The Portland daily press., 1868-08-21
The Railroad ExcursiOn-NO. A..
SwANToN, VI, Aug. IA, 1868.

SwANToN, VT, Aug. Ia, 1868.
To the Editor Of the Press: s
We have at length reached the objective
| point of our journey, and tomorrow our faces
will be turned homewa-d. For the past five
| days we have been travelling over or near the
| contemplated route of the Portland and Og-
densburg Railroad, and, in the language of the
modern Evangelist, with slight variations
"the living men have viewed the ground where
| it must shortly lie."
However skeptical any gentleman in the
party might have been at the commencement
of our journey as to the feasibility of the pro.
| jected road, there is no lack of faith now
Judge Rice, whose experience in railroad mat
| tiers both as to construction and management
is such as to entitle his opinion to great
weight, after a critical examination of the
most difficult pass in the Notch, became fully
satisfied on this point, and both publicly and
privately endorsed the reports of the engineer
in conjunction with such practical men as
Hon. j. B. Brown, Hon Israel Washburn, Gen
S. j. Anderson, not to mention the lesser
lights of our party, whose opinions on this
point, in my Judgment, are quite as import.
ant, but unfortunately the public don't see il
in that light, so 1 forbear.
That the road will be built, regard as moral
certainty. A people so generally united, and
so Thoroughly IN earnest as the men all along
the proposed route are, cannot fail in the &C.
complishment OF so important an undertaking
In truth the work is now half accomplished
for money is all that is needed and more than
twelve thousand dollars a mile for the entire
~, -,
the energetic efforts of Gen. Anderson, the
managing agent on this end of the line, will
soon accomplish in Maine and New Hamp.
shire what has already been so successfully
done in Vermont.
We lett Hyde Park at an early hour this
morning, attended by large number of gen.
temen from that place. Following down the
Lamoille valley, the first town we enter of i'm
portance IS Johnson. This is very thrifty
village, and the people are already making
preparations for the increased business on the
opening OF the road. l.. M. Knight, Esq.,, one
of the directors, has erected a store, which il
nearly completed, 70 by 12O feet, the largest in
all northern Vermont. The people were as
sembled to greet us and of course the talking
gentlemen trotted out.
waterford Is the next town, lying a little off
from the Lamoile river, a stream that has
formerly been used for manufacturing MIR.
poses, but the mills are now stopped, and only
await the reviving influence OF railroad to
put their wheels again in notion Here, as Ill
along the route in Vermont, we were most en-
Enthusiastically received. Our arrival was an
nounced by the firing of cannon, ringing of
bells, &c. A sumptuous lunch was also pro
vided for us at the hotel Speeches were call
ed for, and Messrs Washburn, Brown. Amber.
son and Mattocks responded briefly but an
propriately.
Cambridge, the next town, is one of the rich
est in the county. As we pass west from this
town to Fairfield we cross the slight elevation
of land which separates the waters of the La
noble from the Mississippi The valley of this
river is one of unsurpassed beauty and rich
ness in agricultural wealth, but as we passed
through it in the evening its beauty was most
ly concealed from our view
on our arrival here we were serenaded by
'he pand OF the village, and so eager were the
people VINO had gathered about our hotel to
near our report that Gov. Washburn was
compelled to leave the supper table to respond
10 their importantly. As he closed other gem
tlemen were called for, and speeches were
made by Messrs. Anderson, Rice Wal
dron, Bingham and Hail. and here the cnrtain
falls. viz Jul '"ih
From the Crawford House to this place not
one In our company was allowed to nav .
farthlng for stage fare, and every courtesy and
attention has been bestowed upon us which II
is possible for gentlemen to extend. And the
nope SO heartily expressed by our sneakers
was responded to by every man in our partv.
That the time would soon come, when bv the
opening OF the railroad, we could have the
pleasure OF welcoming to our city the friends
we had met all along the line, and extending
70 them the kind attentions they had SO liber-
ally bestowed upon us. & f.