78 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



lower lip was firmly clenched between his teeth, ne drifted 

 silently but swiftly to his room and was seen no more. 



It is recorded that during the entire day a lone figure 

 could be seen sitting by a window that commanded a view 

 of a bit of the canyon from the second floor. Little more 

 than the head was visible, but now and then enough of the 

 torso would appear to suggest the thought that the figure 

 was attired in pajamas despite the fact that the heat was 

 not intense. As the train pulled out that evening a man 

 wrapped in a 

 long overcoat, 

 with the collar 

 turned high 

 swung aboard, 

 exhibiting a pair 

 of new black 

 leather boots as 

 he did so. Pas- 

 sengers wonder- 

 ed at the heavy 

 coat in Arizona. 

 "Probably from 

 Guatemala," re- 

 marked one, and 

 the incident was 

 forgotten in the 

 mad scramble to 

 begin the re- 

 counting of nar- 

 row escapes on 

 the Bright An- 

 gel Trail. 



Nearly every 

 locality in the 

 scenic areas of 

 the west that is 

 much frequented 

 by tourists has 

 similar stories 

 to tell of some 

 hapless traveler 

 who was the 

 victim of that 

 curious admix- 

 ture of well 

 meaning exag- 

 geration and 

 misstatement so 

 commonly en- 

 countered in the 



perusal of the railroad and tourist bureau descriptive fold- 

 ers. Frequently tourists will arrive in a national park 

 with half dozen trunks containing evening gowns, high- 

 heeled shoes and what not, firm in the belief that the hotel 

 folder showing beautifully vignetted half-tones of a throng 

 of lovely women in decollete and men in evening dress 

 presents a picture of the regular nightly scenes in their 

 spacious drawing rooms. It is not at all uncommon to find 

 guests in Yosemite spending nearly all their time on the 

 veranda or in the hotel like the tourist at Grand Canyon, 



A GLIMPSE OF THE SURPASSING BEAUTY OF CRATER LAKE 



Pale jade greens and deep purples? Yes, we have them. This way, please You will find them on the 

 summer counter. Forward, Crater Lake. 



because they brought no walking shoes ; aim by tne same 

 token some may be found in tennis flannels huddled over 

 stoves at altitudes where the cold weather comes on early. 

 If the truth were known, in all likelihood it would be found 

 that those tourists who have taken the scenery folder too 

 seriously are now knocking everything west of the Alle- 

 ghenies, from the broad Pacific to desert sunsets, with an 

 effectiveness that offsets the value of many thousands of 

 folders. Therefore, it would seem to be the part of wis- 

 dom to put a 

 curb and snaffle 

 on the prancing 

 literary Pegasus 

 who writes the 

 bulletin, or at 

 least confine his 

 flights to the 

 realms of scen- 

 ery. If he wishes 

 to show his 

 prowess he may 

 tackle the ruins 

 of the southwest 

 or the Grand 

 Canyon and 

 hang festoons of 

 superlatives on 

 every cliff with- 

 out overdoing 

 it. The Grand 

 Canyon, of 

 course, offers 

 the best oppor- 

 tunity for reck- 

 less writing, and 

 sooner or later 

 everyone who 

 has a leaning to- 

 ward descriptive 

 writing tackles 

 it. 



If descriptive 

 literature, as it 

 is called, seems 

 to possess a cer- 

 t a i n carefree 

 disregard for 

 the written su- 

 perlative in de- 

 scribing the 

 Grand Canyon, it is as conservative as the estimate of a 

 pawnbroker when compared with the utterances of the 

 tourist who beholds the "Titan of Chasms" for the first 

 time. Stupendous, marvelous, tremendous, just lovely, ex- 

 quisite and even cute are applied to it daily from the rim 

 until the river has sunk to a depth of nearly a mile in its 

 efforts to get out of earshot. 



A gentleman whose long years of residence in Boston 

 justified him, in his own mind, in attempting to describe 

 succinctly the wonders of the sight, one day was exercis- 



