SCENIC MOUNT LOWE
BY GEORGE WHARTON JAMES.
IN AND AROUND THE GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO RIVER IN ARIZONA
THIRD EDITION. 346 PAGES. CLOTH. 8VO. ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS.
$2.50 Net. Postage 30c. Extra.
THE INDIANS OF THE PAINTED DESERT REGION
SECOND EDITION. 268 PAGES. CLOTH. 8VO. SEVENTY ILLUSTRATIONS.
$2.00 Net. Postage 25c Extra.
INDIAN BASKETRY.
THIRD EDITION. OVER 400 PAGES. UPWARDS OF 600 ILLUSTRATIONS CLOTH. 8VO.
$2.50 Net. Postage 25c. Extra.
HOW TO MAKE INDIAN AND OTHER BASKETS.
SECOND EDITION. 140 PAGES. CLOTH. 8VO. 220 ILLUSTRATIONS.
$1.00 Net. Postage 12c. Extra.
IN AND OUT OF THE OLD MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA
450 PAGES. 135 ILLUSTRATIONS.
$3.00 Net. Postage 30c. Extra.
TRAVELERS HAND BOOK TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
SECOND EDITION. CLOTH. 16MO. FOR THE POCKET. 520 PAGES. MANY
ILLUSTRATIONS.
$1.00. Postage 10c Extra.
_The Grandest Railway in the World_
SCENIC MOUNT LOWE
AND ITS
WONDERFUL RAILWAY
How the Sierra Madre Mountains have been surmounted by
Electric Cars, and the most Beautiful and Grand Views of
Mountain, Valley and Ocean Scenery made accessible to all
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
FIFTH EDITION
BY
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES
AUTHOR OF
Travelers' Hand-book to Southern California
In and Out of the Old Missions of California
In and Around the Grand Canyon
The Indians of the Painted Desert Region
Indian Basketry; How to make Indian and other Baskets
Etc., Etc.
1905
PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
MOUNTAINS.
Centuries old are the mountains;
Their foreheads wrinkled and rifted,
Helios crowns by day,
Pallid, serene by night;
From their bosoms uptossed
The snows are driven and drifted
Like Lithonus' beard
Streaming, disheveled and white.
Thunder and tempest of wind
Their trumpets blow in the vastness;
Phantoms of mist and rain,
Cloud and the shadow of cloud,
Pass and repass by the gates
Of their inaccessible fastness;
Ever unmoved they stand,
Solemn, eternal and proud.
--LONGFELLOW
in "The Mask of Pandora."
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Mountains, by Longfellow 4
Man's Love for the Mountains 7
Distinguished Testimony 13
Mount Lowe Railway 21
Origin of the Mount Lowe Railway 23
Rubio Canyon 27
Great Cable Incline 29
Echo Mountain 31
Echo Mountain House 33
Lowe Observatory 35
Professor Larkin 38
The Spectroscope 43
Great World's Fair Searchlight 47
Operating Machinery of Great Cable Incline 49
Glen Canyon 51
Mount Lowe Eight 53
Phantom Sea 55
Alpine Division 57
Nature and Art 59
Magnificent Views 61
Circular Bridge 65
Alpine Club House, Hanging of the Crane 69
Benefits of Mountain Climbing 79
Health Gained in the Mountains 83
Mountain Canyon in the Winter 85
Flora of Mount Lowe 88
Coast Islands from Mount Lowe 93
Looking from Mount Lowe Over the Valley 94
From Alpine Snow to Semi-Tropical Sea 96
From the Mountains to the Sea 102
Dawn on Mount Lowe 104
Tri-Crested Summit of Mount Lowe 106
A Forest of Pines 106
The Name 107
How to See Mount Lowe 110
Summer on Mount Lowe 112
The Summing Up 114
The Beauties of Mount Lowe 115
Other Picturesque Trips on the Pacific Electric Railway 116
Long Beach 116
Whittier 119
San Gabriel 120
Monrovia and Baldwin's Ranch 123
[Illustration: Alpine Scenery in Winter on Shoulders of Mount Lowe.]
THE MOUNT LOWE DIVISION
PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY
[Illustration]
Scenic Mount Lowe
Man's Love for Mountains.
In all ages of the world man has been a lover of mountains. Ruskin
says, "Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery,"
hence it is natural that man should love them and that they should
exercise great and potent influence upon him.
Carmel, Ararat, Hor, Horeb, Nebo, Sinai, Olivet, Hermon, Calvary, and
others have left--through the literature of the Bible--ineffaceable
impressions upon the highest civilizations of the world. All oriental
literature abounds in references to mountains, and men were incited to
lives of majesty, power, and purity by contemplation of them.
Every student of Japanese literature knows the influence Fuji Yama has
had upon the destinies of that thoughtful nation. Life in the mountains
of Afghanistan, Beloochistan and Northern India transformed the calm,
meditative, pastoral Hindoos into active, impulsive, warlike peoples,
whose movements resemble somewhat the fierce storms that play upon
their mountain summits or the wild winds that whirl down their
canyons.
[Illustration: Robert T. Lincoln and Other Distinguished Visitors in
the Snow near Echo Mountain, Mount Lowe Railway.]
The mountain traditions of Europe would fill many large volumes, and
the folk-lore of the peasantry, as to how they came by their names,
makes most fascinating reading.
Who is there that cannot discern--what Sir Walter Scott so forcibly
presents--the influence upon the national character of the Scots and
the Swiss exercised by the rugged, bold and snow-crowned mountains of
their native lands? And the proverbial philosophy of both these peoples
contains many coins with a mountain superscription.
There is scarcely a poet of any age or clime whose soul since Homer
made Olympus the home of the gods and Parnassus the seat of poesy, has
not thankfully accepted the uplift of mountain influence.
Of nearly all the true, pure, heroic souls of history one could
exclaim: "He made him friends of mountains," and we read with thrilling
delight the thoughts inspired by mountains in Homer, Virgil, Dante,
Goethe, Schiller, Moliere, Fenelon, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Wordsworth,
Browning, Agassiz, Winchell, Clarence King, LeConte and others.
[Illustration: White Chariot Ascending from Rubio Canyon.]
On Sinai's rugged brow it was, amid heaven's awful thunders, God showed
Himself to Moses, and, through him to mankind, in the two tables of the
law. On Hor's solitary peak He condescended to place the priestly Aaron
in his tomb. On Carmel, His servant, the dauntless Elijah called for
fire, and God responded with the devouring element from heaven. On
Ararat, above the drowned world, the family that was to re-people the
earth, started after their long confinement in their floating home. On
Pisgah, Moses stood to survey the promised land. On Hermon Christ's
transfiguration took place. On Hattin He proclaimed the beatitudes. On
Calvary He was crucified, and on Olivet He ascended.
While the exigencies of business and commerce have made it necessary
for the large majority of people to dwell on level plains or on the
shores of the ocean, the greatest peoples and the nations which have
longest maintained their independence have been those which inhabited
mountainous sections, and breathed the pure air of the higher
altitudes. The purest patriotism, the highest intellectual attainments,
the greatest love of family, and the most perfect physical development
have been found among people who were inspired by the grandeur of
mountain scenery. The clinging faith and stern patriotism of the
Hebrews were the result of their love of the mountains of Palestine;
the love of the Greeks for the mountains on which they lived gave them
the intellectual and physical vigor which enabled them to roll back the
Persian hosts; the sunny mountains of Italy were an inspiration to the
Romans which enabled them to rule the world, and the heroism of the
Swiss in preserving their national autonomy in spite of all Europe, is
the most illustrious example of what has been the history of all
mountaineers. Mountains are the barriers which have preserved nations
from destruction, and national borders generally run parallel with
mountain ranges.
[Illustration: Looking Through Open Door of Alpine Tavern, Mount
Lowe.]
Distinguished Testimony.
As a specimen of many such testimonials which have been publicly given
in regard to the popularity of the Mount Lowe Railway, I append
herewith portions of an admirable letter written by the Hon. W. C.
Patterson, late President of Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, to its
membership. The date is September 27, 1895. He said: "In the interest
of my health and for the sake of most exquisite recuperation and
enjoyment, I have made thus far thirty-nine visits to Echo Mountain,
and several trips to the summit of Mount Lowe. I have also passed three
or four times over the matchless five miles' extension which is called
the 'Alpine Division,' and which extends to Mount Lowe Springs, where
is situated Alpine tavern, an altitude of 5,000 feet above sea level.
"The Mount Lowe Railway, which enables one to penetrate the
very heart of the Sierras with entire ease and comfort, has
no counterpart in the world, either to the originality of
its conception, the solution of what has been heretofore
considered impossible engineering problems, or the
indescribable picturesqueness of the ever-changing scenery
through which it passes.
"Any one who makes a single visit becomes full of
enthusiasm, but mine has grown cumulative to such an extent
that language seems utterly inadequate. As I have witnessed
the results of Professor Lowe's great genius, enterprise,
and perseverence, and have studied his personality, I am
more and more impressed with the belief that he is an unique
character, and one of the great men of this progressive
age.
[Illustration: Professor Lowe Addressing his Guests on the Suspended
Boulder, Rubio Canyon.]
"It is a matter of intense surprise to me, and almost
disgust, that so few of our own people right here in sight
of our beautiful Sierra Madre, have availed themselves of
the opportunities which he has opened for studying their
more than Alpine beauties, their inexhaustible and intensely
interesting geological and botanical resources, to say
nothing of the benefits to be derived from the delicious
mountain air, freighted as it is with sweet odors and
buoyant exhilaration.
"These mountains are not, as many suppose, barren and bare.
Vegetation extends to the very summit, more than 6,000 feet
above the sea level, and the flora which abounds is a
surprise, both as to its beauty and variety. The Alpine
extension passes and repasses through delightful and
romantic oak groves, and through forests of stalwart pines.
Prof. Lowe's discovery of the existence of a quiet, steady,
clear atmosphere suggested to him the idea of establishing
in these mountains scientific institutions, especially
astronomical and meteorological. The former science has
already been installed in the splendid observatory, which is
presided over by a distinguished astronomer, who nightly
delivers free lectures illustrated by glimpses of the
heavenly wonders through the great telescope. This
observatory has already achieved a world-wide reputation,
and from the superior conditions of the atmosphere in which
it is placed, numerous discoveries have already been made,
while other similar institutions have made no progress. It
is said that for astronomical purposes, similar atmospheric
conditions can scarcely anywhere else be found. These
mountain peaks ascend almost abruptly from the ocean level,
and in the great valleys adjacent the fogs and mists settle,
leaving the air clear and transparent. The cool ocean
breezes modify the effect of the sun's rays during the day
and reverse the currents at night, whereby the atmosphere
is, as it were, drawn from the desert over the higher
ranges--nearly twelve thousand feet in height--having such
cooling effects that the waves and tremors so annoying to
astronomers in other localities are entirely absent.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Ready for the Ascent to Echo Mountain.]
"There exists in the minds of Eastern people an impression
that Southern California is a hot climate, especially in
summer. This impression arises from a variety of causes.
Many assume that oranges grow only in hot countries. This is
not necessarily true. They will not mature in cold climates,
but they will thrive luxuriantly in mild climates. It is
said that in Florida, where the summer climate is hot and
sultry, oranges mature in six months, whereas a year is
required in California. Another cause for the existence of a
false impression as to our summer lies in the fact that
heretofore some of our large hotels, which were owned by
Eastern capitalists who control Eastern summer resorts
closed their doors about the first of May, which is really
just the period when our climate becomes the most
delightful. Even when our inland districts become somewhat
warm there is always delicious relief to be found at the
seashore or in the mountains. It would seem strange to those
not familiar with the fact that the mildest and most equable
portion of our climate is found at altitudes of three to
four thousand feet. Those who visited Echo Mountain during
the last winter may remember that delicate flowers
flourished, while at an elevation of a thousand or fifteen
hundred feet above snow fell to a depth of several inches
and remained in the bright sunshine but dry atmosphere
several days without melting. This has made possible an
interesting experience, by which within thirty minutes after
leaving the beautiful flowers of Echo Mountain and the
valley below one can enjoy a sleigh ride among the pines in
the vicinity of 'ye Alpine tavern.' The mountain atmosphere
during the full six months is so mild and dry and pure that
one could sleep in the open air without the least danger of
taking cold.
[Illustration: Hon. R. T. Lincoln, Marshall Field, and Other
Distinguished Visitors in White Chariot of Great Cable Incline, Mount
Lowe.]
* * * * *
"I can guarantee that every person who goes over the Mount
Lowe Railway from end to end will want to repeat the
experiment and will urge his friends to go. The enterprise
should have the hearty co-operation of all people interested
in literary and scientific progress.
"The mountains of Switzerland, especially since the advent
of mountain railroads, have made that country, with all its
climatic drawbacks, a Mecca for tourists from all over the
world. When the beauties and attractions of the Sierra Madre
are fully made known why may not a large percentage of this
vast tourist travel be attracted to our very midst?"
[Illustration: PROF. T. S. C. LOWE.]
[Illustration: Group of Alders near Mount Lowe Springs.]
The Mount Lowe Railway.
A few years since, a man whose boyhood was passed among the mountains
of New England, conceived the idea that by the use of modern electrical
appliances the summits of the highest peaks of the Sierra Madre could
be reached and an easy route opened up whereby people could scale these
heights with the same ease they ride over a modern railway. The result
was the construction of the Mount Lowe Railway, the most scenic
railroad on earth. The originator and constructor was Professor T. S.
C. Lowe. He constantly kept in view the artistic effects as well as the
engineering conditions, and the result has been a road of easy grades
and one where the most artistic pictures of scenery are brought into
relief.
[Illustration: WINTER AT MOUNT LOWE SPRINGS. Thirty Minutes from
Perpetual Flowers at Echo Mountain House.]
[Illustration: Scene near Maple Springs, Mount Lowe Railway.]
Origin of the Mount Lowe Railway.
The genesis of the Mount Lowe Railway is not far away. In 1889 some
preliminary surveys that had been made for the purpose of scaling the
Sierra Madre were submitted to Professor T. S. C. Lowe. He became
interested in the matter and decided to make a personal examination of
the ground, and shortly afterwards placed his corps of engineers in the
field for the purpose of making a thorough survey in order to determine
whether the work was practicable. After the engineers had been at work
upon another route for many months Professor Lowe cut the Gordian knot
by suggesting the now world-renowned Great Cable Incline. It was like a
revelation to the engineers, and from this on the engineering problems
were of easy solution.
[Illustration: In Glen Canyon, near Echo Mountain, Mount Lowe.]
The route starts from Altadena, a beautiful residence section about
four miles north of Pasadena, from which point an electric railway runs
over the high mesa and up Rubio canyon, a distance of 2-1/2 miles. The
lower portion of this distance gives some very beautiful views of
valley and ocean, and as the route enters the canyon it winds in and
out following the devious course of the sparkling little stream which
leaps over the rocks, now crossing smaller canyons on substantial
bridges, and then cutting through solid rock, making a picturesque road
which, were it not overshadowed by the greater glories of the upper
portion, would of itself be famous. At Rubio canyon the foot of the
Great Cable Incline is reached at an altitude of 2,200 feet above the
sea.
[Illustration: Rubio Pavilion and Concert Hall, Rubio Canyon, Mount
Lowe.]
Rubio Canyon.
Rubio Canyon above the pavilion is one of the most picturesque and
beautiful spots to be found in the mountains. Immediately on entering
the visitor is charmed and surprised with the richness of the verdure,
the trees, shrubs, ferns and flowers that greet his eye. From the
valley the mountains seemed barren,--now we see that they are fairly
covered with mountain mahogany, lilac, holly, and other chaparral,
while in the deeper canyons, pines, spruces, bays, maples, sycamores
and live oaks flourish in large numbers. Ferns, mosses and trailing
vines in profusion and variety cover the rocks, while
'The witching tangle of the maiden-hair,
The sweet grace of the gold and silver ferns,
The nodding coffee fern with beauty rare'
seek shelter in hidden nooks, whose perfect solitude is only penetrated
by the lover and the enthusiast.
Among the objects of interest in Rubio Canyon are Suspended Boulder,
fern glens, moss grottos, peculiar stone formations, grand chasms,
Ribbon Rock, Thalehaha, and nine other exquisitely beautiful
waterfalls. Just below the Suspended Boulder is Mirror Lake. It extends
across the complete width of the canyon, which somewhat narrows at this
point, and reaches for quite a distance, being bridged by the plank
walk leading to the Grand Chasm and Thalehaha Falls. The exquisite
reflections of the trees, shrubs and towering rocks, together with the
electric lights and Japanese lanterns on festive nights, give to Mirror
Lake an indescribable charm.
[Illustration: Great Cable Incline, Mount Lowe.]
The Great Cable Incline.
The distinguishing feature of the road below the summit of Echo
Mountain is the Great Cable Incline, run by a novel application of
electric and water power.
This marvelous piece of railroad engineering has called forth the
unstinted praise of many eminent engineers. The scientific press has
been unanimous in expatiating upon its unique features and designates
it "the greatest mountain railway enterprise in existence," and says
"the engineering problems have been solved in a manner to challenge
admiration."
This Incline extends from Rubio Pavilion 2,200 feet above the sea, to
the summit of Echo Mountain, 3,500 feet in altitude. It is upward of
3,000 feet in length, and makes a direct ascent of about 1,400 feet.
The grade begins at 60 per cent., after passing the turnout it is 62
per cent for quite a distance, then it makes two "buckles," one to 58
per cent., and on nearing the summit to 48 per cent. Sixty-two per
cent. means a rise of 62 feet in going forward 100 feet, which gives an
idea of its great steepness.
The cars are permanently attached to an endless cable, and are so
balanced that in ascending and descending they pass each other at an
automatic turnout, exactly midway on the Incline, and are so arranged
as to keep passengers always on the level, regardless of the steep
grades of the Incline.
The cable is of the finest steel and was thoroughly tested to a strain
of ONE HUNDRED TONS, and, as under any circumstances the loaded cars
will never exceed FIVE TONS, its absolute safety is at once apparent.
[Illustration: "White Chariot" nearing Summit of Echo Mountain. On
Least Grade of Great Cable Incline.]
The view, in ascending, is indescribably grand. The motion is smooth
and easy as if soaring to the clouds on wings.
At first, the mountains composing the Rubio Amphitheater appear to rise
with the car, and yet the view enlarges every moment. Passing through
Granite Gorge,--an immense cut in the mountain slope, where all the
workmen who could possibly be crowded upon the mass were engaged for
eight long months before a single tie could be laid--over the
Macpherson Trestle--an immense bridge, 200 feet long and 100 feet
higher at one end than the other--the San Gabriel Valley unfolds its
incomparable charms, and, as the elevation increases, the view expands
until, on reaching the verandas of Echo Mountain Chalét, the whole
scene is presented in its full glory.
The grade of this Incline was such that burros had to carry cement and
water for building the walls and buttresses, before the track could be
laid, and, as there were many points where not even burros could climb
in safety, men carried the required materials on their shoulders.
Echo Mountain.
Seen from below, Echo Mountain appears as a mere abutment from the main
range, but when one stands on its summit the name "Mountain" is then
seen to be singularly appropriate, for it is dissevered, except by a
small "saddle," from the main range by Glen and Echo Canyons--canyons
half a mile and more in width and over a thousand feet in depth. Hence
the location on this mountain, midway between the San Gabriel Valley
and Mount Lowe, with towering mountains and abysmal canyons, affords a
variety of scenery almost inconceivable to the dweller in the valley.
[Illustration: Echo Mountain Chalet and White Chariot on Great Cable
Incline.]
This outlook, 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, with mountains,
foothills, ever verdant valleys, cities, towns, villages, old missions,
sea beach, shipping, islands and ocean in full view, has no equal.
Thirty miles of bridle roads radiate from Echo Mountain, on which
guests may roam or ride into romantic canyons, dells and nooks
innumerable with freedom and safety.
These foot paths and bridle roads and the scenery they reach are not
equalled at any resort on the surface of the globe. An entire week can
easily be spent in rambles without visiting the same place twice, and
then only a small portion of the delightful mountain and canyon
recesses will have been explored.
Echo Mountain House.
On the crest of Echo Mountain Professor Lowe placed two hotels, one
"The Chalet," which still remains, the other, "Echo Mountain House,"
which was destroyed by fire three years ago. It was a superbly equipped
hotel, of magnificent proportions and unequalled outlook, where many
visitors from all parts of the world congregated. It is the intention
of the Pacific Electric Railway to rebuild Echo Mountain House in the
near future. This decision will be gratifying to those who have
experienced the delights of this beautiful hotel in the past. The exact
location of the new hotel is not yet decided.
[Illustration: LOWE OBSERVATORY, With Hotel and Buildings on Echo
Mountain, Mount Lowe Railway, after a Snow Fall.]
Lowe Observatory.
This Observatory is located on a slope above Echo Mountain. A walk has
been constructed from the Hotel to the Observatory, so that all who
desire to visit it may do so without inconvenience or fatigue.
It is presided over by Professor Edgar Larkin. The instrument with
which he is now searching the heavens is a 16-inch refractor, made in
his best days, by Alvan Clark, the late lamented lens-maker of
Cambridge, Mass., and it is, according to the maker's testimony, the
best glass he ever made.
Professor Larkin thus writes of the advantages of the Lowe Observatory
for astronomical work:
"The site of this institution is ideal, both for telescopic
and spectroscopic purposes. So great is the purity of the
air that both these instruments can be used in the most
accurate measurement. The definition of the stars and disks
of the planets is perfect, and the entire year presents but
few nights during which a micrometer cannot be used. Stellar
spectra are clear cut and steady, and in the solar spectrum
the Fraunhofer lines are perfectly defined, the thin lines,
in diameter equal to that of a spider's web, can be seen
without difficulty. Few observatories in the world have a
clearer sky, or a location presenting less trouble from air
currents and changes. To illustrate the clearness of the
atmosphere, it will be merely necessary to state that the
trapezium in the Great Nebula in Orion shows distinctly at
the exact instant of rising over the mountain peaks! The
writer has often observed the trapezium--the entire seven
stars--when only one minute had elapsed since rising over
the rocks forming the summit of the mountains! This will be
appreciated by all who have long used a telescope in any of
the Eastern observatories. The moon is white--not yellow,
and the floors of the craters, the cones, whence escaped
molten lava ages ago, and the delicate tracery of shadows
are revealed with marvellous accuracy of detail.
[Illustration: The 16 inch Equatorial Telescope of the Lowe
Observatory, Echo Mountain.]
"Nebulæ can be seen here that are invisible in many other
instruments of equal or greater aperture. Double stars are
separated at this observatory, that would seem to be beyond
the power of a sixteen-inch glass. Closely packed clusters
are dispersed into separate diamonds, rubies and sapphires.
But no tongue or pen can describe the glories of the Milky
Way. Imagine jet black velvet spread over with heaps,
streamers and spirals, made up of every possible color of
precious gem--with diamonds in excess. These stars all
separately invisible to the unaided eye, are seen as
individual points in the telescope. They glitter with
supernal light, and scintillate in every hue of the
spectrum. They are piled up by the million on the
inconceivable blackness of infinite space, for never-ending
space is black in the telescope. The Zodiacal light in
autumnal evenings and mornings is seen extending almost to
the zenith--a cone of pearly light.
Professor Larkin.
"Edgar Luciene Larkin was born in a log cabin, twelve miles
north of Ottawa, La Salle County, Illinois, on April 5th,
1847.
"But why? To this moment it has been an inscrutable mystery
why Nature allowed this event to occur. It happened on a
farm. My parents were poor enough to furnish a topic to a
writer of modern socialism, such as 'unequal distribution of
wealth'; 'submerged nine-tenths'; 'why billionaires exist'
and the like. The log hut was in a beautiful place, near a
stream of clear, cool water--Indian Creek. It runs along
through the north, from west to east, bending to the south,
and discharges into the Illinois River at Ottawa. This
stream is lined for miles with a magnificent forest, called
the 'woods.' Stately trees of oak, ash, elm, maple, walnut
and many other species waved in the winds, and in the
autumn, colors beyond description fell on the leaves and
they were all splashed with careless gold and scarlet. And
the 'sear and yellow leaf' abounded. And 'Oh! those days in
the woods!'--Nature days--whose memory now is enough to
awaken the highest impulse in the mind. The neighbors did
not find fault with my folks, and they were considered to be
respectable, by even the nearest--not more than a mile away.
Father was just ordinary, and the friends said that I 'took
after him.' He farmed and mother merely kept house--the hut.
These were pioneer days; a few cabins broke the distant line
of horizon, to the west and south. As far as could be seen,
even from the writer's perch in the top of a tall tree,
there was one vast expanse of tall, green grass waving in
the wind. But how beautiful! Climbing trees to see the
'waves roll' was ideal. The wind tumbled and tossed the
grass into rolling waves, miles in length. The scene was
wonderful; it was that of a prairie in Illinois. Just now,
as we write, looking out of the window, the waves of the
Pacific Ocean are seen thirty miles away. They are not more
impressive than those majestic waves in the grass. For the
writer became as expert in tree-climbing as his pre-historic
and remote ancestors in South American forests. My
mother--still living--is a woman of mental force and
ability, of high morality and nobility of mind; but she
could not bring me up right, that is, to be a farmer. The
writer was sent to plow corn, and from subsequent events he
now believes that he actually did; the weeds escaped
entirely. I was transferred to the dairy department, and had
sole charge of the cows. These loving creatures and the
writer became fast friends. One was 'ring streaked,' and
another 'spotted and speckled.' Old 'brindle' led the
procession down to the creek for water, with the writer in
the midst. And 'the lowing herds wound slowly o'er the lea,'
in those happy childhood and bucolic days. A mighty event
took place; grandfather put up a frame house, with boards
outside, real boards of pine, brought to Ottawa on the new
canal; and the boards were painted white!
[Illustration: PROF. EDGAR L. LARKIN, Director of the Lowe
Observatory.]
"My father died when I was eleven years of age, so mother
and I went to live in the new white house, with the
grandparents. But there was no schoolhouse; the settlers
were poor, but finally one was erected. It was not red, in
fact never had a coat of paint; and was about the size of a
large room in a modern dwelling. Teachers were scarce and
books likewise. Another event happened; a retired German
physician came to 'farm it.' He had a library. I borrowed
all the books he had in English, but the great volumes in
German were as hieroglyphics. School opened in September,
1858, and the onerous, difficult and discouraging job of
'educating' the writer began.
"Then the greatest event of all occurred, on an auspicious
day, October 5th, 1858, and I was asleep. Grandmother came
in haste at about 10 P. M., aroused me and said, 'Oh! Edgar,
come and see the comet.' When behold! the mighty comet of
Donati seemed to span the heavens, and looked as though it
came out of the black forests and extended to the zenith.
Mortal eye has not seen a more wonderful display.
"Its blazing nucleus was then passing the star Arcturus, and
the scene is now in the writer's mind as though it were but
yesterday. Cuts of the comet at the time of passing Arcturus
may be seen in works on astronomy. Next day the writer
decided to begin the study of astronomy. But how without
books? The teacher had a copy of Burritt's Geography of the
Heavens and Atlas. The writer asked her to sell it; she
would for $1.00, although it cost her more. But the dollar!
Grandfather was perpetually paying for land. Dollars were
exceedingly scarce. Grandmother had one gold dollar; this
she gave me and the book was purchased. A surveyor living
near had a four-inch lens. He placed it in a square tube of
wood, and with one eyepiece made up a telescope, which he
loaned to me. So the study of astronomy was commenced with
this outfit in my eleventh year. The first work was to trace
the path of the comet among the stars on the atlas. The
pencil mark is on the atlas yet, with 1858 scrawled in
boyish figures. Five terms of school of three months each
were attended, when arrangements were made for me to go to a
high school and later, an academy in Ottawa. Then came
disaster, weakness of the eyes. School, reading, the
telescope, all had to go; and with heavy heart the little
telescope was returned to the good old surveyor. Grandfather
died, the dear old home was broken up; we moved to a nearby
village, Earlville, Ill. In my fourteenth year my eyesight
became strong enough to permit two terms in a graded school
of six months each.
"This 'finished' the work of education, for events were such
that I never entered school again. In 1879 the writer built
a private observatory in New Windsor, Ill., and on January
1st, 1880, a fine six-inch Clark equatorial, with circles,
was set upon its pier. In the spring of 1888, Knox College,
in Galesburg, Ill., erected a good observatory on the
campus. All the instruments were removed from New Windsor
and placed in the new dome. The writer was director of the
Knox Observatory from Aug. 1st, 1888, to Aug. 1st, 1895.
"Upon coming to this fairy land of the earth, Southern
California, I was appointed director of this mountain
observatory, the Lowe, taking charge on Aug. 11th, 1900.
Everything happened in August. Here is an elegant Clark
sixteen-inch telescope, with spectroscope and tele-camera,
with accessories. The writer has not startled the world by
capital discoveries in astronomy, but has confined his work
to writing for journals and magazines. Enough has been
published to make several volumes. Only one series has been
printed in book form--'Radiant Energy.' Study of science has
been continuous, save for one deflection of six years, which
were devoted with intense interest to Hindoo, Iranian,
Persian, Egyptian and Greek philosophy and Esoteric
mysteries, the occult.
"The writer is a life Fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, of the Southern California
Academy of Science, and of the Astronomical Society of the
Pacific, but has not surprised any of these societies by the
discovery of a law greater than gravity, nor what matter is,
nor electricity, nor how grass grows, or why we are here on
earth. None of the mean things that the writer has performed
are inserted on account of the inordinate length of this
note."
The Spectroscope.
About 1600 A. D., Kepler placed a prism in a beam of sunlight and saw
what had not before been seen--so far as known--the first solar
spectrum. A century later Newton darkened a room, admitted solar rays
through a round aperture in a shutter, passed them through a prism and
obtained a clearer spectrum than Kepler's. Little was thought of these
things, however, until, when in 1802, Wollaston made a slit in a
shutter, projected a spectrum, in which he was surprised to see a few
dark lines. In 1814 Fraunhofer made a spectrum in the same way, but
happened to look at it with a telescope. This act changed the course of
the science of optics for all time; it was the origin of Spectrum
Analysis, one of the chief products of the human mind, one of the
corner-stones upon which rests the structure of modern science. Men's
minds immediately began to expand, and a period of mental activity set
in, the like of which was never known before. Fraunhofer saw hundreds
of lines, but the great spectroscope in the Mount Lowe Observatory
shows thousands, in width from that of a spider-web to one-tenth of a
millimeter. They are the most valuable set of lines known. They enable
finite man to tell what the earth, sun and stars, meteors, comets and
nebulæ are composed of. The prism of Newton and Fraunhofer is now
displaced by the diffraction grating--ruled by Rowland 14,438 lines to
the inch. These striæ break up light into its elements, reflect them to
the eye, and in solar and stellar light reveal the absorption lines.
The spectroscope of the Lowe Observatory made by that accomplished
optician Brashear is one of the finest.
[Illustration: White Chariot nearing the Chalet on Echo Mountain].
[Illustration: Night Scene, with Searchlight, Echo Mountain House,
Mount Lowe.]
Great World's Fair Searchlight.
The Great World's Fair Searchlight, which is now so well known from its
operation on Echo Mountain, first became famous at the World's Fair,
Chicago, where it excited great interest, and surpassed all other
exhibits in its line. After the Fair, it was taken to San Francisco and
exhibited at the Mid-Winter Fair, where it delighted thousands from the
Bonet electric tower, 264 feet high. When the Mid-Winter Fair was over,
Professor Lowe purchased it and removed it to Echo Mountain, where it
rests at an altitude of 3,500 feet above sea level. Until this great
searchlight was established in its present location its powers could
not be brought out on account of its location so near the general level
of the surrounding country. Here, however, it is so located that its
rays can be seen for 150 miles on the ocean, and the most distant
mountain peaks can be made visible by its penetrating rays. The beam of
light is so powerful that a newspaper can be read for a distance of
thirty-five miles, and its full sweep illuminates the peaks of
mountains which are hundreds of miles apart.
It is of 3,000,000 candle power, and stands on a wooden base, built in
octagon form, which has a diameter of about eight feet. The searchlight
itself stands about eleven feet high, and its total weight is 6,000
lbs., yet it is so perfectly mounted and balanced that a child can move
it in any direction.
[Illustration: Machinery for Operating the Great Cable Incline, Mount
Lowe Railway.]
The reflecting lens is three and a quarter inches thick at the edges
and only one-sixteenth of an inch at the center, and weighs about 800
lbs. The metal ring in which the lens is mounted weighs 750 lbs., the
total weight of lens, ring and cover being about 1,600 lbs. This great
mirror is mounted at one end of the big drum, the outer end of which is
furnished with a door, consisting of a narrow metal rim, in which are
fixed a number of plate glass strips five-sixteenths of an inch thick
and six inches wide. The value of this great searchlight in
meteorological work has already been demonstrated on a small scale.
When there is moisture in the atmosphere, and varying wind-currents,
the light turned upwards discovers the directions in which the wind is
conveying the clouds, and aids in revealing the conditions that cause
these variations.
Operating Machinery of the Great Cable Incline.
Like many other things in connection with the Mount Lowe Railway, the
machinery is unique and unlike anything ever before constructed.
The power was originally furnished by water. For the first nine months
the Great Cable Incline was operated by water power and electric power
generated by two monster gas engines. Now the power is supplied from
the Pasadena plant of the Pacific Electric Railway. It is transmitted
by large copper conductors to the Echo Mountain power house, supplying
current to the 100 horsepower electric motor, which makes 800
revolutions per minute. Then by a series of gears the revolutions are
reduced from 800 to 17 per minute, which is the speed at which the
massive grip-sheave turns. The grip-sheave consists of a tremendously
heavy wheel, on which about 70 automatic steel jaws are affixed. As the
wheel revolves, these jaws close and grip the endless cable, to which
the cars are permanently attached, and thus are they raised or lowered
as occasion requires. By this method there is practically no wear
whatever to the cable. It is not strained and chafed by the constant
operation of gripping as on the street railway cars, where the inertia
of trains of cars of many tons weight has to be overcome by the
gripping of the ever-moving cable.
[Illustration: Leontine Falls, near Echo Mountain, Mount Lowe Railway.]
Every safety device and appliance of known utility that could be used
has been placed upon the machinery and thoroughly tested, so that the
unanimous verdict of the many eminent engineers who have scientifically
examined in detail the machinery and its working is a deserved tribute
to the foresight of Professor Lowe. That verdict is, that it is the
safest railroad ever constructed; and the possibility of accident is
reduced to a lower minimum than on any cable, electric or steam system
in the world.
Glen Canyon.
This is one of the many quiet and secret ferny nooks reached in a few
minutes from Echo Mountain House. Bridle roads and foot-paths reach
these secluded spots, and there in ferny dells, surrounded by towering
trees and majestic rocks, charmed by the babbling brooks, the rustling
of the leaves and the sweet singing of thousands of birds, one may
while away the hours in delicious restfulness.
[Illustration: AMONG THE GIANT FERNS. Glen Canyon, near Echo Mountain,
Mount Lowe Railway.]
Mount Lowe Eight.
To ride on well constructed bridle roads up mountain slopes, winding in
and out on diversified paths, through and by bowers of fragrant trees,
shrubs and flowers, looking _up_ through towering pines to majestic
cliffs and ponderous rocks, looking _down_ into the depths of vast
canyons, where deer find shady coverts, and looking _out_ upon scenes
of perfect beauty and sublimity--these things fill the body with vigor
and buoyant enthusiasm, and the mind with lasting pictures of
increasing interest.
[Illustration: On the Bridle Roads of the Mount Lowe "8."]
[Illustration: The Phantom Sea in the Sierra Madre.]
Realizing this Professor Lowe early had constructed more than thirty
miles of wide and easy-graded bridle roads radiating from Alpine Tavern
to all the higher peaks and summits of the range. The most important
sections of these roads are known as the "Mount Lowe Eight," for, in
making the complete ride to the summit of Mount Lowe from Echo Mountain
and return, the figure "8" is described, the rider crossing his own
path in one place only, and nowhere else riding twice on the same road.
The Phantom Sea As Seen from Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe.
One of the most exquisitely beautiful sights ever witnessed is when a
low fog covers the San Gabriel Valley. This fog never rises above a
level of about 2,700 to 3,000 feet, and when one is on Echo Mountain,
3,500 feet in elevation, the upper surface of this fog is spread out
"like a phantom sea" below. The "cities of the plain" are covered with
this snow-white or creamy pall. Underneath is partial gloom and
dampness. Above, the sun shines upon a silent sea, whose waves are
tossing and lifting, swaying and waving, until finally--generally
between 8.30 and 9.30 in the morning--the heat, in dissipating the
glowing white ocean, builds fantastic and mysterious forms on its
surface, and draws them upwards to rapidly swallow them up and make
them disappear in its warm embrace. Such a sight stirs the soul to its
greatest depths, and suggests thoughts sublime and soul-uplifting.
[Illustration: Point Diablo, Mount Lowe Railway.]
The sea is made of the exhalations from the Pacific ocean and covers
the whole valley with its white, misty veil on certain mornings. It is
1,500 to 2,000 feet deep, and never reaches the summit of Echo
Mountain. As seen from the great hotel it looks like a vast expanse of
hummocky ice, as is often noticed in winter off the Atlantic Coast.
The Alpine Division.
The guest who has reached Echo Mountain should not conclude that he has
seen the chief beauties which align the route of the Mount Lowe
Railway. Not so! What he has seen are but the adornments which are
festooned around the vestibule of the greater glories of the Alpine
division which carries him into the very heart of the Sierra Madre
range, and amid the solitude which reigns among the higher peaks and
spurs. This division extends from Echo Mountain to Ye Alpine tavern, a
distance of five miles. The road is a substantially built electric
road, with grades but slightly exceeding seven per cent., on which the
cars are easily propelled by electricity. Indorsing all that has been
said of the beauties of Rubio, of the Great Cable Incline, and of Echo
Mountain, yet these afford but comparatively limited ranges of vision,
sometimes obscured by the fogs and smoke of the valley. On the Alpine
division, however, one is above these impediments to sight, and the
range of vision extends until lost on the distant horizon. The air is
clear and transparent, so that mountain peaks, distant islands and
far-away valleys seem to draw near and pass in review like a silent
procession of giants.
[Illustration: The Mount Lowe Railway and Valley from Mount Lowe.]
Nature and Art.
In the construction of the railroad Professor Lowe exhibited the same
skill and energy that were so manifest in the lower portions of the
route. The grade of the road has been made so low that one imagines he
is riding on a level surface rather than climbing the steep and rugged
sides of the Sierras. This grade enables the cars to be propelled with
a great saving of power, and at whatever speed necessary to give
passengers the finest views of the incomparable scenery which aligns
the route. With that fine artistic taste which the originator of the
enterprise has shown in every detail of the construction, he has built
the track just where the best views of mountain, valley and sea are to
be found, so that the road, instead of disfiguring the landscape, as do
so many of the old-fashioned cog-wheel roads, adds to the beauty and
charm of the scenery and gives to the particular section of the Sierra
Madre where the "City on the Mountain" sits, an added charm.
The road climbs up the sides of the mountain in graceful curves, and as
one is being carried along he often wonders where an opening to the
apparently impassable walls of granite which hem in the way can be
found. At one point of view, by looking up and down the steep sides of
the mountain, nine different tracks can be seen rising one above the
other. One of the unique features of construction is a bridge, which
spans a canyon, and rounds a mountain peak, thus forming a complete
circle. This division of the road is the only railroad in the world in
which, throughout its entire length, the ties are laid upon a shelf of
solid granite. And so carefully has the work of construction been
done that since its completion no accident has occurred to any of the
thousands of people who have ridden over it. Its solidity ensures
safety and exempts it from the dangers which environ railroads in the
valley.
[Illustration: Jason Brown on Mount Lowe Bridle Road, Castle Canyon.]
[Illustration: View from Artists' Point, Head of Grand Canyon.]
Magnificent Views.
But the grand views which are revealed along the route are the
principal charms of the Alpine division. Until Echo Mountain House is
reached the view is somewhat hemmed in by the nearness of the mountain
sides, in Rubio Canyon and even when going up the Great Cable Incline.
From Echo Mountain, however, a wider expanse of view is obtained, and
as the higher altitudes are reached the scenery becomes bolder and the
range of vision enlarged until it seems as though the whole of
Southern California was spread out beneath. Distant Catalina Island and
the more remote Channel Islands, off Santa Barbara, have drawn near in
the clear atmosphere, and the numerous cities which bestud the plain
appear close by, while the higher peaks of the Sierras stand out
against the sky with startling vividness. The vast depths of Millard
and Grand Canyons serrate the mountains as if the "plowshares of God"
had upturned a path for winter torrents through the solid granite.
Nature blends her softest and most bewitching vistas with the stern
grandeur which pervades the mountain heights and the broad expanse of
ocean which ultimately unites with the distant horizon.
[Illustration: In Glen Canyon, Five Minutes from Echo Mountain House.]
As the road finally swings around into Grand Canyon, the character of
the scenery changes and the vistas of valley, plain and ocean are shut
out. All hint of the habitation of man is gone, and one realizes a
sense of the solitude of Nature. The vastness of surrounding mountains
and the great canyons impresses itself on the mind and one feels that
the only thing which connects him with the abode of man is the frail
wire which pulsates with that mysterious power which is doing so much
of man's drudgery.