iron and steel skeleton for the building, but 
 the stone for the lower stories was late in coming, 
 having been purchased from another State. The 
 building under contract was to be completed in a 
 certain time, so the contractors, nothing daunted 
 (for Chicago people dare to do anything), went to 
 work on the upper stories. Here, 17 stories up in 
 the air, they laid the masonry, hung frame for win- 
 dows, and came down story by story. When they 
 reached the lower part of the work on the building, 
 their material for it had arrived. Even Chicago- 
 
CHICAGO'S BUILDINGS. 255 
 
 ans, to whom nothing is novel, really gazed amazed 
 at this building begun at the top and built down- 
 ward. 
 
 One of the novel sights in Chicago is to see three 
 different lines of transportation, one above the 
 other. This is to be seen in two different places in 
 the city. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 
 Railroad has tracks running north and south 
 through some of the streets. Just above these 
 tracks, the city's trolley-cars run at the bed of the 
 street, east and west, and just above the trolley- 
 cars is the Lake street elevated making three dif- 
 ferent lines of transportation, one above the other. 
 
 Lake Michigan is about 350 miles long and 86 
 miles across from Chicago. In summer, handsome 
 steamers make excursions on the Lake to various 
 points. On some of these excursions, one is out of 
 sight of land from two to three hours. 
 
 Chicago has all sorts of weather; the most unex- 
 pected happens here. On November 2nd there 
 was a snow storm in Chicago; and on November 
 1 3th a regular thunder storm, characteristic of 
 July or August, prevailed. 3*Dcroft Library 
 
 Moving buildings in Chicago is a common, 
 every-day occurrence. Some time ago, a six-story 
 building was lifted from the ground and two stories 
 put under it. The reason for not building on the 
 top story was, the lower walls would not have been 
 
256 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 strong enough to sustain the weight of the extra 
 two stories. A big apartment building was re- 
 cently moved intact from I2th to I3th street to 
 make room for the viaduct. The firm of Carson, 
 Perry and Scott never suspended business a day 
 while 17 stories were built above their establish- 
 ment. Some time since, a Chicago gentleman 
 went to Europe. The house he owned in Chicago, 
 was, on his return, nowhere to be found. During 
 his absence, some one had lifted his house and 
 moved it to this day he knows not where. Al- 
 though he employed the detective force and the 
 police of the city to locate it, he has been unsuccess- 
 ful. Moving buildings is such a common sight in 
 Chicago, that no one thought anything of it when 
 this particular house was moved. It is dangerous 
 for one to go abroad and leave his house in Chi- 
 cago, unless it be guarded, as it may walk off be- 
 fore his return. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 POLICE, ALL FOREIGNERS FINE STORES THE 
 
 ROOKERY BUILDING MOVING DAY A 
 
 CITY OF MAGNIFICENT DISTANCES. 
 
 Home, Sweet Home. 
 
 Although Chicago is a progressive city, it is still 
 primitive in its "wild and woolly" western acts 
 of " hold up." During a three weeks' stay in this 
 citv there has not been a single day in which the 
 daily papers have failed to record not one " hold 
 up," but several; some of them at noon-day, and in 
 prominent streets. 
 
 This is enough to give any city a black eye, fig- 
 uratively speaking, but it does not seem to inter- 
 fere with Chicago's regular routine, or prevent 
 people coming here. The Chicago police are all 
 foreigners, and the majority of them are Swedes. 
 If you ask a Chicago policeman a question, unless 
 you are a linguist and familiar with all the foreign 
 tongues, you will not have the faintest idea of his 
 answer, for it will be anything but English. We 
 asked two to direct us to the Haymarket statue, 
 and we are still puzzling our brain to know what 
 17 
 
258 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 they said in reply, but it sounded much like the 
 language the Hawaiian villagers used at the Oma- 
 ha Exposition. However, to us it was Hebrew. 
 It is said the police force of Chicago are a poor lot, 
 and certainly from the daily hold-ups there, the 
 sand-bagging and the little protection offered pe- 
 destrians after dark, and sometimes even at noon- 
 day, there is something lacking in this branch of the 
 municipal government. 
 
 Perhaps the statue at Haymarket Square, the 
 scene of the anarchists' riot and murder of several 
 police a few years ago, has had some little effect on 
 the element in that locality. The statue is an im- 
 posing one of an officer of the law, who, with up- 
 lifted hand, says in the inscription beneath : " In 
 the name of the people of the State of Illinois, I 
 command peace/' Just where the statue stands, 
 the police were murdered by anarchists during the 
 Haymarket riot. 
 
 Chicago is said to be the only city in the world 
 that has a store that for many years has not closed 
 its doors, night or day, for 365 days in every year. 
 This is a prominent cigar store, and has a night 
 force as well as a day force of clerks. At night, 
 they sell cigars and tobacco to those returning from 
 the theatres; after this, to the newspaper force as 
 they wend their way homeward in the early morn- 
 ing hours; by this time, workmen are on their way 
 
THE ROOKERY BUILDING. 259 
 
 to their daily labors and stop in for their tobacco, 
 and so there is no time to close the doors of this 
 popular cigar store, night or day. 
 
 The Rookery Building has a population of 
 4,000 doing business under one roof. Think of it ! 
 Half the population of Annapolis working daily in 
 one building. 
 
 Something new in the way of desert here is a pie 
 a la mode. This is apple pie served with ice-cream. 
 Try it! It is delicious. Another popular way of 
 serving ice-cream in the West is in the halves of 
 canteloupes. If the canteloupes are " Rocky 
 Fords," as those one gets in Colorado, the combi- 
 nation is very fine, for there are no canteloupes 
 grown anywhere like the " Rocky Fords." 
 
 Chicago has a regular moving day, or rather two 
 of them, and these are school holidays. Evidently 
 the children are important factors in the moving 
 scheme. All leases date from May ist to May ist 
 of the succeeding year, and this is " moving day." 
 No matter at what time you rent a house or flat in 
 Chicago, your claim to that house expires with the 
 following first day of May, and must then be re- 
 newed if you intend to remain. 
 
 There are no stores in any city, not even ex- 
 cepting New York, to equal the immense estab- 
 lishments in Chicago. Many of them employ 
 thousands of clerks and occupy several acres. In 
 
2<5O WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 one of the stores here, one can buy all the way from 
 a box of bird-food to a ton of coal, or from a cradle 
 to a coffin. In this same store there are : a notary 
 public, two telegraph offices, and a bank. One can 
 get married in this store if he so desires, as the 
 magistrate is always on hand. Every thing can 
 be procured here but a death certificate. 
 
 No city in the world pays more attention to win- 
 dow-decoration than Chicago. At Christmas, 
 whole plays are enacted in some of the store-win- 
 dows. The larger stores, occupying several blocks, 
 have daily displays of the complete furnishings of 
 every room in a house, and these window-decora- 
 tions are shown in the most artistic fashion. 
 
 Chicago is a city of such magnificent distances 
 that sometimes to call on one's friend who lives on 
 the West Side when one lives on the North Side, 
 he has to travel 30 miles farther than from An- 
 napolis to Baltimore, yet in the same city. Some 
 of the elevated roads have stations at the upper 
 floors to the entrance of several popular stores. In 
 this way one can take the elevated, do all the shop- 
 ping one wants, and not be on the street or from 
 under cover from start to finish. 
 
 Bootblacks do a thriving business in Chicago, for 
 it is one of the dirtiest, muddiest cities on the con- 
 tinent; and such black mud, too ! The Windy City 
 seems to have been built on a marsh, and some one 
 
OUR JOURNEY'S END. 261 
 
 has said that some day it will be wiped off the map, 
 either by being swallowed up in the Lake, or sink- 
 ing in its own mud-puddle. To build in Chicago, 
 it is necessary to dig down from 8 to 10 feet, lay 
 piles (as though for a bridge), and literally anchor 
 the foundation for the building before erecting the 
 steel skeleton on which to hang it. 
 
 Chicago is indeed a wonderful city, and it would 
 be futile to even attempt to describe it. We have, 
 therefore, only mentioned a few of its features 
 which, perhaps, are not generally known. 
 
 And now we bring descriptions of our " Western 
 Wanderings " to a close, trusting they have been 
 of some interest, and possibly of benefit to our 
 readers, and that they have enlightened our eastern 
 friends on subjects pertaining to this beautiful west- 
 ern country, through which it has been our good 
 fortune to travel during the past four months. 
 When we began the letters, from which this volume 
 is compiled, it was not our intention to inflict such 
 a number of them on the unsuspecting public. 
 Once having begun to tell of the beauties, thrift, 
 enterprise and progress of this new western coun- 
 try, we found it difficult to stop. 
 
 We are at our journey's end. A 24-hours' ride 
 on the picturesque Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
 will land us in Washington, and another short run 
 will put us in historic Annapolis-on-the-Severn, our 
 
262 WESTERN WANDERINGS. 
 
 " home, sweet home." After all, there is no place 
 like home, and the prospect of greeting friends and 
 seeing the old familiar faces, brings with it a pe- 
 culiar pleasure. 
 
 We have been traveling for many long weeks, 
 We've passed over mountains, rivers and creeks, 
 We've dwelt in the Rockies, stood on Pike's Peak dome 
 But there's no place so dear as our Home Sweet Home. 
 
I 
 
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