The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1872-08-24
Editorial Correspondence

Editorial Correspondence
WATKINS, N. Y, August 20, 1872.
Dear Union In company with John +. Con-
rey, Esq, we took passage on the Niagara ex-
press at Calvert Station at las a. m. on Mon
day, 18th instant Our purpose is to visit Wat
kins Glen, Geneva, Oanandaigua, Rochester,
Syracuse, Trenton Falls, the Oneida community,
Utica, the Catskill Mountains, Albany, New
York by way of the Hudson and home via Phil
adelphia. Aboard the train were Hon. Henry
Stockbridge aud son. Hoa. s. Sands Mills and
wife and number of other Baltimoreans destin-
ed for Niagara the st. Lawrence River, &c.
Among them were those who had lately stood in
kid-gloved solemnity before the Hymenial Altar
and vowed to be faithful to each other while lite
should last. Most all were in search of recrea-
ton and sightseeing. Some soon wearied and
slept. Fair affection reclned in confidence upon
the protecting arm of her newly plighted spouse.
Some read newspapers, commented on the news
&C. Some were jolly, seeing mirth and fun in
numerous objects and incidents along the way.
The careful inspection of promiscuous compa-
ny as brought together on railway train is an
amusing occupation. Remarks, notions SEEM
ingly small things show the education, the char
acter taste and inclination of people There is
much in these to interest an observant mind
Try it, and you will 6ud it out.
The irrepressible mirth of Col Mills would fire.
quently come out in his handsome way He ex-
planned to his companions different objects as
they came in view. Cockeysvie, Phoenix,
Monkton, Partition and other places of equal i'm
portaDce were described as having the modern
blessings of a Getty HAIL. town council &C.
York, with women carrying baskets with fruit,
pies, peanuts and pretzels, was reached, greeted
and left. Harrisburg, with her hummiug indus
tries, smoking foundries, towering spires and
10 oufo huo ND
with its band of mrthful men, women and chill
dren. All take look. Some get out Inqu-
ries are made about various things. Each inqui-
ry gives some clue to the character the business
or the education Of the interrogation.
Away we bound again. The train dashing
up beside the peaceful Susguehanna, whose
volume of waters gives her placid bosom,
swift current with beauty and grandeur
pleasing to behold. The mountains rise almost
perpendicularly ON the east and look grand and
lofty in many places. On the west the noun
tains stretch away in panoramic grandeur.
Noble forests crown their SUBMITS and grace
their sides. Valleys rich in soil, products,
beauty and thrifty life lie between the noun
tains, grace the view and add enchan Jment to
the scene. Thriving towns, beautiful villages,
cozy farm houses, coal mines, FORCES, furnaces
numbering mills and various other evidences
of industry and progress greet us as we 60.
Sunbury wears good look and promise upon
her face as we look at her wooden homes from
the train as it flies. Williamsport, with her
smoky chimneys, her miles of lumber yards,
her myriad saving aud planning mills, her
mammouth booms, her church spires, her
thriving looking business places convinces one
that she is going ahead. Look at her and you
see she means Lie. The train stops at the Her.
die for dinner. We enter the saloon, call for
something. That's what they don't have eve
can order it" the waiter said. He talked and
looked as if he would wait till the train started
before he gave an order. We asked for sand
witches and coffee. He hunted up cold ham,
cut off some, got some bread, buttered it, gave
US our coffee and called for fifty cents, which
your humble servant delivered. good sand
witch is charming companion for traveller,
particularly when It'll charming. A sandwich
is better than feast on a table that does not
get within your reach until the car bell rings,
and you are asked to pay for looking at it.
We enter Lycoming Valley. The mountains
rise majestically on each side. The valley is
narrow-not more than a quarter of mile in
width perhaps. Pines, spruce oaks, bemlocks,
tall, stout and outrageous, spread their grace
full foliage in scenic grandeur as the peaks they
crown lift their SUBMITS towards the Skies
Coal mines send their products down the sides
of the mountains by cars that look as if they
were taking Il ying leap into the valley below.
Ralston with its romantic surroundings is
reached. Friends Oh the platform greet friends
on the train. Some newcomers leave the cars
and old boarders take the train for home or
other places. The iron horse carries us up the
sides of the Blue Ridge at a fearful speed. The
stream grows small and thread like. Dat fields,
buckwheat patches, stump fences that look like
line of circular saws setin row, an OCCASION
al brick house, fields filled with stumps vet un-
pulled, come to view. We are getting to the
crown of the Ridge. Poetic, romantic, charm
ing Minnequa is by our side. 1t is beautiful
place. mammouth hotel, long porch, arbors,
swings, fish ponds, croquet grounds, mineral
springs, all the refinement of the better civil
cation in the midst of the magic charms of the
mouutaip-all these should make it popular
desirable and delightful.
Canton is large country town beyond. 1t
looks thriving and refined. The country around
itstretches away in grand and graceful magnif-
cence. Far away in the dim distance the hills
stretch their majestic SUBMITS in lofty nobility
heavenward. Their sides and the valleys be-
tween them have all the charm of thriving
country. Troy is nothing behind Canton She
has all the attendant marks of enterprise and
energy.
Elmira, in n. T., sits gracefully on the Che
mung in the midst of the most romantic noun
tain scenery it has been our fortune to witness.
The valley of the Chemung is rich in all that
makes country great and happy.
We are at Watkins at P. NJ, covered with
coal aust ana smoke from viewing the scenery
from the Observation-Disclosures the in
junction of railway companies and the custom
of evading platforms in these days of political
dodging-weary and worn out we repaired to
the Jefferson House where we were entertain
ed two years ago on our editorial trip to Niagara,
by Messrs. Gamble and Richardson. An effort
Of something less than an hour enabled us to
exhume ourselves from the coal mine that had
been deposited around us during the day.
Unearthed, Orchard was himself again"-and
all of him went to supper. Our landlord should
have thought so. The table at the Jefferson is
abundantly furnished with substantial we'll
cooked and we'll seasoned provisions what
ever is desired can be had, and whatever you
get, can be relished. Servants are attentive,
courteous and polite. Whoever partakes of the
inequalities of the proprietors of the Jefferson
once will be sure to do so again.
1t may sound little strange to those who
have been up the Glen at. Watkins but for the
information of his friends, Col. Sands Mills to-
day performed the wonderful feat of going up
the glenn Ghack, and declares that the day is
not far distant when he intends to do it in street
car The admission fee is to be $500 when
that performance takes place.
We must defer description of the Glen at
this time. s. P. B.