New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-06-11
SUMNER RETREATS.
West Point.

Everybody has heard OF Cozzenss Hotel. II
stands on a plat, embosomed in verdure, with
mountains Of green in the rear, and the Hud
son in front. The steamer Aida took US from
New.York. The morning was exquisite, and the
steamer bore us swiftly along. OF course, we
| were sentimental at starting. Every one who
starts off on new track dstarbs neglected waters
| which have been lying placid in some hidden re-
| cess of his brain. Everybody feels, and almost
| everybody attempts description mental, oral, or
| written But who cares bow people feel, or how
they described Sentiment dogenerstes into dribi
ble-description is tedious, life is old story, and
so are landscapes. And, in hot weather, who is
fool enough to read IL is far easier to write and
hence so much more is written than read.
1t was CAIN on the Hudson; half dozen yachts
lay off Hoboken ready to start on a race to the
Hook and back but no Boreas was here with
winds in his fists. The pilots whisted, but the
morning was STILL It twas not Boreas who said,
"whistle, and III come to you, my lad"
We had a Scotch Military Company on board
with feathery caps rs big as barrels. The men
were not large enough for Grenaders, and were
thus, we presume, called Fusileers. Their band
made music for us. This was animating, exhar
atiDg, delightful The pipes were there-the genu-
inc Highland bag pipes. 1t was national music.
We thought we saw the martial glow and the
alacrity of step OF men who felt the inspiration of
glorious home recollections, and proudly thought
Of their native heather But the bag. pipe mans
legs were bare for section between the hose and
knee-not altogether bare either for they were well
covered with native growth. We heard a female
say the look was vulgar. This was error.
Merely pcturesque-so was bis -ess-so were
the dresses OF some of his companions. And he
played with relish
"He screwed his pipes and CART them skid"
The Aida sped like arrow. These North
River boats 90 like the wind and make no fdss.
They carry 40 bone in the mouth They slip
through the water like trout; and who ever saw
a trout, dart he never quick, carry foam before
him The cars went by on the river road smut
", dusty vehicles they are in hot weather Give
us the boat. Shops and schooners whtened the
river. The atmosphere moved not aud they moved
not. We raised a great breeze by our speed.
Every one who goes ahead smart raises a breeze.
We met great numbers OF steamers, and passed a
few but none oy srtook us. The Aida has swirl
foot. Forests castle we passed without know
ing it. There is q great defect IN Forests
arrangements He should have an agent on board
Of each boat to show it TO travellers. II was built
for show Let il be shown. In q hours We land.
ed at West Point 55 miles-20 miles an hour. Is
not the Aida fast boat She is, and cheap
bOat-the fare but 50 cents for our ticket and We
got il no cheaper than others the captain did not
know we should praise her The banks of the
Hudson River looked fresher they seemed smooth
and velvety under the sunny haze. Every shade
of green there but there are very hard points.
Whole mountains, with a growth no longer than
sleeps wool, and as precipitous as Sleeps back.
At Caldwells Landing 1t is even worse than this.
The rocky specks cover the sides OF the immense
bills in the vicinity and now, during the full
vigor Of vegetation, dispute its supremacy. Here
are the acknowledgements of the precious specula-
ton 10 raise Capt. Kidd vessel the work appears
singularly insignificant. considering how much has
been said about it. There is something that looks
like worn out dredging machine, and what ap-
ha a al Of NTatchad
encircling it, that was dignihed with the name
of "cofier dam" Three telegraph wires cross
the river at the narrow gorge Just above sprlnglng
from the top of flag staff on one side, and touch
ing the top of the hill on the other. The foot OF
these frightful hills are girted at their base on
the waters edge with the railroad, which is
dwarfed by contrast into an obscure hoop
or band. At one point it pierces an angle Of
the mountain, too steep and abrupt to turn, by a
tunnel West Point itself is enjoying the stdtH
quo. 1t thrusts itself out like foot from beneath
the leg of pair OF spring. bottomed pants, kicking
the river into an elbow Fort Putnam, in the rear,
dilapisated as it is, could be quickly made a Glib
taltar. The Cadets are a brisk, hearty, trig look
ing set of fellows, in gray Coates, white gloves
and white pantaloons. They are content in the
main, but denur little in a private way TO
having their beans cooked in the sosp-boiler. They
are willing to stand the potashkette but objectto
the application OF soft soap 70 their digestive ap
paratus. They believe it can be kept in order
without it. The Committee of Visitation appointed
by Congress 10 look after the Commissariat de-
partment of the establishment, as well as its in.
terests in general are politely furnished here with
the bill Of fare for the students, which is so made
up as to be unexceptonabe but the boys say
that the "puddngs" and other fixins therein put
down, are the merest fgments of the imagination
such a thing a a pudding not being seen from
January to December. AT Christmas they had
what was called pastry but the Cadets, after
trying their teeth at it in vain carpeted the floor OF
the eating hall with the India underwriting com.
pound We commend TO Congress the appoint
ment Of an Investigating Committee as they are in
that way just now TO see that the person or per-
sons having the contract to feed the ncipent chv-
airy Of the nation do not get rich too fast by
abridging the needful supplies Of our Aedging mil
itary heroes
Nature don't change in the vicinity of
West Point. 1t is for miles to the north
as it was left at the Deluge. The tremen-
dous bluffs that rise sublime and PERCEPTIONS
opposite the village Of Cold Spring milo above
West Point, stand eternal monuments of the in
vincibility of the rougher features of the earths
surface. It's shelborn sterity can not be conquer
ed or subdued. Nature here stands erect and de-
6ent in her wild msjesty amid the highes. and
proudest monuments Of mans triumph over m after
In the bottom Of dell or gorge that shoots 10 at
right angles from the river, between oyerhanging
precepieces on either hand that mount hundreds OF
feet into the air. nestle the famous West Point
Iron Works. They are a gigantic Blacksmith
shop, where single masses Of iron weighing some.
timesfrenty trHs are takenupi in moment oIanged
into furnace, heated and drawn out and put on to
an anvil, and there beaten and fashioned into any
desired shape by hammers weighing no less THAI
nine tuns The facility with which ibis Amos,
superhumsn labor is accomplished is wonderful
The castings Of iron, though amazing enough. are
yet not 90 truly Astonishing a. the working of the
wrought metal The shafts and cross bars for the
engines Of the gigantic steamships of New-York.
are forged here One was under the hammer
during our visit that weighed about s5 600 pounds.