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THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAINS

Mrs. Peattie Writes of Them and of the Capital of the Rockies

Denver as Seen With the Eyes of a Visitor From the Prairies - Views and Impressions

Cities, like plants, are the result of conditions; and the nature of those conditions determines the quality of the plant - or the city. That is to say man makes some cities by force of attrition, production and competition. Human [?] itself is the soil from which the city grows. The precious manure is prodigally expended to keep in existence such hotbeds of effete civilization as Berlin and Paris. The necessities of man, the meeting of his demands, the catering to his pleasures, his education and his vices, are the causes of the city's prosperity and its continuance. It is like theses,
in which fish feeds upon fish, and some fishes seem born only that others may fatten upon the. Such cities are like coral reefs, which the builders build with their lives, making the voluntary sacrifice naturally, and in obedience to the instincts of their nature.

But here in the western part of this republic are cities which have come into existence, and which are sustained for different reasons. There are the cities born literally fo the earth. They feed men and do not prey upon them

Two such towns are Omaha and Denver. Both are the fruits of earth Both the natural, healthful offspring of the vast mother. One is born of the plains, the other of the mountains. One is the result of corn, wheat, hay and the garden. The other of gold, silver, lead and coal.

One does not talk about one's own town any more than one puts his own portrait on his writing desk As it is pleasanter to look at the face of another, so it is pleasanter to talk about another city than the one of which he is a part.

Denver is the miners' paradise. To earn—Denver considers that stupid. Like Tumon Of Athens it digs "Roots, roots, roots," out of the earth—roots which make the wealth of nation. The streets upon streets of business blocks, residences, schools and churches are built literally out of the mountains The many colored stone that architects and builders have used with exquisite art were quarreled from the mountains. Giant bowden, hydraulic machine, and miners' pick brought out the lead and silver taht filled those homes with luxury, and paneled the club houses with onyx and wainscoted the hotel rotundas with marble and carvings of wood. Minerva did not more triumphantly spring from the head of Jove than Denver has sprung from the mountains And above her those mountains hang always, inscrutable, terrible, beautiful, always changing warred upon by the elements, making in tender mists a mask behind which their sternness hides, fascinating and inviting the beholder

There is in Denver peculiar class of men. They are essentially men of the mountains They may have their weaknesses, but cowardice is never one of them They are men with a peculiar development of certain faculties They handle money as a farmer handles seed corn—only as a means of producing more They are always spendthrifts Misers do not live a mile above sea level, where the ether Intoxicates, and a hysteria of hope disturbs the emotions of even the best poised.

Physically, these men of the mountains are remarkable Their chests average four inches more in breath than those of the men of the cast They do not become giddy, They can climb anywhere They can walk all day. They can sleep anywhere. And they can eat anything but are naturally luxurious, and the miner's cabin frequently knows Huer vlands than the dining room of the conventional and pretentious citizen.

Denver has lived like a Monte Christo Now, suddenly, it is the midst of poverty. The people who live in those magnificent homes are many of them penniless They are haunted by the sheriff, who follows them like a Nemesis. Yet the old habits of luxury will not easily desert them. They give banquet for which they cannot pay. They lock the door on the sheriff and drink their champagne. They refuse to be dull. When they are melancholy it is with a sort of furore that makes them threaten secession Not that they mean anything treasonable They are the most loyal people in the world. But up in that altitude you have to be more or less spectacular.

Besides, to have been one day the Sodorn of this republic, that is the richest and gayest of cities, and the next to bo pauperized—Isn't that enough to furnish excuse for a little ill advised verbosity?

Not that Denver Is discouraged.

"Just let the government decide what sort of money it really wants," said one of its citizens, "and we will go out to our mountains and dig it up."

Apropos of the effect of Denver upon tho emotions, it may be safely said that it arouses the ambitions as no other city does. It is, perhaps, for this reason that there is within it a more brilliant "smart set" than is to be found anywhere else in the United States, excepting New York But there is this difference. The leaders of the New York smart set aro women Those of Denver are men They are of various nationalities but mostly English and American They keep elegant establishments, stables of blooded horses, are members of the Denver club, and connoisseurs la the giving of dinners They are collectors of bric- a brac, pictures rugs. horses and picturesque personal episodes Prodigality in their fee of entrance into social circles Omaba and some rich young men, but the most reckless of them have never tho essayed the dash that is the leading characteristic of the Denver smart set.

Of course, where there are ten persons of this sort, there are a thousand domestic, quiet, modest, hard working citizens, who love their own homes better than society, and a reputation for reliability more than a glittering popularity. But no home le bo modest or no family so domestic and steady-going that dreams of sudden wealth have not entered it The slow earning of money always seems the last report to the Colorado man lie cannot get over the idea that he has to go out there among the mountains and ale it out. In his dreams he sets the dull glow of the precious, ore la the cold recesses of the long, draughty theft.

In short, the Deaver man has become so accustomed to the unusual that he cannot accept the usual with anything save feelings of protest and impatience.

Where people are prodigal and gay they are also generous. No one is going to starve or freeze in Denver, bad as the times are, and formidable as is the army of unemployed men. Until recently the state hardly knew what it was to have a poor person—one dependent upon charity. One has to be very careful la Colorado mot to judge a man by bis dress. The man in torn Jeans may have his hundreds of thousands in a pretty little pocket upon the dark mountain there, where you see that snow- wreath whirligig so cruelly. If ever the whirligig of time wrought strange tricks, It does it in Colorado.

Politics out there to perplexing. There are seven tickets in the field. These are the result of divergent boldness interests. To understand the political intrigues of Denver is as difficult as to understand the court of Louis XIV. of France. Every man is attached to his own little particular faction, and for reasons which are apt to be strictly personal.

THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAINS

Mrs. Peattie Writes of Them and of the Capital of the Rockies

Denver as Seen With the Eyes of a Visitor From the Prairies - Views and Impressions

Cities, like plants, are the result of conditions; and the nature of those conditions determines the quality of the plant - or the city. That is to say man makes some cities by force of attrition, production and competition. Human [?] itself is the soil from which the city grows. The precious manure is prodigally expended to keep in existence such hotbeds of effete civilization as Berlin and Paris. The necessities of man, the meeting of his demands, the catering to his pleasures, his education and his vices, are the causes of the city's prosperity and its continuance. It is like theses,
in which fish feeds upon fish, and some fishes seem born only that others may fatten upon the. Such cities are like coral reefs, which the builders build with their lives, making the voluntary sacrifice naturally, and in obedience to the instincts of their nature.

But here in the western part of this republic are cities which have come into existence, and which are sustained for different reasons. There are the cities born literally fo the earth. They feed men and do not prey upon them

Two such towns are Omaha and Denver. Both are the fruits of earth Both the natural, healthful offspring of the vast mother. One is born of the plains, the other of the mountains. One is the result of corn, wheat, hay and the garden. The other of gold, silver, lead and coal.

One does not talk about one's own town any more than one puts his own portrait on his writing desk As it is pleasanter to look at the face of another, so it is pleasanter to talk about another city than the one of which he is a part.

Denver is the miners' paradise. To earn—Denver considers that stupid. Like Tumon Of Athens it digs "Roots, roots, roots," out of the earth—roots which make the wealth of nation. The streets upon streets of business blocks, residences, schools and churches are built literally out of the mountains The many colored stone that architects and builders have used with exquisite art were quarreled from the mountains. Giant bowden, hydraulic machine, and miners' pick brought out the lead and silver taht filled those homes with luxury, and paneled the club houses with onyx and wainscoted the hotel rotundas with marble and carvings of wood. Minerva did not more triumphantly spring from the head of Jove than Denver has sprung from the mountains And above her those mountains hang always, inscrutable, terrible, beautiful, always changing warred upon by the elements, making in tender mists a mask behind which their sternness hides, fascinating and inviting the beholder