Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-10-16

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On this point L Lave some information
regarding the contest between the New
York ard Pacific Railroads and the London
and Paris and Suez Canal. Americans may
brag, but the trade is coming up the Red
Sea.
My daughters did not mind tho trip
across the Atlantic any moro than they
would trip from Wilmington to Smith-
vile. As they say we "did up Scotland
very well with the finest weather possible.
Then We hasteped to this place TO see
Switzerland before the snow falls, which
we have twenty days for, and that is
enough.
stopped one day at "Charring Cross
Hotel, London. Thisis castilated looking
building, built on the site Of old Hungerford
Market, one of the great centres of Lon
don. On the back of this building is q
depot for passengers, with eight tracks,
and four platforms of stone. The depot
is 500 feet long. st the outer end Of the
s tracks they converge to four a. and cross
| the Thames on Hungerford bridge of iron,
| thence curve around and recross the
river on an iron bridge to q depot over
the strand IA street, in huge iron trough.
| This road is two miles long and cost So
100000 in gold. This road receives all the
trains that come to London on the West
side of the Thames, and runs trains of its
own every ten minutes, so there is train
in sight every three minutes. Now imagine
| your Office converted into an elegant break
fast parlor-a plate glass window looking
down into q room 100 feet wide and q glass
arch so feet high extending to the river, and
every train drawn in by locomotive almost
without noise and by side doors discharg-
ing 200 passengers, and in one minute
another engine approaches and draws it
lO-1 - l,F,l
all come in and go out by orders given by
signals from man in glass house on the
bridge, who shifts all the switches himself
with levers connected with wires-and
you have the perfection Of passenger traffic.
There is really no change in Railroads
since [ was here in 1859. One thing /
would recommend you to examine into
that is the English switch. It will relieve
you of much trouble. L cannot write you
the details, but will ill up when como
home. The railroad system here is better
for this country than ours, and ours is bet
ter for us than theirs would be.
The effect of the increased supply of
gold, and thesteam engine, and the sciences
of the nineteenth century is much greater
over here than even in the Northern States
of America. You see it as you ride from
Sterling to Glasgow.
The Valley of the Clyde is stretched out
before you. The farming is perfect, and
almost seems as if the corner trees to each
possession had been replaced by n coal
mine--that the townships were divided
| Ivy Railroads-and the white steam from
the locomotive is vieible i'll every valley.
The branch Roads are as plentiful here as
forest paths with us. One thinks that it
must have been hero that Satan tempted our
Lord.
| Il 4
| looks like the creation of Alladin's lamp,
and when You stand in front Of Roths-
cbilds villa on tie shores of Lake Gen
eva, and look what art has created i'm
presence Of natures great boauties--of
Mount Blanc, and tho Lake<-of the city
of the vineyards. and flower gar
dens-Ono cannot describe it-but he feels
like the "Caliph for day." asking dan
cling girl to bite his finger to let him know
chat he is awake. 1t hardly seems posi-
ble that it is real.
Yesterday I rodo two hundred miles
through the plains of burgundy, and the
valleys of Switzerland, and the grapes and
fruit saw |! I! and the grapes L ate Had
l been III doubt before, this ride would
have removed it all. If the "Castlo
Hayne Company" are the pioneers OF any
such results as l SEQ here the Wilmington
and Weldon Railroad Company will build
a monument to Col. Cannon as one of its
greatest friends
] saw on both sides of Lake Geneva as
far as the eye can reach, one mass of vines
no other cultivatiOn-the inhabitants
hardly leaving themselves ground enough
to live upon, and except the city of Whining
ton, there IS no town on the line of your
read that has Inhabitants enough i'll it to
! require more than tea acres of land to
build their town upOn--if here--so yalua-
bic is the land regarded for grapes. On
the steep mountain sides they build stouo
walls even, fifty to one hundred feet high,
| to sustain the earth. Yet, with all this
trouble to cultivate, and the great value Of
lands, l purchased more grapes than my
whole party could eat in p day for ten CenLS
There are thousands Of acres of land
along the Wilmington and Charlotte, and
Manchester Railroad (besides the cntiro
} line Of your road, that are adapted to the
grape now, and by tile drainage millions OF
acres more of piney lands could be made
available, and during our time grapes will
always bring at least eight cents per pound.
What has been done here can be done
with us-and then you viii want your
double track. Like causes will produce
like effects, and he that comes here and
looks with intelligence and thought, must
see our Future, and can improve his own
and coming generations condition.
But Colonel you must wait until we get
to "Castlo Hayne some quiet night, and
l will tell you all
K
Tomorrow night VIC will sleep eight thou
sand feet higher up, and be surrounded
with snow. This place is in ten miles Of
the present terminus Of the Middle Rail
road line, being built through these noun
tains to connect London and Paris-on
one side-with the East via Italy-and on
the other via the Red Sea.
K
Your friend,
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