Litchfield enquirer., 1859-09-01
WAY NOTES.
HousArosIc H1I1s, August 25th,

HousAToSIc HILLS, August 18th, 1859
 Once more among the hills of the Housatonic. They looked better to me before than with the reckless hill-less and undeniaby plain scenery to which have of late been accustomed
 Haunted with memories of them and objects among them, which two or three ycars' absence could not down" the determination to re visit them was formed, and far carried into execution that an August afternoon not long since found me on enc of the depot platforms of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad awaiting the arrival of the iron horse, whose approach line of smoke in the far distance clearly indicated. Up he came with screaming ne,gh and after few hearty gr.sps from friendly hands, fairly rome for the land of steady habits
 Sake in his happy, humorous way has sung the pleasures of " riding rail- which tiluse people who take a prose view of the matter, suppose would be inclined to consider poetical fancy. Il should agree with him. however if for other req son, than because Fanny Fern and Horace Greedy strange allies-take issue with him. in regard to one of the borcs of the rail- The poet, protests in most earnest prose, against his nehbors opening the window in front and exposing Ms lungs to the damp air. and hs eyes to the dust and cnders; where upon Fanny bears down upon him with cavalry charge, and Horace opens with broadside of grape, upon the unlucky comp!ainer. I suppose Fanny would haue the window up if she " took notion to. and her editorial ally also if he could get better idea of crop prospects, and suppose damp air cold air, dust cin.lers, wouldn't hurt either of them, but don't see that this makes the act any
 courteous polite to their fellow pas sengel > who feel disconnected by it. But am letting this matter switch me off from the track of my letter. had started for Cleveland. Our, t,ain rushed through the woods. past the fields and by the smal Ter stations with their groups of loungcrs, which every railroad station has, and at the end of an hour the tall chimneys the steeplcs, the masts os the shipping, and the blue writers of Lake Erie, showed that we were nearing Cieaveland.
 The railroaI runs along the shore of the lake here among the warehouses. the machine shops, and ms while the city for the most part is built upon a bluff considerably higher than the lake. Cleve- land has thriving home business, and is getting quite fourishing trade established with the old world. About dozen vessels have cleared from her pot this season. for England and the continent,
 
 portance The traveller along the road from Cleve- land to Erie finds little interesting in the county or scenery. The mention of Harbor Creek and Erie, brought to mind the famous Erie war; and the track tearing er-bread-seling proclivities Of the Erieans. The former tendency they have overcome, the latter seemed, in the five minutes we stopped there, to be as strong as ever.
 1 Nine O clock found me at Dunkirk and in a mood quite disposed to take birth in the N. Y. and E sleeping car, to which half dollar gained me ad- mission It was my first acquaintance with tbis modern appliance for the comfort of the travelling public ani in the morning felt inclined to give it credit for bcDg great improvement over thc more common way, of worrying out night night on the cars. awoke in the moraing, to- see instead of the calm waters of old Erie aid her level shoes along which were passing the night before-tbc fog wreathcd hills of the Susquehannah valley, and to find our train winding between them, and along the banks of the river amid the widest and mos. romantic scenery. For two hundred miles along the Susquehanna and Delaware rive-s, the lover of beautiful scenery will find that which can hardly be surpassed along the lines of great thoroughfres. The Delaware is there small and shallow stream, and flows very gently around and between the hills. hardly giving promise of the size which it attains near its mouth, and scarcely reminding one of the deep and turbid river, whose passage amid tbe ice and slect one of the mastcrly strokes of Wash ington's generalship. Numerous islands from those of or two, down tn little ones, barely large euough 10 be seen, divide its channel and add vare ty to the scenery. The road for miles, follows it .,cxo, built up perpendcularly from the bed of the river, while the rocks rise up as steep and almost over- hanging the track on the other side.
 The fresh evcr-changing scenery, gives continual interest to the route, and Mrs. Parting.on's knit ting work'' which was carefully slowed away in my bag to relieve the monotony of the trip, and even the Daily Tribune, rested undisturbed. The rugged hills with the rising fog, still clnging to thcil sides. the white villages nestlirg down among them, the winding Delaware, and our long train, like thing of life,' rushing over high bridges, and winding along the mountain sides still cinging to those little iron threads, which stretch from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, all formed panorama which no artist could transcrihe.
 It was great project which proposed the Erie railroad, and giant enterprise to construct it. There nothing but bad management to prevent its being successful undertaking, but with ' twenty
 five thousand dollar President and other expenses in proportion, its stockholders have learned the truth of the old maxim, that the cosliest articles are not always the best. I thought saw hint of future expenses, if not of some future disaster in telegraphic dispatch, posted at one of the stations warning engineers to run rery slow over the next bridge-a high, and probably rotten one. Twenty five hours brought me into the "land of steady habis'-six hundred and fifty miles from my start ing point, where to find myself among old aaunts, old scenes, and old companions. M.