The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-11-26

A correspondent of the New YorI
7si6sse, ne~spaper Il not inclined t.
allow undue praise, gives tbs following
description ~ot the accommodations o,
the Logan' House 1t Altdosa, where
passengsrs on the Pennsylvania Railroad
stop for meals =
"The mountain lap in which this
young and thriving town is seated, has
an elevation Of about LOO feet above
the level Of tue sea, 1t is on the line
Of the Pennsylsani., Central Railroad,
! and at the foot, On the eastern side, Of
the steep ascent Of the Allegheny
ridge, 80 :'~~.
~ + twill not be disagreeable to
the "traveling public to be \ little
moro particularly informed q to the
kind Of entertainment that may be de-
pended on at this llace. It is 3l3
miles from New York by the shortest
route Westward, which in my j9dy-
ment, is also the safest and least wcar-
ing. l have tried all the routes often
enough to compare their merits snd
drawbacks; aud am glad to praise tne
best, that the others may be stimulated
to do as we'll, or better if they can. What
the traveller most suffers from, and
s'umbles about, is railway station fave.
nth every good reason. It is mostly
vile, unwholesome stuff. l can give
authoritative advice as to 81 out Of
every 100 stopping places between Bos-
ton, Washington, Chicago, St. Louis,
&c. "Dop't eat there. You Will yet
bad articles, badly cooked, pay double
price, and carry away a six-bours' head
ache." One of the three in leo where
this will not happen is here.
"On lighting at the Logan House,
you see tho .unsonted convenience of
near forty basins whereat to wash. and
clean fowls to correspond. Water is
brought in pipes from a notch IN the
mountains, called the "kettle," several
miles distant. 1t gives me malignant
pleasure to name in contrast the "waEb
room" at Eastoa, on tie New jersey
Central road, whore the Cincinnati
night express stops for breakfast
Within fifty feet Of canal, and hum
dred or 20 Of the Delaware River, they
furnish one tin basin and one towel
fortnight, fer Fifty or more passengers ;
aud they expect all to wash in the same
water: If any enterprising, :to=g
minded woman wants clean water, she
may find hogshead outside, round
corner, with tap that lets out stream
as big as pipestem, at which in half
an hosr she may renew the basic. The
basins at the Logan House arc in line
along the porch, extending sixty or
seventy feet each side of the dining
room door. A very important result of
this arrangement is that the traveller
has nineteen minutes out of the twenty
for which the train stops to eat deliber-
ately and in a Christian manner;
whereas at places like Easton so much
time is consumed by people interrupt
ing each other 10 the washing process
that he can do nothing but snatch and
run. 1t is, / verify believe, part of
the calculation of railway ing-house
keepers generally to reduce the time of
actual eating, and to jam people toge,h-
er in 4 squabble, so that they can't
swallow more than half a meal. while
they pay for whole one. Expert
enced travellers have discovered this
trick, and prcfer.to starge, if they have
not homemade sandwich in reserve.
The 'Logan House" has front Of
300 feet or more, with wings running
back. The ,lining-roen is $50 feet
lang, and furnished with short tables, at
each Of which twelve people may be
comfortably seated. The foor is always
as clean as if had just been hand
scrubbed. The tablecloths are spotless.
1t was formerly a practice to furnish
napkins, but i: became so common for
travellers to mistake them for handker-
chiefs and carry them of, that it proved
too exp, nsive. As the house dimes, on
an average, 1000 persons daily, from
thirty or more trains, you may infer
that there is deal OF .ssocial SCIENCE"
invol, ed in the management. Yet
there is n, confusion, but perfect order
aud quietnes., explainable largely by
the fact that the house has no bar. A
supply of liquors i. generally consider
ed indispensable to: make hotel popu-
lar. But the Logan House is popular
Notwithstanding. So widely is it known
and appreciated, that people, when they
get on the train at Cincinnati, coming
eastward. say to each other, owe dine
Tor breakfast at Altoona" 4 t So. they
say at Chicago. So they say at New
York and P'hiladclph;. going westward.
They save their stomach. fog the Logan
House fare: So much influence doe.
good, wholesome eating place exert on
travellers, that it often determines them
which Of several main routes to prefer.
Take notice, New York Central, Erie
aud Baltimore aud Ohio-itom which
las. save me, o Fate! :.
Que vote and contrary pig was
the means of tho declaration of the war
with Great Britain. Two .neighbors,
havino adioinino f.rms in Rhod. Ta