The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-09-07

| oSuASN ouu buISt anu VI bthulllul uhIh
gray color. In some places the walls are
elegantly spotted and striated with quartz
oil snowy whlteness AS general thing
the slate rock was very easy 10 drill and
blast; but In parts OF the mountain the
qualification was SO coutorted, upheaved
and intcrmingled with quartz that "a
drills were worn out 10 making o blast
hole 80 inches in depth.
There Is one thing about walking
through 0 tunnel that 10 calculated 10
rutlle even the most placid disposition |
The more you walk the farther you don't |
seem to proceed. After travelling fifteen |
or twenty minutes VIC turned round TO |
contemplate what We had done, and tho |
portal seemed almost as near 10 US as
when VIC were hundred yards from II, |
In three quarters Of an hour, however, al. |
ter stumbling over heaps OF dirty timbers,
iron tubes and terra Gotta drain pipes, and |
occasionally sounding the depths Of some
Invisible and isolated tract Of water, the
portal behind US was whitfield down 10 q |
pretty fine point, and few minutes more
plunged US into utter darkness. This lat.
ter statement need not necessarily conflict |
with the lantern noted few sentences
back. That institution, with Its sickly
blaze, only blinded us and made the dark.
ness apparent! Now and then score or
more oil little lamps would flicker in the
distance before US, and reveal the miners
at work trimming the walls Of the tunnel.
AS they fitted about in the dim light they
looked more like spectres than earthly be.
ings. II the owner Of an overloaded con-
science were to be set down suddenly
amid such scenes he would be very likely
to conclude that he had found the 81
RESIDENCE OF PLUTO.
BY the time we arrived at the central
shaIt-two miles and half from the start.
ing polnt-the novelty OF our adventure
had been worn down amazingly, and the
major part Of It's glory began 10 fade. Our
curiosity had been abundantly satisfied,
and not wishing to be selfish, we con-
cluded to leave the remaining two miles
and q quarter till the next time. We had
inspected the mysteries Of the mountain
horizontally, and wanted to look at them
perpendicuIarly, so we stepped into an
elevator and were soon going
UP THE eHAFr ....,.
at speed which generated reflections as
10 what would be the probable result II
the wire hosting cable were 10 snap of
and let US down to the bottom. In min.
ute and half after4stsrting, the elevator
landed US safely in the basin on top Of the
mountain, 1,035 feet from the road bed
and we were soon on our way TO the viii
lsge four and half miles of. And right
here will say that there is no route Of
travel in Massachusetts which offers finer
attractions to tourists than this Hoosac
line. From the time you leave New York
State till you reach North Adams there is
an unbroken stretch OF mountain scenery
that Is strangely romantic. At the sta
tions on either side Of the Hoosac elegant
six'horse coaches, driven by modern
Jehu's, who arc
STARS IN THEIR PROFESSION,
stand ready to convey passengers over
the mountains, distance Of nine miles.
And such mountains Il must have been
in q wilderness Of like crags and peaks
that Pope courLed the muse and was con.
strained to indite: ..a ~
"Hils peep DER hills
And alps on alps arise"
When you reach tho eastern summit Of
the Hoosacs, your eyes can follow the
range, OF which they are part, hun
dred miles, into the land OF maple sugar
and spelling book handles" OF to The
northeast the White Mountains of New
Hampshire, capped with clouds, loom
alolt and look solemnly, sleepily down on
all New England. Before you the Deer
field river, rich in legendary lore, Greens
lazsly along, watering at one time beau.
tiiul strip VI fertile meadow land, and at
another, washing the feet Of a ragged
mountain. At least that was what /
thought 1t was doing the afternoon saw
it. The idea is kind Of poelical, and /
don't want to lose It. = I
When we arrived at the edge of Hoosac
village friendly miner told Us of
A CASCADE,
in q recess Of the mountain, a few hun
dred yards away, and kindly offered TO
guide US to 1t. If 1t were moi for making
the tunnel jealous l would say that this
cascade was the lovlest and most appre-
ciated sight oil the whole afternoon. To
say the least We were weary. Our batch
oil spoils, in tho shape Of an embryo geo.
logical collection, which only weighed
ten or fifteen pounds OF the top OF the
mountain, swelled to forty or fifty before
VIC reached the bottom, and not q single
specimen had been added on the wsy.
Besides being tired, we were athirst and
covered with dust, and the limpid, spark.
ling mountain water seemed lust the
thing 10 quench the one and take of the
other. When the tunnel was being made,
water was sent from that point, through
pipes, into the mountain, 10 mOisten the |
drill holes and satisfy the wants Of the
miners, but now the cascade is the
water works" OF Hoosac village. This
bit Of knowledge did not arrive until sew. |
erRl minutes alter we had performed our
additions. For quarter Of an hour we
cooled ourselves in tho spray thrown of |
by the water as II came dashing over tho |
rocks from o height OF hundred and |
fifty feet, and 1t was only the approach
oil night that drove US of.
On the way TO the village we came to
a little shsnty in an out.ot the.way place,
and the miner halted us in front Of 1t,
and observed with tho utmost calmness
THAT Is a nitro glycerine shop!" Now,
any other Information at that time would
have been seized and devoured with
svidity. If he had styled 1t one OF Deaths
recruiting offices, without revealing the
secret of the thing, We could have HE'D
away. But there we stood, not daring to
move muscle, for lear Of shaking the
old editlce and obliteratipg the whole
party, At last the Yankee ventured 10
announce that il we had known about
the matter In time, we would have
walked down the ravine, and been glad
OF the opportunity. "Oh," replied the
miner, "there is no glycerine in there
now; they used 10 keep It here two or
three years ago!' And then the fellow
llnnphnh and rnlnNnh rnn...1.... L;.