Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1881 
Editorial. 
589 
sas  City  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  August  26th,  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
and  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  visited  Lawrence  and  the  Kansas  State  University 
and,  at  Topeka,  were  liospitably  entertained  by  tlie  resident  pliarmacists. 
The  journey  across  tlie  plains  lasted  the  wliole  of  Saturday,  when  Cool- 
idge  was  reached  where  tiie  country  became  more  mountainous.  After  a 
stop  of  several  hours  at  Trinidad,  tlie  tunnel  near  Ratan,  which  is  2,500 
feet  long,  was  reached,  but  most  of  the  party  started  afoot  over  the  moun- 
tain—8,000  above  sea-level — the  highest  point  reached  during  the  journey. 
The  next  stopjDing-place  was  Las  Vegas,  in  New  Mexico,  at  an  altitude  of 
6,452  feet,  a  town  of  about  6,000  inhabitants,  with  seven  drug  stores  and,  in 
the  old  town,  with  houses  built  of  adobe  or  sun-dried  bricks,  the  walls  being 
very  thick.  Here  the  churches  and  other  places  of  interest  were  visited, 
and  near  morning  of  August  29th  the  journey  was  resumed  and  Santa  Fe 
was  reached — the  oldest  city  in  the  United  States — which,  when  discovered 
by  the  Spaniards  in  1541,  was  an  old  Indian  village  or  pueblo  and  has 
retained  much  of  the  quaiiitness  and  oddity  of  its  early  existence,  though 
fast  changing  by  the  influx  of  American  improvements.  The  river  runs 
through  the  town  ;  the  burro  or  jackass  is  the  usual  burden  carrier;  the 
houses  are  mostly  one  story  high  and,  like  the  old  churches,  are  built  of 
adobe ;  the  streets  are  narrow,  without  curbing  and  without  drainage. 
The  Plaza  or  public  square  embraces  several  acres  and  is  surrounded  by 
the  governor's  adobe  "  palace,"  hotels  and  principal  business  houses.  A 
few  of  the  latter,  several  private  residences,  a  college  building,  a  Methodist 
church,  a  hotel  and  a  hospital  are  the  only  buildings  erected  of  other  mate- 
rial than  adobe. 
•  Tuesday,  August  30th,  found  the  excursionists  homeward  bound.  The 
ancient  ruins  of  Peco  Church  were  visited,  also  the  hot  springs  (tempera- 
ture 120°F.)  about  six  miles  distant  from  Las  Vegas,  and  Kansas  City  was 
again  reached  after  an  absence  of  one  week. 
The  Colorado  excursionists  numbering  over  forty,  including  ten  ladies, 
took  the  Union  Paciflc  Railroad  from  Kansas  City  on  Friday  morning, 
August  26th,  and,  after  an  uninterrupted  ride  of  32  hours  reached  Denver 
towards  evening  on  the  next  day.  On  passing  through  Lawrence,  they 
were  greeted  with  music  by  the  band  which  afterwards  accompanied  the 
tourists  to  New  Mexico.  The  ride  over  the  great  plains — the  rolling  prai- 
ries of  Western  Kansas  and  Eastern  Colorado — afforded  a  novel  sight  by 
the  absence  of  trees  and  rivers,  the  monotony  being  occasionally  relieved 
by  a  habitation  or  small  settlement,  by  a  dry  river-ljed,  b^'  herds  of  grazing 
cattle,  by  a  startled  antelope,  by  colonies  of  prairie  dogs,  notably  by  the 
cacti  and  numerous  flowers  of  all  hues  and,  on  one  occasion,  by  the  emblem 
of  stern  justice — the  terror  of  horse-thieves  and  other  malefactors — the 
gallows,  which  could  be  seen  for  many  miles  in  the  distance.  The  sight 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  greeted  with  delight.  In  the  afternoon  a 
heavy  thunder-storm  passed  along  the  mountain  sides  and  a  refreshing 
shower,  when  nearing  Denver,  was  a  welcome  relief  from  the  hot  south- 
erly winds  of  the  plains.  Denver  has  been  in  existence  only  for  about  20 
years  and  numbers  now  over  40,000  inhabitants.  '  The  *' Queen  City  of  the 
Plains    affords  a  magniflcent  view  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  which 
