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Show TO THE MOUNTAINS. 95 And now I'll away to the mountains, to continue my sketches of history, adventure, life and scenery, which I hope will prove more fresh and satisfactory to the reader of this little book, than the most startling array of statistics, and oft repeated rigmarole about big mills, big leads, rich tailings, astonishing sale of interests in Tom, Dick and Harry lodes; stock companies with shares of capital stock all the way from ten thousand to a million dollars; of the incalculable value of a tithe of a pound of quartz from the , and so on, ad infinitum. One bright morning in August, my friend Hal. and I took the Colorado Central in company with a party of eastern tourists to "do" the mountains. August is the very month to travel in the mountains. At this season the halcyon days begin, and continue for weeks and even months, with but little variation, making it a- physical luxury to live and breathe the pure, transparent atmosphere. Our train makes the first halt at Argo, otherwise Senator Hill's smelting works; the largest and most complete in America. In the early days, when the ores were pronounced " refractory," and the "new process" men were seeking a metallurgical savior, Prof. N. P. Hill, of Brown's University, Providence, R. I., came, and by his scientific skill solved the problem, and now $5,000,000 worth of the precious metals flow from this establishment annually. I turned my eyes from its belching smoke stacks to the fertile fields and cosy homes, shaded and sheltered by graceful cottonwoods, and bearing every indication of thrift and comfort. At length I fell into conversation with a ranchman, |
