Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-06-24
THE CHANGERS.


the most glgnntlc l6 the encampment
the Patrons OF Husbandry, Mt Elm sta
ton, on the main limo OF the Pennsyl
vania railroad. The fact that leading
officers OF that great corporation hav'
their summer homes in the vicinity o
this spot is strong evidenc OF its superio
charms, even though compared with any
OF tho other natural beauties which hav'
won for the route of that line such wide
spread celebrity. Within three miles o.
the grounds OF the Exhibition, and OF
the southera side of that great iror
artery which conducts the life's blood o
the continent from ocean to ocean, stands
with the appearance Of o mammoth rail
way station OF Swiss architecture, the
Centennial home of the Granger. The
location il plateau near the southwest
ern corner Of Montgomery county, and
centering in an amphitheater Of hills,
thickly wooded with chestnut, on the
south, covered with rich pastures and
green waving grain among the groves
of elm and cedar on the east and west,
and romantically diversified with bold,
wooded bluffs and watered ravines on the
north. Not only the site, but also the
hotel, offers nearly all the inducements
OF n most eligible country seat.
While specially designed for the &C.
onmodation Of tho Patrons of Hus.
bandry of the United Statesand Canada,
the hotel is open to all other respectable
persons. The structure is rectangle,
minus one side, 496 feet long and $50
feet wide, with eleven instead of but one
wing in the center, and all these are as
long as the ends. The main portion is
two stories in height, elevated at each
flank and also in the center. The wings
are but one story in height. There are
on the first floor 1,O2O sleeping rooms,
and on the second 1,18O, having com.
Portable accommodations for 2, 400 per-
sons. In the rear of, and separated
from the buildings described, thereby
keeping ut distance that disagreeable
odor which frequently arises from agree
able substances is dining room capable
of seating several regiments at one time,
the simple comfort of which can be best
imagined by those having ever, when
hungry, eaten chowder in tent on the
seashore, while the stiff, cool putting OF
Neptune ran mischievously landward
with napkins and Mackinaws. Back of
this are the kitchen and laundry, models
of system and supplied with labor ami
hilators that would send John Chinaman
back to Hong Kong in despair after
glance at them in practical operation.
The gas house supplies the hotel with
an article of the ikeof which most cities
are innocent. Off in the grove of chest
nut trees is an hospital that makes one
wish he was sick-just to loll on the
sweet-smelling husk mattresses and
listen to the singing of the birds in the
trees whose foliaged branches sweep the
roof and windows at every breath of
wind. Near this is the physicians resi-
dence, and also great crystal spring of
pure cold water, and an engine which
pumps it up the hill on the opposite
side of the hotel, where it is received in
two tanks, each having a capacity of 1O.-
300 gallons.
There is also on this hill, which is
north of the hotel, a large hall for
lecturing, religious and other
purposes. Semi-weekly theatricals will !
be given there by companies from this
,ity, and neither for these nor for any
other entertainments given will more
han nominal admission fee be charged
just enough to pay expenses. The
1otel, with it's branch post office, drilled
Ire department and police force, drug
tore, general store, and telegraph, bag
rage, express and railroad ticket offices,
8 town of itself-and quite large one,
90. No Intoxicating drinks can be had
IN the grounds. Trains run between
elm station and the Centennial depot of
he Pennsylvania railroad every half
lour, and between the former and
and Market streets every
lour. The ride from the station to the
Exhibition grounds occupies but ten
minutes. The immense parlors and sit
ing rooms, furnished with organs and
pianos, face the hills and ravines, which
re but few yards to the north, and
lere, on moonlight evenings, lads and
asses relieved from haynaking, jolly
Id farmers grown too rich to work, and
,uxom housewives furloughed from the
larry, sing, dance, talk tender things,
isten to the crickets in the woods, guess
t the size of the moon, and enjoy plea
ures unknown in cities-above all in
ity hotels. When they retire tor the
light it is to room atmospheres redolent
With fragrance from the fowery lawns
urrounding the building, from the +
ourts, from tho hillsides, and from the
cry beds they are to lie upon. While
he furniture throughout must plea 9
he finest taste there is not an ounce Of
aint in the whole structure. 1t is that
cry air of refined rusticity which gives
charm to the whole, and which, coupled
nth the fact that the g.eatest circum-
pection is used toward excluding from
be hotel all persons of doubtful charac-
er or not known to bc respectable, has
ttracted SO great proportion of Cen.
ennial visitors to tho encampment OF
he Grangers.-PhiIadel'hia Times.