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Sercl-WEtkiy
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Semi - Weekly
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VOLTBIE XXVI11
PL, ATTSMO UTII, NEBRASKA, MONDAY, MAY 2j, 1908.
TO
IP Tl TO
PACIFIC
D. G. Morgan Gives an Interesting Account of
Ilis Trip to the Pacific Coast Before the
Bible Glass of the Presbyterian Sun
day School Thursday Evening.
QTliursday evening at the Presbyterian J
church parlors the Young Men's Bible
class held an open meeting, to which
quite a number responded to the invita
tions issued. At 8 o'clock the meeting
opened and Prof. Brooks, of the high
school, favored the audience with one of
his vocal solos which was well received.
D. C. Morgan and Frank Schlater
then addressed the meeting upon their
trip to California, which was enjoyed by
all, and for those who were not in at
tendance we publish the address for
their benefit. After the address Mr.
Morgan and Mr. Schlater conducted a
question box and answered the ques
tions asked by the members of the au
dience. Upon the whole the meeting
proved quite instructive as well as in
teresting. Following is Mr. Morgan's
addre33:
On April 26, 1908, a special train com
posed of one baggage car, four sleep
ers, an observation car and a diner left
Lincoln at 8 o'clock p. m., carrying
Governor Sheldon and his staff, together
with a party of some 100 Nebraskans,
making a party of perhaps 120, destined
to San Francisco, where the governor
was to present a silver service on May
8, which the last legislature had voted
to the battleship Nebraska.
Sunday, April 27, the party arrived
at Denver for breakfast, where they re
mained until noon, then on to Colorado
Springs, stopping at Palmer Lake for few
hours; from Colorado Springs they were
taken across to Colorado C ty, through
the Garden of the Gods, and on to Man
itou, returning to our train late in the
evening; on to th3 next stop, which was
Santa Fe, N. M., where we were met
by a representative of the Commercial
club, who announced they had prepared
a tally-ho ride for the entire party over
the city of Santa Fe and insisted on
everybody taking advantage of it, which i
thev did. This perhaps, in an educa
tional way, was among the strangest
days we put in. We were first driven
to the penitentiary, thence to the Alli
son Mission school for the Apache In
dian children; it was a treat to see and
hear them sing our American songs;
then came the drive through the old
city, were at last is tne real city oi tne j any given point uniess by watching the
travelers' anticipation, a straggling ag- track benind or ahead. About break
gregation of low adobe huts, divided by f ast time on the morning of April 28 we
narrow winding lanes, winding here and crossed over the Canyon Diablo. This
there with no regard whatever to direc- ! is a profound gash in the plateau 225
tion or compass. Resting in the shade j f eet deeD 550 f eet wide and manv miles
of these adobes are to be found leather
faced old men and women in the most
pronounced idleness, and burros loaded
with fire wood pass to and fro. It is
said this life is an exact picture of the
place as it appeared two and a half cen
turies ago. It does not change; prac
tically nothing has gone out from this
life, and substantially nothing new hasl
entered in. The hurrying activities and"
transitions of the outer world, from
which it is separated by only a few short
steps, count for nothing here. This was
indeed a revelation to one having been
used to the life of fresh air and room of
plenty.
Thence the visit to San Miguel church,
supposed to be the oldest church in the
United States, founded in 1535; the
walls are of cement and of great thick
ness, and are the original structure.
During the Indian raid the Indians were !
unable to destroy the building; they only j
succeeded in destroying the roof and
abandoned it. Later on the members
rebuilt the roof and the overhead gir
ders were carved by hand and replaced
as nearly like the old ones as was pos
sible to do; the old bell was never placed
on the roof but was mounted on a small
frame and stands to the right as you
enter the church. In passing it every
one in the party gave the bell rope one
pull and took their seat, when the Father
in charge gave us the history of the
church, when we passed on to the His
torical building, owned by the state and
is complete in every sense of the word,
for in the building is to be found every
thing of any consequence entering into
the material history of the territory up
to the present day; in the same building
is the room set apart in which General
Lew Wallace wrote his famous book,
Ben Hur.
mm
The new part of the town is built
around a square with a beautiful lit
tle park in the center; from the His
torical building we crossed the square
and visited the place where the natives
were at work on the "filigree" work to
be found in our jewelry stores. Those
of you who are familiar with this work
will be interested to know that it is en
tirely done by hand and requires the
closest attention to follow and handel
the fine wires entering into the makeup
of the finished product, all of the work
men wearing glasses of great magnify
ing power, necessary to enable them to
handle the fine wires.
Everyone of the tally-hos was accom
panied by a member of the committee,
either a lady or gentleman, pointing out
the places of interest along the route.
Reluctantly bidding our friends an Santa
Fe goodbye, we journeyed on our way
to Albuquerque, where another recep
tion similar to that of Santa Fe was ac
corded the party, ending with a grand
ball at the Chamber of Commerce in the
evening. On the program for the even
ing was a war dance in the ball room,
eiven bv five or six of the native In
dians, to the delight of the entire party.
Albuquerque is certainly a thriving city,
having grown from nothing to a town
of ten to fifteen thousand people in
twenty-eight years, and a very pleas
ing thing to us was the fact that we
found many of the history makers of
the city were from our own state.
Albuquerque, aside from the life as a
new commercial center, while not equal
to Santa Fe as a picture of the past, the
years have also come and gone and left
the foot prints of the ages. The Mexi-
can quarter the old town still sleeps
I as it did two centuries ago. Here also
; live the Pueblos of the Rio Grande val
' ley, livinar as their fathers lived before
them.
Back to our train, which left at 11 p.
! m., on our
way to tne uranu canyon oi ;
Tn travprsintr wpstm NpW
. .1 . - 1 g n !
Arizona. In traversing
j Mexico and Arizona the train climbs the
I Continental divide; from Seligman, alti
: tude 5260, the train drops down to al-
most sea level at Needles. In 150 miles
vnu
scarcely notice the difference at
long. It is one of those peculiar things
of nature which Arizona is fond of dis
playing. For many miles ftwe had rid
den over a perfectly level plain, and
without any warning whatever, the train
cross e3 the chasm by a spider-web
bridge 225 feet high and 600 feet long,
and then speeds on again over the same
level plain. It is said that many and
many a wagon train were driven into
this canyon in an early day by the In
dians, it being so level the wagon train
would come to its edge and would be
crowded over before they could stop,
and drop the entire distanceon the rocks
to the bottom an I meet a most horrible
death.
Nothing of note until we arrived at
Grand Canyon of Arizona, which we
reached at 2 p. m., and here the words
of man fail to intelligently describe
w".iat our eyes beheld; a mammoth gorge
217 miles in length, nine to thirteen
miles wide, and midway more than 6,000
feet below the level of the plateau.
Standing upon the brink of that pla
teau, at the point of the canyons great
est width, where stands the Hotel El
Tovar, the beholder is confronted by a
scene whose majesty and beauty are
well nigh unbearable. Snatched, in a
single instant, glance from every accus
tomed anchorage of human experience,
the stoutest heart here quavers, the
senses cower. It is a new world, com
pelling the tribute of sensations whose
intensity exceeds the familiar significa
tion of words. It never has been ade
quately described and never will be. The
Santa r e railroad publishes a book in
which they quote from many writers
who have made an attempt on the de
scription, along lines as follows:
"An inferno, swathed in soft celestial
fires; a whole chaotic under-world, just
emptied of Jprimeval floods and waiting !
for a new creative word; a boding, terr'
ble thing, unflinchingly real, yet spec
tral as a dream, eluding all sense of
perspective or dimension, ontstretching
the faculty of measurement, overlap
ping the confines of definite apprehen
sion. The beholder is at first unimpressed
by any detail, he is overwhelmed by the
ensemble of a stupendous panorama, a
thousand square miles in extent, that
lie3 wholly beneath the eye, as if he
stood upon a moutain peak instead of
the level brink of a fearful chasm in
the plateau whose opposite shore is
thirteen miles away.
"A labarynth of huge architectural
forms, endlessly varied in form, fretted
with ornamental devices, festooned with
lace-like webs formed of talus from the
upper cliffs, and painted with every
color known to the palette in pure trans
parent tones of marvelous delicacy. "
' 'Never was picture more harmonious,'
never flowers more exquisitely beauti
ful. It flashes instant communication
of all that architecture, and painting
and music for a thousand years have
gropingly striven to express. It is the
soul of Michael Angelo and of Bee
thoven.
The panorama is the real overmaster
ing charm. It is never the same.
Although you think you have spelt
ut eveiy temple and peak and escarp
ment, as the angles of sunlight changes
there begins a ghostly advance of
colossal forms from the farther side,
and what you have taken to be the
ultimate wall is seen to be made up of
still other isolated sculptures revealed
now for the first time by shadows.
The scene incessantly changes, flush
ing and fading, advancing into crystal
line clearness, returning into slumber
ous haze.
Long may the visitor loiter upon the
the rim, powerless to shake loose from
the charm, tirelessly intent upon the
silent transformations until the sun is
low in the west..
Then the canyon sinks into mysterious
purple shadows, the far Shinuma Alter
is tipped with a golden ray, and against
a leaden horizon the long line of the
Echo cliffs reflects a soft brilliance of
indescribable beauty, a light that, else
where, surely never was on sea or land.
Then darkness falls, and should there
be a moon, the scene in part revives in
silver light, a thousand spactral forms
projected from inscrutable gloom, dreams
of mountains, as in their sleep they
brood on things eternal.
Down into this most gorgeous canyon
winds here and there the Bright Angel
trail seven and ona-half miles in length
to the Colorado river at its very bottom
On your journey down the trail many
uuiiito ax iu luuiia nutxc cii uan
-
has been blasted out of solid rock, per
haps icur ieet in width, ana one mis
step or slip to the outside one would
fall over the precipice for thousands of
feet to the bottom. Yet over this per
ilous journey a train of Indian ponies
and Mexican mules ply their way with
their pleasure seeking rider day after
day and year after year; they appear to
be more human than beast; the light of
intelligence seems to shine from their
eyes when spoken to, and you fall com
pletely in love with these little fellows
at sight, and it is with a sigh of regret
you turn them over to the guide on your
return at night.
Mr. Schlater and myself, together
with some others done the trail on foot,
leaving the rim at about eight a. m.,
returning at 4:30 p. m., we being more
fleet on foot than the ponies and mules
could make the trip in much less time.
We discovered the canyon to be more
beautiful from- below, and we were
certainly well paid for our extremely
hard days work.
After putting in two days at the
canyon we journeyed onward. Our next
stop was at Redlands, CaL, where a
tally-ho ride had been arranged over the
city. This is a very beautiful place and
most especially at Smiley Heights, a
park of several acres, absolutely covered
with flowers and vegetation said to be
a speciman 01 every Known nower or
shrubbery in the world, and from all in
dications they wTere in the garden.
One seemed to be living in a sort of a
trance, to drop into so beautiful a spot
as this, after riding through the desests
of Arizona, but there is no isolated spot
in Southern California, it seems to be a
continuation of this land of flowers on
up to Los Angeles, where we arrived at
8:30 p. m., April 30.
One can hardly cross this continent of
ours without gaining a new idea of the
immense historical significence of the
westward yearning of the Saxons, who
in a few centuries has marched from the
Atlantic to ths Pacific and has subordi
nated every other people in his path
from shore to shore. The Spaniard was
a world conqueror in his day, and mas
ter of Calffornia before the Stars and
Stripes had been devised. The story of
' his subjugation of this section of the
new world is f amilar to us all and ended
with the ceeding of Mexico in 1843 of
all that tract of land now known as
California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and
part of .New Mexico, and it is a beauti
ful story of unexampled deeds of arms,
while sword and cross and love of fame
and gold are interwoven with it, and the
westward march of the Saxon and his
conquest set everything aside and ended
in absolute control of this, the most
beautiful land in all the world, while
the Spaniard has left his mark upon
every mountain and valley in names
that will endure forever, but he himself
ha3 been supplanted. He has not fled;
he has diminished, faded away. In 1871
the Spaniard named the city "Pueblo
De La Reina De Los Angeles" "Town
of .the. Queen of the Angels." The
Saxon,' the man supreme, has retained
only the last two word3 of that high-
sounding appellation.
t
In I860 Los Angeles had
4,500
11,000
people
" 1880
" 1890
" 1900
Today
50,000
100,000
250.000
Here the Governor, staff and entire
party 'were given a reception at the
Chamber of Commerce, and the stay
here was of three days duration and the
time was entirely taken up by short
runs and sight seeing. May 2 was Ne
braska day at Long Beach there were
perhaps three hundred Nebraskans pres
ent and the Plattsmouth people were
bunched at one table, numbering thirty-
five in all. It rained most all day.
May 3 was the day set apart for our
visit to the Catalina Island. We took
the electric railway for San Pedro,
where we boarded the steamer Cabrillo
at 10 a.m., arriving at Avalon, Catalinas
at 10:30 p. m. The sailors said it was
the roughest sea they had experienced
in twelve years, perhaps ninety-five per
cent of the party suffered from sea-sickness.
Catalina is thirty miles off the
coast, it rises from the sea a wavy
peaked mountain cap, varying in width
from half a mile to nine miles and more
than twenty miles in length. Wonder
ful are the waters of Avalon, aston
ishingly clear, through the glass bottom
skiffs specially constructed for the pur
pose You may gaze down one hundred
feet of tranparency to where emerald
weeds wave, myriad fishes blue, brown
and flaming red, swim over pebble and
shell. Most a beautiful place indeed.
Started on our return at 3:45 p. m. ;
the sea was even rougher than before
and the sickness seemed even more
general than on the trip over; reached
San Pedro at about 6:30 p. m.
May 4 we continued on our way to
San Francisco; went into our cars at
about 10 p. m., leaving Los Angeles at
4 a. m., May 5, up the coast line route,
the most beautiful of all routes in Cali
fornia, reaching rnsco at 7:J0 p. m.
Here our party branched out to procure
lodging where we could, as all attempts
to secure them before our arrival had
failed, owing to the crowds of people
already there to attend the fleet festi
vities. May 6 was fleet day. San
Francisco and Oakland were completely
overtaxed, practically neither one could
begin to handle the crowds. Never had
there been nor will there be for years
to come, such crowds of people, simply
one large struggling mass of humanity,
in a vain attempt to get somewhere,
anywhere, in order that they might
view the fleet come in, and low and be
hold at about 12 o'clock here they come.
Through Golden Gates comes the Con
nectict, the flagship, with - Admiral
Evans in command, amid the roar of
cannons, which was all Greek to us
whom had come from the plains of Nc
braska, yet significent to those familar
with such salutes. And here was an
incident unprecedented in naval affairs;
a staff officer on board the Connecticut,
came the bridge and asked the Admiral
if he would answer the salute from the
Pressidio, saying there had been no
definite instructions. It was contrary
to precedent and the officers had rather
shrugged their soldiers at the idea of
saluting the army.
was the exclamation that came from a
dozen officers at once, for Funston had
surprised even Fighting Bob Evans.
The navy had not expected this, and
the hill-tops on both sides of the Gate
were capped great bellowing clouds of
smoke, as the big guns thundered a sa-
lute to Evans of hi3 fleet, without pre
cedent, but not without effect.
"Look at the people" one of the staff
said, a3 he called the attention of the
Admiral to the hillsides of the Pressidio
and the main shore, and Evans took
the glasses and smiled as he looked.
His cup of joy was full to the brim.
"Get ready to fire" ordered Chief Gun
ner Moore. "Ready!" Then the chief
gunner paced rapidly from side to side
of the bridge, counting "one fire, two
fire, three fire" and each count "bang"
went one of the three pound pound guns,
first from one side and then the other
until twenty-one guns a national sa
lute had been given. "Who was the
salute for?" was asked,cand the officer
answered with a smile-, "for any one
that caught it." In truth it was a na
tional salute, doubtless the army
"caught it," but all the same, the pre
cedent had had been broken, and tech
nically speaking the navy had not sa
luted the army.
One after another the ships found
their positions in the columns. The
Minnesota leading the second squadron,
with Rear-Admiral Thomas on board
made way for the battleship Nebraska
to take her place at the end of the sec
ond division of the first squadron. "That
makes the strongest squadron afloat in
any navy," expressed an officer as the
Nebraska took her position and joined
the fleet.
During the line-up the revenue cutter
alert steamed here and there, acting on
police duty for the fleet, but there was
little employment for the police boats;
not once did our excursion steamer
break the boundaries or interfere with
the majesty of the fleet evolutions.
On the left flank of the column, the
SIX
torpedo boat destroyers were in
line, led by Lieutenant H. I. Cone, who
had brought the six slim, black crafts
around the continent. '
"On and on they come, they are run
ning like scared pups'" was the way
one dignified navigator expressed the
speed of the fleet, as it swept by Goat
Island. At 1 o'clock the tall four-
stacked cruisers could be seen in their
proper places at the end of the line,' and
the battle line measured three miles,
comprising twenty-seven ships com
manded by seven admirals. It was 2:30
p. m. when the last of the ships had
been anchored. Thus ending the great
est naval cruise in the history of the
world.
May 8th our party assembled at the
Hotel Normandie about 2 p. m., jour
neyed to the wharf by street cars, where
we were to be transported to the battle
ship Nebraska, on the little steam
launches from the different warships,
borrowed for the occasion by Captain
Nicholson of the Nebraska.
After the arrival of the party at the
battleship, and after Mrs. J. G. Richey
had finished the reading of her poem,
Governor Sheldon arose and in a w
well chosen words presented the silver
service, touching on the fact that we
had come a long ways to perform the
ceremony, and that we were proud of
the ship that bore our name, and of the
men and officers that manned the same,
and would watch her every action and
she would be followed in good weather
and in bad by our thoughts and by our
prayers for her welfare, and he only
hoped that we would never have cause
to regret that this ship had been named
after the prairie state, and presented
the service, whereupon the men of the
ship offered three cheers, and we in
turn, led by the governor, offered three
cheers for the men and officers.
Whereupon Capt. Nicholson respond
ed to Gov. Sheldon and in returning
thanks for the services pledged us on
behalf of himself and men that we
would never have cause to regret the
naming of the ship and that we could
at any and all times point with ; ride to
the ship that bore our name, and that
if they should ever be called upon they
would be found fighting just as hard
and as long as any vessel that floats the
seas.
WLereupon he invited U3 to partici
pate in the punch which they would
prepare, and we would be first to take
part in the initiatory ceremonies, after
which we were taken over the ship and
everything explained in minute detail.
We were then taken back to the
wharf where the party disbanded. Thus
ended one of the most pleasant gather
ings that ever traversed the continent.
The Returns From Liberty.
James T. Reynolds, of Union, was in
the city this morning, coming up to
bring the assessors returns of liberty
precinct, and returned home, on the
next train. Mr. Reynolds is busy these
davs and could spare no more time
from his work than absolutely necessary
to come to the county seat. In com
pleting the returns, Mr. Reynolds has
showed good time, and this coupled
with the reliability with which he does
his work, reflects the good judgement
of Mr. Soennichsen in making hi3 ap
pointment. Cut Thumb Instead of Bread.
This morniner Will T. Russell was a I
little late in erettiner up. and in order
not to be late in getting to his work in
the Burlington shops, he volunteered to
assist in the preparation of the morn
ing meal. Mrs. Russell told Will to
cut the bread, and having just sharp
ened the butcher knife, made a mis-cut
and got his thumb instead the loaf of
bread. It took three stitches of the
doctor's needle and thread to close the
wound and it will be sometime before
it is well again.
DONATIONS SO
FAR mSUFFICENT
The Commercial Club of Louis
ville So States
It seems that the aid so far received
for the Louisville tornado sufferers
is srreatly insufficient to accomplish its
purposes. At a meeting of the Com
mercial club last Monday evening for
the purpose of ascertaining the need
of those who suffered from last Tues
day's tornado. The report of the re
lief committee was read, disclosing
that the amount of money received, is
far insufficient to properly take care of
the homeless. The president of the
club was instructed to call on Governor
Sheldon and ask for a donation of $500
from the state, also $500 from the
county commissioners of this county.
Tha farmers of this county have donated
considerabe money and have organized
themselves into a body and came to
town today to assist in clearing up the
debris and get things in readiness to
rebuild. Money is needed badly and
large or small donations will be gladly
accepted. Donations should be sent to
Geo. Frater, treasurer of the Commer
cial club, Louisville, Neb. The local
subscription amounted to $500 and this
amount is only sufficient to take care of
the immediate needs.
The B. & M. Shop Floods.
The Lincoln Journal of this (Friday)
morning, somewhat modifies its report
regarding the flood at the shops in this
city. It says: "Reports from Platts
mouth yesterday did not indicate so
great a damage from the flood as had
been feared, although it was said water
had covered the shop yards to a consider
able depth. The damage to railroad
property did not reach a great sum
however.
"Discussing flool damages Superin
tendent Bignell of the Burlington said:
'We would rather repair flood damage
than buck snow. Floods usually mean
that Nebraska fields have had a good
wetting and the damage is usually in
consequential compared with the
amount of good done by the rains and
the truflic that rains produce.' "
The above reads like the Journal did
not want to modify its previous state
ment but was compelled to do fo.
The Masonic Kali Well Appointed.
The Masons are having a new chim
ney built at their hall to connect with
the stove which is in the hall proper, as
it has been necessary to run a stove
pipe though the partition, and thence
some eighteen feet to another chimney.
The new arrangement allows for the
using of the chimney which has been
there for other purposes, and the new
one will provide for the stove in the
mam hall. With this the Masonic hall
becomes very nicely appointed. They
have added many things at one time and
another, which has made it most con
venient for all the lodges which meet
there. They have a nicely arranged
banquet hall, waiting rooms, meeting
room, and a special room for the Knight
Templars, with the ante-rooms, makes
the place a very desirable one for meet
ing purposes.
Will Make Home in Northwest.
Saturday Mr. and Mrs. Mat Leuck
and two boys, Bernard and Frank, de
parted for their new home at Edgmont,
S. D., where Mr. Leuck has been for
some time. A number of their friends
were at the station to see them depart
and bid them "bon voyage." In lear
ing this place this estimable family
leaves behind them many friends who.
while they dislike to see them depart,
wish them all the happiness and pros,
perity in their new home that is possi
sible. The Journal, with the hosts of
other friends, wishes that they may
find in the great northwest many friends
and much prosperity.
H. C. Sparkes Injured.
A letter from the west tells of Mr.
H. C. Sparks, father of Mrs. Ed.
Weaver, well known in this place, hav
ing failed into a hole at Greeley, Colo
rado, and dislocated or broken hi3
hip. The fracture and dislocation. is of
so serious a nature that it is reported
he has to strapped on a board while the
knitting process is in action. The
sorry to learn of the accident which
has befallen their friends. We hope
for his a rapid and permanent re
covery.
Louisville Cyclone Views.
Entire collection 18 views on post
cards $1.00. For sale by local dealers
in Louisville and Weeping Water or
send direct to us.
Olson Photograhp Co.