Litchfield enquirer., 1850-09-26
LrrCHFIELD COMM THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 1850.

and angular not one of them, I vii venture to say, has altered so much a' the fashion of her gown, since the days o Christians pilgrimage"
 An, well," said I, much comforted "thon I can very readily dispense with their acquaintance.
 The respectable Apollyon was now putting on the steam at a prodigious rate !; anxious perhaps, to get rid of the un. pleasant "reminiscences connected with the spot where he had so disastrously encountered Christian. Consulting Mr.. Bunyan's road book, I perceived that we must now be within few miles of the Valley of the Shadow of Death into which doleful region, at our present speed we should plunge much sooner than seemed at all desirable. In truth, I ex. pected nothing better than to find my self in the ditch on one side or the quag on the other. But, on communicating my apprehensions to Mr. Smooth -it-away he assured me that the difficulties of this passage even in its worst condition, had been vastly exaggerated and that, in its present state of improvement,:I I might consider myself as safe as on any railroad in Christendom.
 Even while we were speaking the train shot into the entrance of this dreaded Valley. Though I plead guilty to some foolish palpitations of the heart, during our headlong rush over the causeway here constructed, yet it were unjust to withhold the highest enconiums on the boldness of its original conception, and the ingenuity of those who executed it. It was gratifying, likewise, to observe how much care had been taken to expel the everlasting gloom, and supply the defect of cheerful sunshine; not ray of which has ever penetrated among these awful shadows. For this purpose, the inflamable gas, which exudes plentifully from the soil. is collected by means of pipes, and thence communicated to quadruple row of lamps, along the whole extent of the passage. Thus, a radiance has been created, even out of the frey and sulphurous cause that rests for ever upon the Valley; radiance hurtful, however, to the eyes, and somewhat be- wildering, as discovered by the changes which it wrought in the visages of my companions. In this respect. as compar- ed with natural daylight, there is the same difference as between truth and falsehood i; but if the reader has ever travelled through the dark Valley, he will have learned to be thankful for any light that he can get: if not frsm the sky above, then from the blasted soil beneath. Such was the red brilliancy of these lamps, that they appeared to build walls of fire on both sides of the track, between which we Leld our course at lightning speed, while reverberating thunder filled the Valley with its echoes. Had the engine run off the track-a ca tastrophe, it is whispered, by no means unprecedent-the bottomlcss pit, if there be any such place, would undoubtedly have received us. Just as some dismal fooleries of this nature had made my heart quake, there came tremendous shriek, careering along the Valley as if a thousand devils had burst their lungs to utter it, but which proved to be merely the whistle of the engine, on arriving at a stopping place. The spot where we had now paused, is the same that our friend Bunyan-a truthful man, but infected with many fantastic notions-has designated, in terms plainer than like to repeat, as the mouth of the internal region. This how> ever, must be mistake inasmuch as Mr. Smooth-it-away, while we remained in the smoky and lurid cavern, took oc- casion to prove that Tophet has not even metaphorical existence. The place, he assured us, is no other than the crater of a half-extinct volcano, in which the Directors had caused forges to be set up for the manufacture of railroad iron. Hence, also is obtained plentiful supply of fuel for use of the engines. Whoever had gazed into the dismal obscurity of the broad cavern mouth, whence ever and anon darted huge tongues of dusky fiame-and had seen the strange half shaped monsters, and visions of faces horribly grotesque, into which the smoke seemed to wreathe itself--and had heard the awful murmurs, and shrieks, and deep shSddering whispers of the blast sometimes forming itself into words al most articulate--would have seized upor Mr. Smooth>it>away's comfortable ex planation, as greedily as we did. Tho inhabitants of the cavern, moreover, were unlovely personages, dark, smoke be. grimed, generally deformed, with mis- shapen feet. ..and glow of dusky redness in their eyes; as if their hearts had caught fire, and were blazing out of the upper windows. It struck me as a pe- culiarity, that the laborers at the forge, and those who brought fuel to the en- zine, when they began to draw short breath, positively emitted smoke from their mouth and nostrils.
 Among.the idlers about the train. most | .,.G..