The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-08-09

the plane running pafalIe! WIN tAe
descending train and pointing In the
same direction. This IS called the
. horseshoe" and the two trains on
different tracks, of course, are run
MING from the heels to the toe, and
pags each other on the curve with
wh.i-r-r that chills your blood and
with a velocity that makes the head
swim. Down, down we go through
deep cut through the rock which dips
at an angle of thirty-fve to forty de-
grees towards the North, and which
seem more solid than that which pre-
walls to the west of the mountains.
Altoona, at the foot of the noun
tain, Is reached at 1880, fifty minutes
behind time, and here the passengers
breakfast. The delay has whetted
their appetites and each one did am
pie Justice to the elegant meal. The
extensive shops" Of this gigantic
company are located at Altoona, and
are the finest In the whole country.
Previously and east of the summit,
we had passed JOhnstoWn, a city
wholly given over to the manufacture
of iron In its various forms, rails,
bars. nails, &c.
Speeding forward We pass Tyrone
Greek, and strike the Little Juniatta,
which the road crosses nine times
within scarcely more than as many
miles.
All the way down the Little Juni-
alta, the Big Juniatta and the Sus-
quehanna, to Harrisburg, the hills
rise to a great height, while at times
the valleys spread out to a great ex-
tent, and appear like a grand ampi-
theatre, from ten to twenty miles In
circumference, encircled almost com
pietely by the everlasting hills
which are not only rock-ribbed, but
are composed wholly of rock, al
of which is rich with iron. The ap
pearanee of these hills cannot be de-
scribed. They are the most remarka-
Bile on the continent, and it is nj
| stretch of the Imagination to suppose
that the Allegheny mountains are g
solid and gigantic heap of iron anG
coal-suficient to supply the world
for q myriad of centuries. The mos
beautiful scenery and the most sub
lime perspective on the whole route
are in the vicinity of the " Horse
Shoe" in the vicinity of Mif1in, anC
at the confluence of the Juniatta and
Susquehanna Rivers.
| Passing Harrisburg, we enter the
finest portion Of the keystone
State. and see the most ad
mirably cultivated farms, the mos
substantial houses, and the largest
barns. This is the region where
the Pennsylvania Dutch do mostly
dwell, where industry, energy, anC
patient toll have made this The
garden spot Of the State. All the wa
from Lancaster, and even beyond, tt
Philadelphia the crops of oats anC
hay are immense. AS we approached
the mountain from the West, the oati
gradually grew greener, until neal
Cresson, or beyond, they were only
fairly headed out. To the east o
the mountains the reverse was the
case, and before we reach Lancas
ter they are fully ripe The ap
proaches to Philadelphia, on the line
Of the road at least, are different from
most cities we have visited, and thu
country reaches up to the verl
corporate limits Of West Philadelphia
with but very few suburban residences
of any pretensions. The Pennsylva
MIA Railroad is the most perfect IL
construction, equipment and manage
ment that we have ever seen. Goa
is used chiefly on the locomotives
and passengers generally reach Phila-
delphia looking as if they were fresl
from Pittsburg. Soap and water
however, soon remedy that evil. S.