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Show FROM -GE,MA:nY. Kr.lH--.lt ADAMS XV15ITF.S INTKUKsTIXGLY OF HIS TilAT-KLS TilAT-KLS IX TIIK MISSION" 1--IELI). Rlbci-fckl, Gcrraanv, January lfi, 1CI0. Kdilor and .Readers of the Wasiiin-gtox CouxtyNews: Reared as I was in the confines of Utah's '-Dixieland," and in the midst of the hot breath of ' -Dixie's'' atmosphere, it was but natural, I take it, that I should sense within my being- a burning desire de-sire to see the world. If the hot sand-beds sand-beds and "rock-ribed hills," the slimy Virg-in, and the-clear, blue sky of the home of my youth did nothing' else for me, they spoke of the great wide world outside, and called up in my soul an aim in life, an ambition to see the world in which we live, and then to live with a purpose. And so my ''Dixie" friends may appreciate to a certain extent the joy f sense in the glorious opportunity which am now realizing of seeing-some seeing-some of the beauties as well as the fof-lios fof-lios of God's "footstool," and of imbibing imbib-ing more knowledge of the great questions ques-tions of life. I know that I ha ve many friends in the home-land of the Mews': and being- unable as a missionary to communicate directly with all, I should appreciate space enough in the paper which is doing so much for the advancement advance-ment of the general welfare of our county, to speak to my friends and any who may care to know a "Dixieite's" impressions of the world. And I shall try to communicate nothing that might be counted wholly worthless to anybody. any-body. To me such an opportunity as the writer now enjoys is one of exceptional except-ional value, if made' so, and its worth might be made to benefit not alone the onis enjoying- it, but those as well who may be in sympathy with the mission of a disciple of the Lord and the labor for wisdom and knowledge. For the last few years of my life I have been realizing that the dreams of youth arc generally too ideal, too extreme ex-treme for realization in tnis life, and it was natural, I suppose, that I should meet with some degree of disappointment disappoint-ment in the appearance of the world, old and new. Yes, I was disappointed slightly. The cities were not so ideal as I had pictured them, with their buildings, streets, walks and parks. The twenty-one story building- of Chicago, Chic-ago, the Masonic Temple; and the thirty-story structure of New York, the Park Row Building, did not appear so high as I had dreamed they would. The elegance of our national Capital, Washington, fell short of my fancies, and I had expected Fifth Avenue of New York City, with its elite society, to look more "swell." Notwithstanding Notwithstand-ing all this my visits through these great cities were fraught with extreme interest, and I believe the impressions thus made upon me will be more lasting last-ing than if I had found all just as I had expected. And tho' I had to give up ideals, I received in return information that at once brought me practical value as well as called a halt on my dreaming. dream-ing. I passed out of Utah in Oct. '99 over the Union Pacific railway, and, hence, traversed the path to quite an extent of the pioneers to Utah. It so happened that as I rolled over the summit of the Rockies down upon the "plains" of Wyoming and Nebraska, a snow storm came with wind and cold to render more vivid to my mind the picture of our plodding pioneers, as they tracked the windy "plains" and clambered o'er the mountains with consuming hunger, shivering forms, and bleeding feet, yet true to God in heart and soul, as they sought the desert, where they might worship God according to the dictates of their consciences. Autumn had chased the Qeeting feet of Summer from the "plains," the grass lay twisted on the ground, and in the fields the great corn patches leaned with the wind, dry and brown, as if to fall with the blight of death. The grain had been heaped into the huge elevators along the line, and the principal evidences evi-dences of Autumn industry were seen in the plowing of the ground, the shipping ship-ping of cattle, sheep and grain, and the storing of the farmers' winter heaps. Omaha seemed busy with her stock-yards and factories, and as the muddy Missouri River was crossed I could" see the Dickering' arc lights spread out over the grounds of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. Of the wide Mississippi I must speak after my return for I was "fast in the arms of Morpheus" as I rolled from shore to shore and saw no more the light of day until I approached "the city of watches," watch-es," Elgin, 111. Chicago lay enshrouded enshroud-ed in the folds of a mighty i'og the day 1 was there, and from the roof of her tallest "skv-scraper" I was afforded but a limited view. I have it to say however, that I "looked down upon' that moderm 15aby!on. 1 regret that the "look" however was only afforded me by the city itself. This was the tirst. c'itv of the world for me to visit, and here began mv observations and comparisons of which I shall speak later. Although I might not care to live in the heart of the city, believe I mi "-ht tolerate having to reside on the shore of the beautiful Lake Michigan, or on the slope of one of those picturesque pictur-esque hills in the outlaying country with its beautiful forest and grasry bosom. . Thr'o Indiana, Omo. Pennsylvania and Maryland I did enjoy the beautiful stretch of valleys and forests, tho fuse anil farms, and lli.-n again the wi!rr-ncss wi!rr-ncss cut now ir.to a crn.v-pa'ch '( h.y the onward innrcl; of ci f. 1 :o::. j lilies barren heights of our '''i'';:;.v ! .'ha:;:cs. wish their wool.-:! ::: jamh'a's'hi V:..;;m mm: .vlyroa : -r- i ;i"bt .-'. r.ic nT.u:i 1 ";-.-:v i ":' "J"1 ; -he Ohio j::v.T. hvl I c-ni-M my;-:t the sleep that I might see the river on one of the branches of which were the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cow-drey Cow-drey when in 1S-0 the Melchisedek priesthood was restored to earth. Crossing into Pennsylvania my eyes met a scene I shall never forget. Darkness Dark-ness covered the water and gross darkness dark-ness the whole laud that night: and as I rolled thro' the oil district I could not help admiring the various tints of light as the torches about the petroleum wells emitted their purple mists of light. In the deep black of night the beautiful white changed first to purple, and as it became exhausted in the darkness dark-ness it appeared in mists of richest lavander, the whole presenting a remarkably re-markably beauteous halo above the cities. I cannot describe it satisfactorily, satisfac-torily, and I don't think anyone might do it justice. It must belong to those beauties of Nature, like sunsets we have sometimes seen, which mortal genius cannot portray and do them justice. Through the beautiful hills and vales of Maryland I rode long' enough to imbibe im-bibe a real love for the country, and now I can understand how a proud son or daughter of that beautiful division of fair America might sing with feeling, feel-ing, "Oh, Maryland! My Marland! But ere long my eye wandered from the panorama of Nature and rested upon the shining shaft of white marble that towers above all else in the nation's capital and commemorates the name of one of the world's greatest characters the Washington monument in the city bearing the same name, both in honor of ' 'The Father of His Country. ' ' Why was I disappointed in Washington? Because I had expected the Capitol would appear larger and grander; because be-cause the department buildings were not so ideal as I expected; because the White House appeared to me less than I had anticipated; because the arrangement arrange-ment of the Government buildings was more natural than ideal; because the public grounds and the approaches to the Capitol were not completed: because be-cause the Capitol itself is yet marred by the hanging of scaffolding in its great dome, while its decoration is yet incomplete: Oh, I was disappointed because be-cause 1 had been unreasonable in my ideals I suppose. But all tho same the Capitol is a grand substantial pile, and from its walls inside still seem to echo the eloquent oratory of our nations Websters, Clays and others: and outwardly out-wardly the structure seems to tower in pride as if conscious of the record of national achievement which its country and people have realized. And the Treasury building', the War building and the rest are good substantial structures struc-tures of which all Americans can be proud because of their modesty, while tho new Congressional Library building- is simply beautiful and grand; as to the White House, I'd rather have it today to-day than Buckingham Palace, the London Lon-don home of Queen Victoria, and it is more beautiful, if not so old, than the Berlin Imperial Palace of the Kaiser of the Germans. And the. American may boast of the almost perfect arrangement arrange-ment of the streets of Washington, their cleanliness and the absence of wires, telegraph, telephone, street-ear, etc., which mar the convenience and beauty of a city. To me the capital city was the most beautiful and interesting interest-ing of the American cities; and, not until I saw Berlin did I see one in the world more inviting. As for New York, aside from its history, its status in the world, its parks, and the elegance of Fifth Avenue, I should not care for it even if I had the wealth with which to live therein. Personally 1 am worldly in at least one respect; although I am a "Mormon," and therefore condemn the sin of the world, I like the excitement of following the progress of the world in Art and Mechanics, and I have enjoyed en-joyed being in the heart of the w orld or at the beginning of things. It is interesting, in-teresting, surely, for one who has lived where styles and manners as well as things material, are all imported, to come into the world and see their origin, invention and creation, This much of the world is of interest to me, but my preference will be expressed later. Before leaving the new world for the old, allow me to oiler an explanation ex-planation why the world's tallest buildings build-ings do not appear so eomparitively high as they are; in other words, why a 30-story structure does not look three times the height of a 10-story one. It is because of the effect of perspectives. Distance, of course, diminishing the appearance ap-pearance in size of any object, and as the higher stories are made to appear smaller than the lower ones in these high buildings, it has the effect of cutting cut-ting down the anpearance of the real height. During the whole of my trip here my good fortune seemed to bring me special privileges, not the least of which was that of an ocean voyage on the American liner. "Si. Paul," which ! represents well the mod'-m first class trans-Atlantic steamer, being only four years old, and which is covered with war honor, having served the Government Govern-ment of the U. S. during- the Si.aidsh-Ainerican Si.aidsh-Ainerican war. This beautiful beat was to leave New York harbor on Oct. lsth. (Mi the clay previous f took an t ibty-mile cruie on the Atlantic and w'tnessL-d the i'r.-t race of the. wrics between the "( oiumbia" and "Shamrock." "Sham-rock." and as I stood the test so wi-!l I felt convinced '.hat there awa'sicl m.-no m.-no spell of sea-sickness during my '.;) mile creUe. But it was to l.y o'.hcr-wif-e. a the morn of the l-th at. In a. in., all our cargo !"-'r.g aboard, the j -,-:'. x-jp '-Ht. i'au:'' cut loo-e f j Ct:r.-:'.v,-,..l en kh ,,,-. |