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Show j X How Sunset at Saltair I I : Affects All the Senses I " II BY F. W. SPRAGUE. i R i HAVE you ever seen tho sunset from Saltair? You have seen the Illuminated pictures of it? Honestly, thoso pictures no more like the real thing than Chicago is like heaven. But it ls not tho artist's fault that he can- not paint tho diamond's sparkle or a maiden's breath, or an atmosphere at-mosphere laden with perfume, music and the colors of nature, which are felt by the soul as well as seen by the eye. The best that can be done by the artist In the picture lino Is dull, dead and somber, compared with the living pulsing panorama of color and llame. flanked by mountain shndowa, and of water, which Is seen on a summer's evening from Saltair. The beauty, the grandeur of It all gets Into your senses and works like old wine upon the Imagination. You are sitting in the pavilion a half hour before the orb of day ls due to sink beyond the western shore of the briny wnste, which now melts Into tho j distant horizon. Gray leaden clouds obscure ob-scure the sun from view at this time, except for occasional glimpses of a patch of yellow light which gives no promise of the glories of which you have heard. ,You have Just begun to think that there ls to be no special performance tonight that perhaps after, 'all tho much-heralded Saltair sunset ls only the sort of circus attraction got up for the adornment of billboards only when almost without warning a great disc of llame drops Into the space between clouds and earth, and the glorious performance per-formance Is fully on. Straight a3 a die from the pavilion to that huge scarlet disc extends across the fiat vast foreground of almost Urn- W P7i.Wa,tor a wlde rainbow, ribbon, set H with diamonds, for tho light breeze U anon stirs up tiny wavos whose crests' M break Into sparkling gems of spray. M Beneath the brilliant light which now II illumes the lake's western shore there- M appears, at the very end of the rain- m bow ribbon, a miniature range of saw- ' W tooth mountains which looks like a. M piece of bread and butter from which j H a healthy boy has taken copious blteB. M It Ib easy to Imagine that these pink- Ifl rimmed mountains have been placed at i M that particular spot that vulgar human 81 eyes may not gain full view of the en- fil chanted world which lies beyond. j III You now observe that tho clouds IB which a moment ago were dull and, nil leaden, have become a fleecy, billowy IH canopy for the living picture of light- ' 11 and color agaln6t the distant sky. As ' M you continue to gaze strange shapes ap- fll pear to mingle with the billows of. ( M purest white, so delicately tinted with, 1 Ul roae and violet and ruby red. There ! D are domes of burnished gold, parapersi SI of topaz and emerald, columns of sap- ; fl phlre and jasper, and yes, gates of l pearl, while you feel quite Bure that be- ! 01 low and beyond are fields of green and : fi babbling brooks. Iff Over to the northward lie Antelope Cn island's low mountains beneath a pur- ' l pie haze. To the southward the out- R lines of the Oquirrh's eastern slopes ' (i are becoming concealed In their own shadows. You can almost Imagine that ' III from out those shadows and from be- neath the purple haze Joyous peoples' may soon appear to trip llghtbr or to II roll In airy chariots over the pathway H of brllllans colors to the dream olty i Bfl beyond the sawtooth range, where there ! R Is music from Unheard of instruments - 1 and a million voices singing anthems i M too sweet for earthly ears. jfi .But your eyes have become tired with 11 loflfc, looking at tho lovely sight, and as ,. ol youTrub them you become aware that' i (II you have been oblivious to your lm- III mediate surroundings, The band is j Hw playing a Jerky two-step and many ! MR couples are gliding over the polished: ' In floor. Just behind you a half dozen. 1 fil young mothers are proudly comparing their tender offspring. 1 ij "I think I should prefer a couple of i ill ham and egg sandwiches and some nice fH pickles," naively remarks a delicate M girl In white, with flowing sleeves, e whose Jiurly escort has suggested soda 31 water and pie. J' m Tho voice of the merry-go-round and ( II the Coney Island spieler grates harshly , 1 on your ears. The women at your right have been I dlBcuoalng the best' way of making sal- ad and the fit of another's new shirt- 1 j waist suit. Finally one of them glances I toward the west, where now remains 1 only the after-glow of a grandeur I which neither words nor brush con H paint. Ifl "Did you see tho sunset?" she asks. Ijl ' "Yes; pretty, wasn't it?" j Pretty! Ye gods! CI |
