Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1854-08-18
From the Allcghanies.



To The Edtor ef The Free Press,
said in my former letter that Pennsylvania wa.
called n "Blind Giant That she is "g,ant"
Commonwealth, few who know her greatness and
strength, will doubt
Come with me in Imagination, and will give
you proofs Of her might. Do you those broad
and beautiful valleys, stretching far out into the
distance, exhibiting the highest state ofcultvaton,
every field loaded with its new whitencd harvest,
all looking like great garden and speaking of in
dustry, energy, and skill in the science of Agrcul-
turc The stranger as he Is hurried through
State, cannot imagine why Pennsylvania is called
an Agricultural state. lie docs not see her farms.
Starting from some gap in her mountains. which
border on her streams, these valleys widen and
reach onward for miles, nearly all Of them Of ia"
richest limestone soil in the highest state of cult
vaton. Let me point to one of them. Six miles
below this place. you can see where Jack monntoin
top marks the line Of the horizon the side
while running, seemingly from it, toward the North
West, Stone mountain presents her ragged crest
There at that point, and through that little notch.
in the hills you enter Kishacoquillas Valley more
than forty miles long believe, and two or three
wide, Nesting between those mountains. and nearly
two hundred miles from any great market and yet
the land selling readily for from So to SIPS per
acre Everything, hill and valley fence and field.
speaking Of the prosperity Of the people. There,
reader, that is one Of the sincws of Pcunsy ylvana
strength.
! must digrcss for moment to tell what
there is in this valley to excite interest. 1t took
its name from an old friendly Indian, of whom ira
dition has handed nothing down except the name,
who had his wigwam in this valley And here once
lived and moved in the full flush Of manhood
Logan, the Nlingo Chief, whose eloquent speech,
/ every school boy in the states remembers Abou
six miles from Lcwistown, (a point the Juuiat',
thirtythree miles east of this), beautiful spring
known as Logan's Spring. Many interesting anec-
dotes are related of this good Indian. One told by
Judge Brown, shows Logan in his true character
The Judge hunting expedition found the spring,
and while stopping to drink, saw reflected in the
water. the erect shadow Of tall Indian. Startled
the sight, the Judge seized his rifle and faced his
dread foe. The Indian gave one yell, knocked W
the pan of his gun, threw out the printing, and held
his open hand to the Judge in token of friendship
"This,' said the Judge, twas Logan, the best spcc
men of humanity ever met, either uhne or red y
Years since, visited that Spring, that might bav'
it to say that | had drank from Spring, whcr'
such specimen of full growth manhood had beer
wont to sake hi, thirst and when ! stood aui'
the haunts of "Lognn, the friend of white men,
can it be- thought tnAt there is ''not ono to mourl
for Logan" Ii that were true once, felt that i
not so now.
But to return 1t is from her hundreds of ric
valleys which hid to the eye of the traveller
= that Pennsy vania gathers her teeming harvest
Her people emincntly farming population. il
dustrious, frugal, honest, with great desire to ow
good farm.
In the valley of the Junata is found and man,
featured, what for fifty years has been known IL
Juniata iron, valuable everywhere for the toug
, ness aud fneness of the fibre. Every County
central Pennsy ylvania, has erected in it or lc
e in number of what called blast furnaces, whe
the iron ore i. run through charcoal fire, and Il
Il rough pig is the product. There also many ru
!, out fires process Of refining after the furnace
= done its work. The hammers of hundreds Of torg
- can be heard, where the pig changes its charact
into wrought iron. You will also find few anthr
e cite furnaces, where that ghty generator of cal
rc, anthracite, plies its powers in bringing from
= ore it, iron. One of these furnaces is equal on
Il average To two of the char icoal furnaces
But iron is not the only mineral product of Pen
$ syvania, The Allegheny mountain, that gre
r backbone OF the State is filled with bituminous
p while camel coal Of the finest quality is found
IN sonc localities. In another part Of the state,
tending through several Counties North and East
the susquchanna You will find thousands of min
II bringing to the surface the hard coal as all the
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