The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1847-08-27
Miscellaneous
Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette.
About Lancaster. and sO-foriII.

IALLMApoE HoUsE, LANCASTER, Aug. 81.
The Stream Of travel has worn SO deep
aud stronga channel through dhe more
central counties of the State, fashion fol.
lows the main current, SO that many Of
the most beautiful sections are but sell.
dom visited. With this impression | slept
into the slOW coach for Lancaster, quite
satisfied to forget railroads and express
lines, their hurried din aud ceaseless clat-
ter. Leaving Columbus at 81 A NJ,
you soon find yourself on the grinding way
where even Mcadam is unknown. Beau
tifnl fields on either side, skirfed with
fine woodlands; wavng fields Of corn
now in its tasseled beauty, large mead.
ows of fresh-mown grass; everything in
short, betokened the comfort and quiet of
the farmers life--the very life blood of
the State.
There is a tameness; however, in these
broad fields, from which the eye finds a
delightful relief as you near the valley Of
the Hooking. Everything is changed
bold ridges and steep declivities-slreamS
now shallow, but whose beds give assu-
rance of the mighty s~weepings of the
spring floods, crossed by bridges.t to pass
which in safety is a great relief to nery-
GUS temperaments. Noble chestnuts, on
which my eyes have not rested for many
aduy, crown the dividing ridge. In fact
you are almost at the source of the Hook
ing-a wild glen, where she spruce and
chestnut remind you of other days and
scenes. The unitarian has. already slept
in, and from the bend ofthe road the bel,
fry oft large cotton factory may be dis
cerned-the gathered waters being task
ed for early duty ere, indeed, they had
emerged into the light of day.
Twenty years ago your correspondent,
one of a small party o four, vending their
way for the first time into the then com
parative wilderness of the west, first saw
Lancaster, 1t was later by some months
than the date of this letter, and the fall
rains had been early and severe, yet not
so as TO enable the heavy draught boats
of the times TO ascend the river. We
we're apprised at Wheeling by a friend
that the route via Columbus was almost
impossible, and our safest way, to obtain
a private conveyance-tIlen quite the
customary mode to travel. We accord
ingly hired a carriage and four, and made
the necessary preparations for the oxpe.
dition. My military companions-jusl
, from the "Point"-were in high spirits,
and the carriage was stored with a won
t derful array of the creature comforts
But such a journey! Our whip" was a
|, man of varied resources, accustomed to
such roads, with whom stalling and break
downs were an every dayincident. Otter
: belated, we had a favorable opportunity o.
/, studying Western architecture--some
times luxurating in our cloaks on the soft
, side Of plank, and anon creeping up
/ the loft, for the enjoyment of a bed
r which would hardly be worth a dispute
$ for occupancy. We we're nearly a fort
night en- route, always stopping, when ar
: irving at any place that bore the marks oil
progress, a few days to recruit. Now bu,
little more than a day and a half is re
q qnired on the rail route via Columbus
$ and a Macddam extends almost from
| Wheeling to Cincinnati Vi aLancaster AM
Chillicothe.
Lancaster reposes in one of the mos
beautiful valleys, ever fashioned by thu
hand of nature. tits indeed a pleasan
e spot, and from every point of view tn
eye sweeps in a panorama Of varied anc
beautiful imagery. The hills reminC
you Of those which once surrounded you
e own city, say Once-for they have in
n great measure been robbed of Their beau
II ty Of outline. Here the submits ar
5. crowned with their sylvan outlines, no,
d bold and serried, and mon sweepin,
down into the valley with rich and wav.
outline. One bold headland stands gu
IS in fine relief, cleft from the summit to tn
o base by some convulsive throe, the rura
s p~recepice commanding one of the choice
IF est views in the whole outline--a favor
lite resort of the Lancastarians. The
;. are, fortunately, too much tinctured wit
the German phlegm, to commit the fati
A. leap for any Of the ills that flesh is heir t.
% so | believe their is no romance of tn;
It kind to impart a tragic interest. Tn
field may be considered open for any
10 your cites who may aspire to an immoI
at tality that way.
a, The reader would be misled, if he SUI
70 poses that Lancaster though surrounde
H. by hills, occupies a plain. Far from /
is This is its remarkable feature. FroI
ic the valley, which the eye can follow /
a. its varied w%indings, rises a beautiful hill
the main street springing from the Wes
a ern base, with a very slight grade. Whe
A. beyond the business portion, it is abrup
Hence the necessity ofheavy stone wall
is which are faced at great expose wit
ID dressed sandstone, emitting Lancaster
if the appelation of the walled city-only
7 is internal instead of external. Butt
At remarkable how common they are, Intro
n duced often where they could easily b
IN dispensed with.
ID This sandstone, by the way, i svery 81
III perior, close grain and works admirabl
The foundation of a newEpiscopal Cha
ell is of the shade and texture so muC
w prised in England and if the buiIdir
va could be finished with the same materi
ID it would add much to its beauty.