The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 27, 1896, Page 23

Yes, two tramps —my wife and T— longed for a summer outing and a rest, and we could call to mind no spot on earth where the double combination -could be better made than by footing it thréugh a portion of the Yosemite Na- tional Park, gathering and pressing its Boral treasures. We wished to enjoy it, moreover, in the way that a Frenchman * 'is said to feast upon his dinner—thres times; first in anticipation, secopd in participation, and third in retrospection ; and also to do it as inexpensively as pos- Bible, .As we were about to essay a pedestrian journey through the untrodden fastness of Sierran forests and among the vest solitudes of Sierran mountains, where ‘- wild arimals are now supposed to hold .carnival, 1 had sent to Yosemite Valley ;for my breech-loading shotgun, but on . the day of its arrival I inadvertently - caught sight of a notice tacked upon a : tree, ““The rules and regulations of the Yosemite National Park,” and some. . what to my dismay found that one of 1its .provisions read, “No firearms allowed to -be carried without & permit from the .- officer in command.” Here was a dilem- - ma! We had no such permit. To make spplication for one and await its arrival would create a fatal inroad upon our time THH AN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 10 (5] folding lessons of insect, bird and animal life. No wonder that such a prospect should raise our exultant spirits to the | very tiptoe of expectation and charm | away every thought of danger from wild animals or from pelting storms. 1f even | the shadow of timidity still lingered we | rolled it into banishment behind us, bade | a cheery adieu to the comforts and kindly | hospitalities of Crockers station and its | delightful people and set out upon our novel expadition. | Through the prudent foresight of the United States Government and the watch- ful supervision of the cavalry the flocks of | sheep, herds of cattle and bands of horses :‘ which formerly roamed at liberty over it | have been effectually and, let us hope, forever banished. Their depredations had | converted this grand domain into a com- | parative desert, at least so far as its flora | was concerned. But now its wild loveli- | ness is beginning to reassert itself in its | pristine beanty and glory. How intensely the transformation gladdened our delight- | ed eyes and hearts! Every advancingstep | now disclosed a beautiful poem and each | opening scene a wonderful revelation. | Besides this we were quaffing big draughts of life’s elixir from the pine-laden ozone, | the vitalizing atmospheric champagne of | these mountain fastnesses. And we in- | and plans. Some reasoned that the pro- vision was not intended to apply - people as we were, but to keep out game- -aestroying sharps. There was nothing, 2 -however, equivocal or doubtful about the | language and meaning of that rule. It was moreover unmistakably peremptory. | Nothing, therefcre, remained to us as law- abiding people but either to give up our trip or o go unarmed. entertain the former we decided upon the latter, and to take our chances. THE START UPON OUR TRAMP. . Before us lay the vast primeval forest of the high sierras, with its arching and sun-lighted vistas of magnificent trees, its varied and fragrant shrubs, its bright- eyed and charming flowers, its rock- ribbed ‘mountain slopes, its picturesque lakes, its anthem-singing streams and rills, and its undroken solitudes, with all the un- As we could not | o O e HOFFMAN. | quired of each other, “Is not this the to such | fabled ‘fountain of vouth’ that the young | feet and returned a de | and the middle-aged and the old of both | | sexes and of all nations have been seek- ing?" | Itisnotto be supposed, however, that this forest, floral and scenic feasting of soul without some bitter to the sweet, som alloy in so much fine gold of experienee. | Far'from it. On the first day out, when chimbing the ridge north of tie south fork | of the Tuolumne we suffered for want of | water—never aiter that, however. Then | there were swarms of hungry mosquitoes— | but these we either checkmated or dis- persed by smoke, as soon as camp was made. One of the most trying incidents came to us on the third night of our pil- | grimage. We had finished our evening ! repast, built -up our campfire and were and sense was to be exclusively enjoyed TWO BOTANISTS ON A RAMBLE restfully watching the stars that were ! twinkling at us above the treetops before retiring to much-needed rest, when a loud | and unearthly screaming howl broke suddenly end sharply upon the still- ness of the night air. It came with) such ear-piercing shrillness and volume | as not only to startle us but momentarily | to take away our breath. What could it | be? BSuch a terrifying and discordant scream must have come from the throat of an enormous California lion or panther not over two hundred yards away. We begen to realize the danger and possible imprudence of treading the wild solitudes of these mountain fastnesses without fire- arms. Realizing our danger, but knowing from past experience that no wild animal of the Sierras would seek a conflict with man unless woundéd or suddenly ap- proached, 1 sprang immediately to my fiant “Yo-ho!" “yo- ho!” as hard as I could shout it and I am satistied my call could be heard | through the forest stiliuess for over a | mile. At the same time I replenished our | campfire, and kept the butcher-knife in readiness should a band-to-hend en- ounter be forced upon us. Asan addi- tional precaution we pressed into service a large tin pan, having before found that the noise and din from such a “‘weapon!” | was most effective. Better than all these was the assurance, obtained from ex- perience, that I had never known a wild | animal which would not run away from me rather than to me if he had haifa chance. We were abundantly willing to give him a whole one, as there is nothing smali about us, not even our feet! Our nocturnal visitor, large and powerful as \ f'A\;\‘ ALY be must have been, by the volume of his screaming howl, evidently considered “discreiion to be the better part of valor,” as we did not even get a glimpse of 7 We noticed, however, that our mare, Nance, quit feeding to keep a steady eye in one direction. Of course, such an unlooked-for emer- gency led us to questioning the propriety of advancing further on our tramp with- out firearms. But when the bright sun- light wished us cheery ‘“zood morning,” L3 and threw her sweetest smiles upon beds of flowers that blossomed in such profu- sion all around us, how counld we resist the temptation to go forward and take our chances? A little spice of danger, more- over, heightens and intensifies personal interest; and, before long, would not the peaks and domes of Yosemite soon glad- ) X N\ refuge’’? At the crossing of Yosemite Creek we found that heavy winter snows had broken down the Bridge that spanned the stregm and made it impassable for ani- mals and carriages, but as the ends of the broken stringers had caught in among the | bowiders of the creek they had intercepted large quantities of driftwood, over which we could pick our way without diffculty. Some fifty yards above this our horse could safely ford, and we were soon again upon our winding way. The further we tramped and the higher we climbed the more strikingly beautiful became the scenery, while the floral gems kept constantly gaining in novelty and loveliness as wellas in color variety and characteristics at almost every change in elevation. Our daiiy peregrinations now j den our eyes and assure us of a ‘“city of | he Sierra Nevada,” | were from 8000 to 9200 feet above sea level. Up, up, up we kept climbing, until we had gained an altitude of 9200 feet, whence we obtained our first glimpse of the glinting waters of beautiful Lake Ten-ie- ya. On our left stood snow-draped and craggy Mount Hoffman, 10,870 feet in height, from whose bold summit every veak of the Sierras within a radius of fifty miles is clearly visible, and the sound of human voices, loudly shouted, is rolled back in echoes several times. In front towers up Mount Dana, 13,227 feet; Mount Gibbs, 12,000 feet, and, farther south, Mount Lyell, 13,200 feet, while to the north and west rise the cliffs and domes of Yosemite. The glorious prospect from this commanding standpoint once seen will become an enchanting memory for- ever. “‘From Yosemite to the summit of wrote Professor William H. Brewer, after whom Mount Brewer is most worthily named, “there abounds more grand scenery than can be found in any other portion of the State.” The view that is most strikingly beautiful, verhaps, from the highest point attained on this road before making the descent to the lake is that toward Cathedral Peak, with many wildly deep canyons inter- venine. This is very fine, encompassed as it is with other fascinating landmarks. Carefully picking our way down the Tioga road, now considerably washed and torn by thunderstorms and cloudbursts, on every hand can be seen the unmistaka- ble evidences of the great glacial epoch which in the long, long ago of number- less centuries once covered this entire Tegion even to the very summits of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with perpetual deeply striated granite miles in extent are seen in all directions. These glacial writings are to_be found on every moun- tain side and valley floor where disinte- gration has not effaced the record. Then enormous bowlders brought down on the backs of glaciers are lying in every direc- tion and position. When making tne descent to Lake Ten-ie-ya on the oid trail before the present road was constructed the utmost care was an absolute necessity to prevent the horses from shipping and falling on the glaciated surface of the rock. At last, after a tramp of ten days, we stand upon its charming shores. It sur- face 1s as smoothly polished as a mirror, and reflects the surrounding mountains with clear distinctness. Its area is about one and a half miles east and west and three-quarters of a mile north and south. Evidently this great basin was hewn out— plowed. out by the resistless glaciers of former ages. Although very deep on its southern side, it 1s shallow or its northern shore—so shallow that the Tioga road is built directly in dnd ‘through its waters. At the eastern and northern end the cliffs are mostly dome-shgped and glacier rounded and polished. These are named “Ten-ie-ya’s Dome” and “Murphy’s Dome.” On its southern edge “Ten-ie-ya Peak’’ towers boldly up to an altitnde of 2000 feet above the lake, and playfully throws back the echoes of our voices. GLORIES OF YOSEMITE THAT LIE OFF THE BEATEN PATH ice. Patches of highly polished and |these encanting scenes, bathing in the lake, gathering and pressing ferns and Hlowers, we wished Lake Ten-ie-ya a re- luctant “Good-by”; and as this was to be the extreme point of our rambles, at least for the present season, we com- menced to climb the hill on our return and made “Flower Camp,” for thus we had christened it, that evening. There we tarried another day, as it was on this slope that we had found over seventy species of flowers and grasses. Some of the latter, being over three feet high, their tops heavily seeded, with stems compact at the ground, wou'd make valu- able forage grasses for cultivation. ‘When we again awoke and could shout ‘‘Behold how knightly breaks the morn- ing!” the duties of camp life were soon performed, and as our faces were now to be set Yosemiteward we were exultantly looking forward to our early advent there. About a mile west of “‘Flower Comp,” or seven from the lake, we struck the Yo- semite Valley trail, now well worn by the Unitea States cavalry, and ancther day’s journey brought us within its marvelous precincts. While zigzagging down the Eagle Peak trail brilliant flashes of light- ning played around the crest of “The Sen- tinel.” Loud peals ot thunder rotled out from the black clouds that encompassed and filled the great vailey with reverberat- ing echoes, if possible heightening and in- tensifying our aye and reverence for this This lake is the main source of the waters of Ten-ie-ya Creek, that runs through and forms Mirror Lake in Yosemite. Dauring the winter Lake Ten-ie-ya is completely frozen over. There is a most curious phenomenon observable here on summer mornings. ‘When standing on its northern shore a peculiar sound shoots through the air with almost startling volocity, apparently about a mile above the lake. It resembles something between a whistle and a hiss, and its course seems generally to be from west by south to east by north. I have heard this many times and in different years. Now the guestion is at least al- lowable, What can It be? While here on this visit a heavy thun- derstorm broke upon us and thesé cabins proved to us a much needed shelter. After lingering another day among LEFT BY THE GLACIER ON A POLISHED FLOOR. glorious sanctum of majesty and beauty. Soon the drenching rain began to fall. We would have liked to s'ek the shelter of the old cabin had nota few of the Commis- sioners a few days before, for the purpose possibly of showing the exceedingly small material of which some of them are made, presumed to re- fuse to ratify the unanimous action of the State Legislatare in placing that cabin and orchard at my service. I need hardly say that unless I can have them freely and pleasantly 1 do not want them. We wound up our trip by a most delightful rest at the Stoneman House, under the care of its kind and hos- pitable host, J. J. Cook. To our great sorrow this fine hostelry will no longer open its doors to the weary and hungry traveler, as it bas since been utterly de- stroyed by fire. J. M. HurcHINGs. THE POWERS - OF PROFANITY How ;3 MuleTeam was = Gonquered "Santa Glara Hybrids That Upset | the Karmic Law of Gause and Effect The law of balance and compensation is " a generally accepted scientific fact, and out of it grows the idea that ‘““like pro- duces like.”” A good seed in good soil will produce a good plant. This leads on to the theory of harmony. piano will produce a soft mote in re- eponse. The harmony theory even goes further and bolds that a gentle word will induce a gentle answer. A command or request in a kind, gentle voice is said to be the most effectual to produce obedience. And such should be the case according to natural 1aw, and unaoubtedly is in most instances. But such is not the case when it comes to mules. This may be the result of a cer- tain amount of inborn cussedness in the most abused creature in the worid, but in dealing with scientific subjects it is best to stick to facts. That muies do act con- trary to all natural law was most forcibly illustrated a few days ago on one of the roads leading into S8anta Clara. Everybody down that way knows old “Joe” Bhort. He lives some distance out of town on his ranch, but comes in fre- quently. He is a good church member and attends service regularly, and thought that he knew how to handle mules. He has had a span that he has driven for three years, and he has always worked on thetheory of gentleness. He said that it ‘always was a success, but then ll?ose mules had never had any obpositwy. They had been driven over the splendid roads of Santa Clara County and went along as easy as on a city street. They had never heard a profane word. " The day the mules were put to the test was an unusually bot one and the load they-pnlled a heavy one. But they went - along willingly enough until old Joe dropped half asleep. Then they con- ‘cluded it would be a good idea to rest ‘awhile unaer the trses by the roadside. The first thing Joe knew was when the : front wheels ran into the irrigating ditch. He thought he had fallen off the earth at first, but it did not take him long to find out the real state of affairs. One of the front wheels was deep in the mire and the hind wheel was well off the roaa. The best thing to do was to turn ‘the mules so that they -couid pull the -wagon back to where it came from, which looked easy enough to Joe, who thought he would be delayea but s short time. “Now, Kitty, my beauty, get up there; A soft touchon a | | | PORTRAIT OF Sally, come around now. There’s a good irl.,” The only trouble was that Kitty nd Sally wouldn’t do as they were told. They moved around, to be sure, but didn’t budge the wagon an inch. . For over two hours Joe worked with those mules. He petted them and called them nice names, and even walked down the road a guarter of ‘a mile to get them a bucket of water. Kit'y and Sally, how- ever, refused to move the wagon. It was too much like work. The sun got hotter and hotter, and after exbausting his en- dearing terms Joe vigorously applied the whip, but all to no purpose. He even went so far as to call the mules *‘stubborn but the wagon remained in the same place. Joe worked himself into a perspiration and almost wore his whip out, and he was not getting into Santa Clara. 7 Itis possible that Joe might have still been stuck in the ditch bad not a very irreverent friend of his come along. This man knew how to handle mules, and he An exceptionally good portrait of the famous art critic, taken by a London photographer. - It is s4id to be the best and most characteristic photograph of Ruskin extant. 1 | JOHN RUSKIN. didn’t even touch either of them with his whip. “Let me try ’em,"” he said to Joe when he drove up. “Oh, you can’t do nothin’ with ’em,” said Joe; “I've worked a couple of hours and about concluded that they can’t puil out. Guess I'll have to unload.” “Don’t be a — fool, Joe,” said the friend. ‘‘Here, Kiity, you — —1! Sally, — — your eyes, you —! Get, —— ——1! Hoop there! Now, all to- geth®r, — — — 17 Joe was sure he smelled sulphur, as his friend got more and more profane and cracked his whip loudly several inches from the mules’ heads. But what a miraculous effect! Kitty and Sally both got down to business. They gave one good pull and easily hauled the wagon out of the ditch on to the road. Joe was too surprised to thank his friend, but slowly climbed up in a dazed sort of man- ner, and drove into Santa Clara wonder- ing how it all happened, THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER, How to Get Gharacter in Posing Necessity for the Gareful - Study of Facial Expression in Portraiture The idea when making a photograph of a person simyly for the purpose of a pic- ture is to make ‘‘a” figure. The idea when making a photograph of a person for a portrait is to make *“‘the” person in front of the camera. These two princi- ples cover all the difference there is be- tween portraits and pictures. Of coursa a portrait can be a picture as well, and many pictures are the finest kinds of portraits although the one who took them was not intending to make more than a picture. A picture of a person to be a good por- trait should be more than a mere sem- blance of the features of that person. The features are, of course, necessary, but there is something beyond that, and it should be theaim of the amateur to find it. If you will go into a dimly lighted room where there are many people you are well acquainted with it will be possible to pick out the different ones even though not a single detail of their features is visible. A photograph that would show the saine people as faintly would also show them so they could be recognized. The reason for this is that the principal characteristics of the people are the most prominent and as a consequence the most apoarent. Seat two people side by side in the same light, They will in & way have the same features—eyes, noss, mouth, etc. These features will be different shapes and also different sizes individually and compara- tively. Itis comparatively thatthe great- est difference in resemblance will be ob- served. A man may have a large-sized nose and alsoa large mouth and eyes, but his nose will not look as large as that of a man whose nose is much smaller of itself, but whose mouth and eyes are smaller by comparison. The most prominen feature is what causes the likeness, and on the skill of the handling of this will the merit of the portrait depend. If you will carefully study a faint nega- tive of a group of people you will see that in many cases it is only the prominent features that show at all. One man can be recognized simply by the cut of his hair and another can be told by the peculiar shape of his chin. In many cases only a man’s beard 15 enough to give a likeness. The idea in making good portraits is to pick out these features and then arrange them so as to produce a pleasing effect. This can be done by light and shade or by from what would othegwise be offensively laom- sort of background that wiil detract PORTRAIT OF MRS. C. W. CONLISK. An original bit of full-length portraiture that illustrates well the natural and mmonventlonll Ppose, and perfect contrast of light and shade that brings out the details faithiully. prominent. It is trve that many people do not want portraits of themselves as they ‘are, but prefer some retouched work that does not look like anybody in particular. But the amateur should work for some- thing better. £ There is another thing to be studied as well as features, and this is habitual atti- tudes. Some men constantly look straight at you, and as a consequence their profiles never show when they are talging to you. Others are just the re- verse. They seem to be looking some- where else all the time ana are best shown by a partial view of the sides of their faces. . ‘The accompanying picture of John Ruskin by a London photographer is ad- mirable. Nobody ever saw the sides of Ruskin’s face except when hLe was talking to some one else. The pose of the head is also characteristic. The shape of Ruskin’s nose is a promi- nent feature. Without showing this the picture would be a failure. But it has been accomplished 10 the most admirable manner. The pose of the head and the characteristic expression ere bronght out by the full-face view. The shape of the nose is shown by the light and shade. The dark background makes this possible, as the delicate tones of the face are made prominent. If the background was light the face would look much harder and the shadows much denser. Many mothers have small koaak pic- tures of their little ones, taken while they were at play, that they would not ex- change for the finest large pictures taken in the gallery of the best photographers in the country. The kodak pictures show the real child in natural positions and never grow old. While the child grows up the mother still sees it as a babe at play. Itis the same with older people. How much more natural seems the amateur's picture of grandmother, seated in her favorite corner with her favorite book, than the gallery product that made her look ten years younger than she really Was. FOLL LENGTH FIGURE WORK All the Details Must Be Exact The Best Results Are Obtained by Selecting a Natural Attitude In making fulllength portraits it is necessary to get resemblance in every part of the body as well as the face. The re- semblance exists just as strongly as in the face, and if anything is easier to find. If you see a friend several hundred feet away it will be easy to recognize him even though there is not a single detail of his, face or apparel visible. In many cases it will be possible to recognize him when his face cannot be seen, but is turned in an- other direction. This is the result of his character and the manner of his carriage, all of which must be studied in order to make a figure portrait that is true to na- ture. If a man habitually stands with his head pushed forward, as though in deep thought, it would surely be a mistake to pose him with his head thrown back like a dandy soldier. The features would be there, but there would be something lacking that might not be apparent at once. Such a picture soon grows tiresome and in time. ceases to resemble the person at all. Let the person take a natural pose. Orif you want a real good picture make an effort to get him when he does not know it. Catch him in some occupation where he is un- conscious ot anything else, and make a snap shot. Snch a picture will grow on you, and the more you see of it the more you will like it. The full-length portirait illustration is a delightfully original bit of work that was done by an amateur of this City, C. W. Conlisk. The figure is that of Mrs. Con- lisk, his wife, and the pose is so natural and easy that one almost expects the lady to speak. Every part of the figure isa likeness and the pose is so natural thatthe lady seems about to address you. Thegre is no effort at striking an attitude id this picture. .The lady is simply resting her foot on the login an easy position and is as unconscious of posing as possible. But the picture was not made without study. Notice how the light and shade are ar- ranged and how free from conventionality itis. See how the light strikes the face. Itis soft and vet strong enough to pro- duce all the contrast required. Every feature shows perfectly, and at the same time the artistic arrangement of the pic- ture leaves nothing to be desired. The selection of the background is a particularly good bit of work. It just suits the figure and furnishes the required | amount of dark to produce harmony.,