Morning journal and courier., 1880-10-12
CORRESPONDENCE.

in New York City-Westchester County Beauties of the Harlem Road-"Pur- dy's'' Etc., Etc.
 PURDYs STATION, N. Y, Oct. ?. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: Although this letter is begun in this quiet village, among the grand old hills by which at present we are surrounded, it may have its completion in the city from whence hither we came on Wednesday of this week. Thus
 far 1t has been our pleasure to have the fa-
 vor of the weather whenever we have start ed for any new abiding place, and we have been much Ion the wing" since the middle of August.
 We took the Fulton Ferry boat from
 Brooklyn to New York, and then a stage for Broadway, where we passed considerable time at wholesale jewelry establishment,
 and. while resting, saw the Skidmore Guards
 (colored) of New York; escorting a Connecti-
 cut company, with the music of the Wheeler & Wilson's band. They marched well, and
 made fine appearance, attracting the atten- l ton Of crowds of people, everyone rushing to the store fronts to have a look at them We were amused at the figures (arms akimbo) of various nationalities to be seen on the tops of tall buildings interestedly surveying the marching men.
 We were shown the numerous goods of the establishment where we stopped, and it was curious to observe the varieties of jewels and thelr styles. There were elegant lockets and chains, bracelets, scarf pins in every de- wee, Gc., &c., &c. But the latest new sen-
 satlon" ln jewelry runs to pigs. Beautiful little gold pigs, very fair representations of the pretty pigs" of which we told you in Saratoga county, with the exception of the color of the skin, we saw, and whole herd or them were set out upon one of the office counters, 1n accordance with an order which had just arrived. It is difficult to supply the orders while the "fever rages " and we were told that fortune could be made in a short time if only there could be @ full supply of the lovely creatures. What is there more extraordinary than public taste?
 We took the elevated railway cars for the Grand Central depot, and a delightful ride it was, easy and convenient. Here one has
 both an upper and lower view of the streets of the metropolis, and the din below is not so confusing when one is in it. Truly, the elevated road Is wonderful invention, and the more we travel over it the more we appreciate it's conveniences, which are not of small importance to New Workers, although the streets over which it runs are rendered exceedingly gloomy.
 We next took a cab, and soon were at the Grand Central depot. Here the Harlem train waiting, which we took, and ere long were en route for "Purdy's." There were many passengers many New York merchants on their way home from the business of the day; but we were assured that the New Ha- | ven IS the greatest passenger road" in the country The scenery along the Harlem road is beautiful. We had thought that after Saratoga county and Hudson river scenes others would be tame, but not so New York State seems to abound in variety and grandeur, and as this was our first jour ney over the Harlem road we were pleased to note every scene by the way. Woodlawn cemetery from the hillside looked very pleas ant, and, intently looking, we spied very large and handsome anchor of flowers grow ing on the bank. It had lovely appearance on its turfy bed. We stopped at many sta | tions on the road, and in less than two hours were at our destination. Purdy's Station 1 looked pretty, even in the starlight. Our friends warmly greeted us, and also ! awaiting us was an appetizing meal Our ! tiny friends were the first to welcome us, l and were 10th to retire when their usual hour arrived. But after promises that we would ! tell them some stories in the morning, they 1 gave us sweet goodnight kisses and pranced away to their little couches They were on hand in the morning and later in the day | we'll repaid our story telling by escorting us to the adjacent chestnut hills, where we found the fat and glossy nuts and something I besides-superb scenery far and near, of hill | and vale forest and river. The river is the beautiful Croton, which supplies New York city with water. Then there is a pond ! called the Mill Pond, at the brink of winch stands an old Touring mill. This is a clear | sheet of water, nice place for rowing, albeit we saw no rowboats upon it. Along l its bank is a most romantic ramble, where we gathered precious floral specimens. Oh! these old hills. They are grand grand and it is no easy matter to ascend 1 them. The foliage of the forests is here 1 changing to gorgeous hues of varied shades We have found some exquisite flowers on the hills, resembling the mountain harebel and 1 the snake blossom. But, although they are l respectively campanulate and labiate they 1 are of different species. Our botany books we left behind, that the exact names can l not be given. This village is inhabited by about five hundred people, perhaps more, as 1 the settlement is very compact.
 A sad accident occurred not far from this place few days ago. Lovers were out driv- | ing when the horse became vicious, and 1 taking the bit between his teeth plunged down the river bank, overthrowing the occu- pants of the carriage, both of whom were | injured the young lady receiving such severe cuts and bruises as caused her death in few moments, although she tenderly cared l for within a neighboring house. She was | well known in the whole vicinity as lovely person, and seems to have been general fa- | vorite. Deep is the grief of the whole com- munity.
 We had long ride through the country to Union Valley, Groton Falls and Lake Maho- pac. We stopped awhile at the Union Val | ley cemetery, where we saw the grave of the | unfortunate young lady, and we scattered some flowers thereon, as well as on the graves l of some relatives and friends whose bodies are there inferred
 l In all this part of the country there are 1 lovely vales completely enclosed by man. moth hills. We admired the beautiful Lake Mahopac which is nine miles in length and has upon it many verdant isles, with pleasant scenery around it. There are also fine pri- 1 vate residences and numerous cot tages for summer seekers Boat houses
 are convenient, and we observed some young people rowing upon the clear water. There were some still remaining wis., | itors here, and some we noted were prepar- | ing for final departure to New York. From the lake we rode home by way of Croton | Falls, romantic village, although not, in our estimation, so attractive as 'Purdy 8, so
 named for Purdy, wealthy resident here. | Still we admired the high and rolling country | over which we rode, following for miles the 1 valley of the Croton river. A very short dis
 tance from Lake Mahopac, perhaps quarter
 of mile, a. large patch of the blue l the wayside. GentiGna c15attG is the botani- l cal name of these exquisite flowers, which open only in the sunlight. Our driver alighted and gathered large bouquet of them for our preservation, and we were de- lighted. Further on he stopped again, and this time at a mill where he procured some nice sweet cider for us to drink. It was of pure and extra quality. Our ride was thor
 oughly enjoyable, in one of the easiest of conveyances.
 As was told you at the beginning of this letter it's completion is made in New York city amidst the hubbu of Broadway, in
 one of it's busiest offices. We came on the
 Harlem road, at ' o'clock this (Monday)
 morning The city looked unusually bust ling after our few days quiet in the country, and it helps us to be assured that recreation
 life of active usefulness must soon again be | taken up. Pleasure is good for a season, but l it is certainly true that a lifetime spent in
 this manner would be unproftable to the | mind, and not well for the development of