Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-08-24

ihlnutlac Oh nuslnsl MORE antiques,
pointed laces and diamonds, which
adorned the beauty of Misses X, y and
u, but content himself with saying that
the assembly was composed of persons
In the very prime of life that the gen.
tlemen toere gentlemen, every inch, and
the ladies were handsome, graceful, ele.
gantly and becomingly attired, princl-
pally in white, but with tasteful and
appropriate intermiXture of the red and
the blue, The festivities were contin-
ued far into the small hours" and the
occasion was pronounced by those who
are competent to express an opinion, as
in every respect one Of the most pleas
ant of the kind they had ever witnessed.
Thursday morning party under the
leadership of John Hall, Esq, whose
hospitality and unremitting attention to
visitors are hereby most gratefully ack-
nowledged,) started on an excursion to
the top of Mount Anthony. The COM
pany consisted of Mr.. and Mrs. John
Hall, and Mrs. Henry Hall Of Benning-
ton, Mr.. and Mrs. Geo. F Houghton, and
Mr.. and Mrs. L. L. butcher of st. Adams,
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry Clark of Poultney,
Mr.. and Mrs. f. A, Fisher of Sutherland
Falls, and lastly Messrs. Henry Hall of
Rutland, n S. Cooley of Boston, Mass,
and NJ. Burbank of Ludlow, with their
ladies - far away. We proceeded
on our winding way" in two large open
wagons, driven by skillful drivers, and
arrived in due time at the place
of destination. The summit is
covered by a thick growth OF
hard wood, in the midst of which has
been erected an octagonal observatory,
thirty feet in diameter on the ground,
and upwards Of one hundred feet high,
which towers above the trees, and can
be seen by passengers in the cars at
quite distance. The tower is secured
as firmly as possible by iron stays hav-
ing one end fastened in the building,
half way from the bottom to the top,
and the other end attached to timbers or
rocks imbedded in the ground at the
distance Of several feet in all direc lions.
A moderate wind is sufficient to produce
swaying motion which is clearly per-
Ceptible to any one stationed at the top
Refreshments can be obtained at a
marquee near by, although pure cold
,0ater is furnished not without consider
able labor, as the nearest spring is about
half a mile distant.
Provision is made for sheltering and
feeding horses; swings and other &C
commodations have also been provided.
People are constantly coming and going
by almost every known method of con-
veyance. A good pedestrian will ordin-
arily prefer to walk the last mile or so,
and there are practicable routes through
which the summit can be reached by
persons on foot at half the distance Of
the carriage road, and which afford OPP
portunity for those who fancy the lower
regions to explore several dark caverns.
What shall we say of the view from
the observatory What is the use of
trying to describe it? There is spread
before the beholder panorama, the area
of which embracing portion Of three
states, is to be estimated, if at all, not
in contemplate square feet, but in gen.
erous miles, towns and counties. At the
foot and on all sides Of the conical pro-
tuberance, above which, if may so
speak, we are suspended in our fast
anchored balloon, at the height of nearly
5000 feet above tide water, we look down
upon villages, farms, forests, meadows
and fields of corn aud grain, which lie
in the bottom of gigantic basin, and
slope gently upwards to the edges, dim
or distinct, smooth or scalloped, of the
Green, the Hoosic, the Catskill, Helder-
berg and Adirondack Mountains.
The town of Bennington, with it's
three villages, East, Central and North,
the most historical Of any in the State
lie in full view.
There is the old burying ground, where
rest the remains Of three Vermont gov
errors, Moses Robinson, Isaac Tichenor
and John s. Robinson and also of the
late brave and lamented Col. Stone.
Yonderis the old "Arms house." where
State arms were deposited in revolution
airy times, and there is the old Cata-
mount Tavern, with it's colossal Chin
neys and ponderous sign, upon which
used to stand stuffed catamount, grin
ming flercely toward New York, as much
as to say, "If you want anything here,
why don't you come and take it 2" In
this tavern the Committee of Safety sat
and deliberated on the day of the memo
rable battle.
Here, in Centre Bennington, stands
the large Congregational meeting house,
of which the Rev. DR.. Jennings is at
present the honored pastor. This church
might be called the Old South of Ben
for in its basement were kept
at one time quite number of British
and Hessian prisoners.
At the distance of two or three miles
from North Bennington, our cicerone.