Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-06-27
WHOLE NO. 1919

did afterwards, that i'll this re ally
meant ten TO twenty thousand hu man
beings on Goat Island, at the small
admission fee" of one dollar per hu-
man being! To me il was a purely
phllanthropic scheme, gotten up re-
gardless of expense, and entirely pro
bono-pubico, and l read the posters
word by word and swallowed every
hlgh-sounding sentence as completely
as all boys devour circus bill. Up
on leaving Troy, very early in the
morning, for Schenectady, seventeen
miles by stage, | was not surprised to
find, upon getting out few miles,
that there were several coaches max
ing the same journey, all well filed
with passengers.
l knew, Or supposed | did, that the
entire crowd was en- route to Niagara
Falls to witness that wonderful cx-
hibition, because / had determined to
enjoy that rare treat myself.
Arriving at Schenectady in advance
Of the train that WAS cJming from
Albany, and which was to convey me
quite distance towards "Out West"
Qhe rail Dad was then completed from
Albany to Syracuse, aud there was
also road from Lockport via Niagara
Falls to Buffalo). | busted myself in
inspecting the Strap Rail Track
first taking off my oyercoat and plac,
ing it across the back Of a chair
in public room, which l now
believe to have been waiting.room
ina passenger depot. | was conscl-
Gus that it was a "bran new coat, anC
quite nice one fora boy to own. |
had worn it for the first time during
that early mornings journey on the
outside of the coach. When the tram
arrived from Albany there was great
excitement and q grand lush for the
cars. | went to the very chair upon
which I had so coniidingly deposited
my new overcoat not thirty minutes be-
fore, to find that some other chap had
mistaken the garment for his own, and
had disappeared in some mysterious
wey that | knew not of. The idea
occurred to me then that l had been
cautioned before leaving home not to
lose my trunk or my overcoat and |
couldn't help regrettlng that ! had
disregarded the instructions given me.
I found myself aboard the first rail
road train | had ever seen; a very long
train too as it seemed to me, should
Judge as many as fifteen cars, and
every car apparently filled with people,
all on their way to Niagara Falls, as
| verify believed, because | could not
account for so many people being 'on
the wing" upon any other hypothesis.
The cars were similar in shape to a
Concord coach, and not much larger
"A partition through the center,
transverseIy. which could be raised or
lowered at will, each half of the car
accommodating six persons, two seats,
three persons on seat, cis-a ris.-
The conductor walked around the car
outside on a ''toot- board" and trans
acted his business with each passenger
through the window.
THE SPEED OF THE TRAIN
probably dozen miles an hour, aston
ished me. After about an hours ride
through u very beautiful country,
more so than any had ever imagined,
we met train fully as long as ours,
and containing quite as many people,
and my heart sunk within me Tor |
said to myself, The show is over and
: the people are all going home y al.
though it was four or five days beto.e
the time advertised tor the perform
ance TO come off, Our train arrived
at Syracuse at "early candle light
half way across the great State of New
York, between sun rise and sun down
marvellous speed - for those days.
Having been so thoroughly posted by
nv friend of the Mansion House, |
knew precisely how to deport myself
at the next tavern | might honor with
my presence and patronage, in such 4
manner as that all beholders would
see at q glance that l vas an ex-
perienced traveller and perfectly famil-
lar with the ways Of the world gener-
ally, and with first class hotels in par
ticular. Accordingly, upon entering
the Syracuse House with great multi
; tude of people, all bound for Niagara
Falls, of course, l got to the register
as soon as possible, the crowd OF older
, people somewhat obstructing my pro-
+ gress, and after depositing my auto