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Show "Monument nf the Continent." for has played an important part ill the history and romance of our fi'scinal-in fi'scinal-in and wonderful West. Now its importance im-portance as a landmark, situated on the dividing line between the great plains on the east and the mountain kingdom on the west, lias been fur- , tl.cr increased, because of the ability of the public to ascend it comfortably laud quickly and enjoy the panoramic view of live or six stales which is visible vis-ible from its snow-clad summit, 11.10!) feet high. The most marvelous highway build-inc. build-inc. achievement of the age is the construction con-struction of an automobile highway fiom Colorado Springs and Manitou to (he summit of this peak. Tin1 fearless thought that conceived and the daring which executed the work of building t liis. Iho highest highway in the world, absolutely stun the average individual. Il Is about 10 miles long, from 20 to 50 feet wide, smooth as a boulevard, and ha? a maximum grade of lOVi per cent. While this serpentine road turns and twists and winds and zigzags up. to an elevation seldom reached in this world under any circumstances, the visitor is treated to indescribable views of illimitable space and into Immeasurable Im-measurable depths and receives a series se-ries nf new thrills and sensations. Looking up. one may see cars moving in opposite directions on different levels lev-els of this road, yet both are going the same way up. THE GALVESTON S2A WALL. GU.VESTON has the finest harbor on the gulf coast and ranks high as a city of delightful homes. Although not a resort, the seniitropical climate attracts thousands of tourists annually annual-ly to her long, gradually sloping beach. To prevent a recurrence of the terrible ter-rible flood of 1!!00, the sea wall one of the sights of the country was constructed con-structed along the gulf side of the cty. This great wnll is 22,403 feet long. 17 feet high, 16 feet wide at the bottom and five feet wide on top. It Is built of concrete and granite and rests on a foundation of piling. These piles are 40 feet long, not less than 12 inches in diameter at the small end. four rows wide, set four feet apart. The top of the wall is used for a walk. To prevent water from the gulf flowing behind the wall and flooding the city during severe storms, the grade of a large portion of the city was raised from-2 to IT feet. This necessitated ne-cessitated the raising of about 2,500 buildings and the readjustment of streets, sidewalks, street car tracks, electric lights, water and gas pipes to the new level. The filling-in material was taken from the bay. The dredges, after pumping their holds full, steamed up a canal behind the wall and discharged Their load through pipe lines leading down the various streets. When the work was completed the canal was filled. The magnitude of this undertaking under-taking is unparalleled in America. j. The Wonders i of America j By T. T, MAXEY 5 l i MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY. MX.MMOTll CAVK, the largest of a number of eaves in Kdmondsnn ounty. Kent uc'-:y. is said to be the largest cave known. It extends for almost a mile below I he surface of the earth and contains about IOO miles of passage ways. Here are displayed perhaps Hie greatest and grandest examples ex-amples In the world of the wonderful work of water in underground sculpturing. sculptur-ing. Its discovery was another case of the hunter and the bear dale about l.SUO. The bear, wounded, crawled inlo the cave and escaped. The hunter hunt-er followed and discovered the cave. A visit to this cave is (ertainly a unique and wonderful experience. Nowhere No-where else can il be duplicated. The inlcrior is a maze of domes, pits, halls, .handlers, pillars, temples, cascades, caverns, crevasses, stalactites and slalagmiies. carved stone and oth"f characteristic and peculiar phenomena and fairylike forms fashionable in cave architecture. There are lakes and rivers in it one can boatride on the Echo river for half a mile. The lofty limestone roof. 00 feet high in places, and the battlemented shores rellect arid magnify every sound. The Giant's Coflin is the largest rock in the cave. It is IS feet thick, 4:: feet long and weighs 2,000 tons. Mammoth Dome, the largest and most impressive of many, is 280 feet high. Many varieties varie-ties of animal life are found, including eyeless fish and blind crawl, sh. The air is good and the temperature even about 54 degrees. There are several loutes through the cave, the longest requiring re-quiring a full day. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. YELLOWSTONE, our oldest and largest national park, is considerably consider-ably larger than the state of Delaware. Its altitude ranges from 0.000 to 11,000 leet above sea level. It contain'-' such a large collection of weird and freak natural phenomena thai the visitor gains the impression the Great Creator of all things must have roamed over the world, collecting all tiie odd things be saw, dumping them here in one great disordered heap. There are more geysers than in all the rest of the world put together. They range from tiny openings, spouting spout-ing water but a few feet, at intervals of a few minutes, to the great giant, larger than a well, projecting a column of water 2o0 to 300 feet high, for a period of several minutes at intervals of several days. There are numerous waterfalls, the great fall of the Yellowstone Yellow-stone river in the gorgeously colored. 20-mlle-long Grand canyon, being 303 feet high. There tire many hot springs and small lakes, also the largest lake Yellowstone at its height in North America. There are several paint pots great cauldrons of blubbering, hissing hiss-ing mud; many steam vents and boiling boil-ing pools, a natural bridge, a roaring mountain, a mountain of volcanic glass, petrified trees and wedded trees. At Norris basin is said to be the thinnest known portion of the earth's crust. Standing there, the visitor needs no assurance that his salanic majesty resides near by. Yellowstone, known far and wide for its wild flowers, is also the largest wild game preserve in the world. THE CROOKEDEST RAILROAD IN THE WORLD. 'Y'lIE Mount Tatnalpals anil Muir 1 Woods railway runs from Mill Valley Val-ley California, to the top of Mount Tamalpais the guardian of our famous fa-mous Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco bay. This miniature railway rail-way is but 20 miles long. The longest piece of straight track is 41.'! feet. It contains 2S1 curves. In one place the track parallels itself five times in a little more than 300 feet forming an almost perfect double bow-knot. So crooked is Ibis line that if all the curves were continuous, they would make 42 complete circles. It is one of the most wonderful pieces of engineering engineer-ing on the American continent. The curious looking, oil-burning locomotive loco-motive squirms its way tail first, pushing push-ing the train up the tortuous track, on a grade averaging six feet to the hundred, to the summit. 2.592 feet I above (he valley below. The reason for it all is. of course. I tin view from the top of this peak i which stands on the very edge of the , V. S. A. Here, the eye. in one far- j reaching sweep, coinniaiids a panorama . of mountains, forest, bay. island, city j and sea, lying between the Sierra ' mountains and the Pacilic ocean , which, 'lis said, is not surpassed from tiie summit of any oilier mountain j peak in the world. Worth mentioning in passing, too. Is j (be fact that: the government recording record-ing 'latino here, shows more sunshine p.-r day than any oilier recording station sta-tion in Ibis count ry. The return trip Is made by gravity -tin' train coasting all the way down. THE HIGHEST HIGHWAY IN THE WORLD. PIKF.'S PEAK is, without question, the nioKl -1 a Iked of. mosi-wrllleu-nboiil and consequently most -fa mous mountain In Ameilcn. Flitinglj In-iiiwd In-iiiwd Iris it fallen heir lo the name |
