The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-10-26
Correspondence.
BALTIMORE, Oct. is,h, 1875.

l.
From Richmond, Indiana, cia Co}um-
bus, Ohio, to Pittsburgh, Pa, the Traveller
sees the finest Agricultural part of Ohio,
As we approached Pittsburgh dense
volumes of smoke ard tame arose from
furnaces aud suael1ing establishments,
aud the supcestitlo~s traveller seeing them
by night might easily imagine that the
cpoafngs to the bot,omlcss pit are in the
;sn.acdiate vicinity,
We spent the night in Pittsburgh that
we Nigh: see the mountains as we passed
over them. On the morning of the 10th,
We left the din and dust of Pittsburg and
rapidly threaded our way through the
hills and raYncs. At the foot OF the
mountains we found n river and following
lis meanderings we gradually arose to the
summit of the mountain. The mountains
are every where clothed with a stunted
growth Of timber which contends with
the rocks for foot-ht Id, except where
the sturdy pioneer in the westward march
of empire, has hung is cabin on the
mountains side and entered into con
test with and conquered natural difficult
ties that only brave and sturdy hero IN
the warfare Of life could do.
Autumn has painted the mountains in
the most gorgeous colors. Every shade
of red, and yellow, and green, mingle in
ever changing beauty. Oak and Hem
lock, Hickory and Cedar, Sumac and
Beach hold each other in close embrace,
each ambitious to rise higher than his
neighbor In many places the X. K is
made through the rock and exposes the
strata to view. In some places, in the
same spur of the mountain, these are
horizontal, in cother places pcrpendicu-
lar, and in places they are at an angle OF
Sixty degrees East or West promiscuous-
ly. This seems to prove that these noun
tains were not raised up by single con-
vulsion of nature, but were the result OF
several successive upheavals. AS we de-
scend the eastern slope the scenery is
now variegatcd and beautiful. Sheltered
valleys and romantic SUBMITS, alternate
with villages, unexpected tunpels, and
improved farms.
We follow down The river frGm q small
beginning until it swells to the width of
half &. mile. The Chesapeake & Ohio can
al follows the valley of the same river
and is sometimes Oh one side and some
times on the other. SO with the railroad,
it crosses and rc-crosses many times in its
descent l am not romantic, but l think
the romance of mountain home would
rapidly evaporate, if l had to dig living
out of the sterile mountain side with
pillow and hoe A short distance above
Harrisburg two mountain ranges cross
the country from North to South in nearly
straight and parallel lines. The mountains
seem severed and the river flows between
flowing mile onward and another gap
admits its passage through the other
range IL it not probable that when
these mountains were raised the natural
course of the water was DISTRACTED? That
the waters rose until the accumulated
pressure broke the rocky barriers? Below
these passes the traveller secs hundreds
of little islands bedecking the river. Are
these not the debris OF the supdered
From this scene of its til
umph the romantic Juniata pursues its
course Ui0 Harrisburg and the SusQue
hama to the Ocean. This is on the theory
ST the philosopher who sold that nature
had SO ordered it that great rivers flow
near large towns.
s W. II.