The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-09-02
LETTER FROM HUNTINGDON, Ia.

HUNTINGDON, Pa, August %, 1871.
MIR. EDITORIALS your weekly issue
comes to hand, and We read the items of
interest transporting in and around old
Cecil, there arises an almost resistless
impulse to add 4 few items from this dis
tant, though lively little town.
We are about 5000 in population, and
live and thrive upon the Pennsylvania Rail
road. Everything is life and excitement
here-not an hour in the day in which is
not heard the puff of the locomotives
Here are the intersections of the Broad
Top Railroad, which brings forth daily its
hundreds Of tons of bituminous COAL and
on the line of which, a few miles south of
our town, are situated the famous Bedford
Springs. All passengers for the Springs
change cars here, and the consequence is
our hotels are all crowded to OVERLOOKING
with the health ard pleasure seeking pop
ulation from the crowded cities. Cresson,
too, the noted mountain resort, is but a
few miles to the west of us, and has been
well patronized. 1t is almost 1000 feet
above tide water, and on the main ridge of
the Alleghanies. Huntingdon WARM
Springs too, are within an hours drive
of town.
All these places of resort, together with
the beautiful scenery along the line, have
led to an immense passenger business
Frequently trains consist of fourteen cars,
all filled to their fullest capacity. 1t is
doubtless often the inquiry, why and how
has the Railroad Company risen to such
a state of wealth and power. Any one in
the least acquainted with the workings of
the great machine, can show the main
reasons Of success, prime of all which is
the power at it's head. With such men as
Thos. A. Scott so deeply interested, it
becomes next to impossible for it to lag,
or even to stand. The Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company is always in advance in the
application of science to its branch of bust
ness. All passenger trains are equipped
with the Westinghouse air brake, the great
est safety appendage known, by which a
train can be stopped in running few hun
dred feet, when flying along at 40 miles
per hour. Every wheel can be stopped
dead instantly, by the engineer simply
turning stop-cock. Steel rails have
become necessity, and are being put
down as fast as the iron wears out. Sig
nails are used at switches to show danger
if turned wrong, and night watchmen are
employed, winter and summer, who are
required to show themselves to every train,
thus giving chance to detect negligence.
Pullman and other sleeping and palace
portation department-ma of them are
built at cost of $50, 900, and yet they pay
IL per cent. interest on investment. In all
departments everything is first-class Cars
are lighted with gas, and undergo thor
ough inspection at short intervals. In short,
comfort and safety are prominent features.
Conductors are under strict obligation to
be corteous to passengers, and are gener
ally noted for their free-hand politeness.-
Strict discipline has won an enviable repu-
tation for the Company, which, from a
single track of few years since, has risen
to double track all through, and is now
rapidly putting down the third track to
accommodate increasing business. With
the admirable telegraph argangemente, and
strict rules, it is next to impossible to have
collision. Passenger accidents are some
thing almost unknown on the road, and
fact.
Sometime, when your pleasure-seeking
parties want refreshment, we would invite
them to come this way Rates are low;
accommodations the best; no danger; and
the scenery grand beyond description.
p. w. A.