The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-08-29
Ra,,roaa.o ,,,e C,omds.
CMt. Washington Letter to the Cincinnati
EnQuirer.l

From the tip top of Mt. Washing
ton, more thau six thousand feet above
the sea, | send my greeting to you. AZ
Fabyau's this morning three hundred
people were packed 10 two cars of or
dinary length aud steamed to the base
of bhe mountain. The ride was so full
of discomfort, that | can tell you never
a word Of the country through which
the six miles stretched. We had
pleasant party of our own, and found
intense satisfaction In grumbling aud
growing over the extortion of the road
managers, who charge six dollars for
the round trip, and make paoplo as un
comfortable as tits in their arbitrary
power TO do. When we changed cars
for the summit our annoyance IN
creased when we found that cars in-
tended to carry two hundred we're to be
filed with over three hundred passen-
gers.
This railroad is marvel of emf.
neerin&g aud was b1ia-by Mr-aIassh
of New Hampshire 1t is three miles
in length. and rises 1925 feet, or one
foot in four. The principal feature of
[
tre Of the track On each driving
shaft of the engine is cog wheel
The teeth catch and work in the cen
ter rail, propelIing the car up the
mountain. The boilers Of the engine
are inclined downward, and when on
steep grade are quite horizontal.
Each locomotive takes one car, aud is
/ provided with a double set of driving
wheel, SO that any danger from break
age of machinery is prevented The
ascent requires one hour and q half,
and one could step of and on at any
point The truck is strongly built,
and is daily inspected by the twenty,
five men continually employed to po-
+ lice it. In ascending, persons in the
( forward part Of the car have their feet
on level with the heads of those who
sit aft near the engine, which, going
up, is the propelling power, aud going
down, the repelliug force. The steep
est point is
JACOB LADDER,
trestle 80 feet high aud 800 feet
long, the grade $50 feet to the mile,
or Is - inches TO the yard. The
lookout here is frightful, and l find
myself wondering how 1 can ever go
down this terrible descent. The lower
part Of the mountain is rich in YER
dure. There are thick forests, weeds,
flowers, delicate ferns aud moss OF .
hneness | have never seen. There IS
no gradually tsperiog off OF this luxu+
v-s., n 500
ty to steriity; bat an absolute, a sud-
den ending OF al traces Of vegetation
This occurs about , 600 feet from the
summit and is as marked as if iine
OF demarkatioa had been drawn They
stand edge 10 edge, the section upon
which God has smiled and that aspir-
ing height oa which he seems TO have
frowned From Lere 10 the summit
There : uoIhiDg but rocks, from bowl
ders to pebbles, rocks of mica schis'
and great conglomerated stones, re-
mindiug one Of the famed lava beds
and convincing proof to Us that tge
we'll armed Indians could easily keeE
company Of soldiers At bay for weeks.
Here in this barren land bloom 4 pine
flowers il sixty varieties, long, coarse
grass, and gray moss, which looks
shrive!ed and unhappy amid its un
friendly surroundings. About a quar-
ter of mile from the top, the passen-
gers were called on to look at thc
grave Of
MISS BOURNE,
4 daughter of Judge Bourne, of Maine
who in 1855, the month being Septem'
Der, started with her father and cousiI
to walk from the Glen House to the
Tip,Top House up the carriage road
then completed half way. The after
noon was pleasant, the sun was brigh
and warm, and no thought of impend
ing danger came to them as merrily
they plodded through the forest. Soor
after leaving the road a snowstUrn
overlook them. Miss Bourne sooi
fell exhausted, aud died at l 0 o'clock
Picture, if you can, how weary tn
hours to the watchers who stayed be
side the body through the peltiu,
wintry storm and prayed the God o
2 tempests to spare them! When da
= dawned they found that all night the,
Tip Top House. 4 handsome ston
marks the spot where the young cir
G lost her life, and, although twent,
e years and more have come and gone
. she has grown no older than nineteen
6 and every passenger who read the sto
ry on the monument sighed, POO
[ young ereature!" Mountain daisie
and wild parsnip and moss grow clos
e to the marble, as if to add what beaut
: they can to their desolated surround
. iugs.
Q THERE are now in the United State
. 400 national banks, and the Wester
n States have the largest number, LIS.
, THERE are four hundred and fift
lady dentists 10 the United States, an
three times as mauy studying DENTS
try.
q THE Southern States received
charitable contributions from the Nor'
,, last year, on account of yellow feve
y nearly FIVE million dollars. Memph
r alone received ip gold s409,4l2.
!; 1t is estimated that Europe will ha'
l. to pay out fully 5000, 100000 TO fO
Il eign countries this year for food. al
1t it is believed that not less than o
is half of the vast sum will come to t
10 United States.
The st. Louis Fair this year W