The Portland daily press., 1882-05-01
Troy, Greenfield, Deerfield.
A Visit to Three Notable Towns.

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GRRENFIELD, Mass, April %, 1882.
have just becp making short visit to Troy
NOT the Troy of the Wooden Horse, with ten
thousand armed men In its belly, but the Troy
with hundred thousand iron stoves in its
founderies and wareshops, and ten times one
hundred thousand shirts and collars and cuffs
in its factories and with laundries enough to do
the needful for all the household linen of New
England. As one enters this famous city from
the south it seems to be only one vast assem-
bage of iron founderies, whose numerous tall
chimneys would fill the air with smoke and smut
like those of England, were 1t not that these
Troy furnaces use anthracite coal, a far better
fuel than the bituminous, which our English
brethren are compelled to use for lack of any
other.
1t is a curious thing to see the great variety
of useful and beautiful forms into which the
Troy furnaces convert the enormous heaps OF
unsightly pig-iron, which are seen in vast
ranges, like those of cord-wood on the line of
the Grand Trunk railway. There are cooking
stoves and kitchen ranges and parlor stoves,
and those for chambers, hsllways, shops and
public offices in every possible variety of style
and taste and finish and cost. There is an in
finite variety OF architectural utilities and
adornments for purposes internal and external.
There is long catalogue Of agriculturaft tools
and appliances, and an endless variety of ma.
chinery for the conversion OF cotton, wool and
wood into the beautiful things that adorn the
persons and homes Of those who are willing to
pay for them.
But there is another thing for which this par
ticular Troy is famous besides its factories OF
many kinds; it Is the Methodist Conference,
holding its sessions in that city and known by
its name, and called the Troy Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1t is said to
be one of the largest, if not the largest in the
country. 1t includes Eastern New York,
Western Massachusetts and part Of Vermont.
1t is this that went to Troy to see, and not it's
manufactures Of iron, cotton, wood and wool.
went there expressly to meet this great as
sembly Of educated, Christian ministers, who
are such, not like lawyers and doctors, as a
mere matter Of livelihood and money-getting,
but as men willing and anxious to do the Lords
work and to fight His nttles, since they wear
His uniform eat His rations and take His pay.
These ministers are hard and persistent work.
ers in the vineyard. doing anything and every
thing necessary TO prepare the ground and the
way for the great harvest Of the souls of men.
For this end they are enlisted in the armies of
the Great King and like true soldiers of the
Cross they do not turn the back to the Kings
enemies, nor shirk any duty, no matter how
dangerous it may be- This Conference enters
heartily into every UNCONVENTIONAL enterprise
and into every Christian endeaver. Among
IL IL - -
share of the great temperance movement now
going on in this country with more vigor and
earnestness than ever before 1t is striving to
do its share towards Fastening on the time
when men shall no longer be cursed or the
church hihdefed by the infinite miseries and
mischiefs coming from intemperanos and from
the traffic in strong drink.
The last evening of the Assembly was given
up to this particular part of its work. went
to Troy expressly to be present at it, and tho
meeting was sight to see and to remember
while life shall last. The grand church was
crowded in every part with the members Of
the Conference sitting together, and with the
men and women Of the city, many perhaps at
tracted by curiosity, and many others drawn
thither by intense interest in the work which
the meeting was intended to promote. There
was music-and such musici There was prayer
-and such prayerl Earnest protestation against
the great sin, shame and crime and passionate
appeals to the Good God that He would bless
Joy and Thanksgiving shall 60 up to heaven for
the deliverance of the people from the infinite
evils of intemperance. The meeting, they say,
was grand success, and the Conference was
inspired, they say, with fresh courage and re-
newed hope that the end for which they wait
and watch, and pray, and work, may not be
far away
On the next morning left Troy on the
"Hoosac Line,' and found the country charm
ing through which we came, constant success
- - - l. IN
and of peaceful cultivated fields and meadows
For many miles up the valley of the Hudson.
it seems to be crowded with villages, towns
and small cities with many industrial estab-
from the Hudson into the Valley of the Hoosac
River, on which the scenery is ever changing
and always charming Running along close to
the banks of the Hoosac, plunging through the
Tunnel, coming out into the sunshine and M
on the shores of other waters running wildly n
the Connecticut and to the seal The fialds are
Just beginning to Indicate in some places the
approach of Spring. but the forests were NOT
vet aroused from the Winters torpor. In the
early Summer, when ali Is fresh and green.
the ride from Troy to Greenfield must he one
Of the prettiest to be found anywhere. and will
we'll repay the tourist for visit
All up and down the little rivers between
Troy and Greenfield. some running into The
Hudson. others into the Connecticnt. there are
many factories some Iarger. some smaller. but
ali verv busv. utilizinc tfe wafer-nower oath.
cred mn at the many dams mon these
streams. It is wonderful how industrious
these New Yorkers and Old Colony men are.
in improving their opportunities in making
money: though many Of Them are dow to see
where the leaks are, by which the hard-earned
money goes. There is much talk Just now up-
on this subiect both in New York and Massa-
cbusetts. and tho effort il to ntiliza the knowl
edge Of it already gained. 1t is insisted that
fourteen hundred millions Of dollars are foo
many to waste upon any useless thing. and 40
the talk is. how to save IL That enorruons
sum is considerably within the mark, when we
through the LIQUOR traffic, What do we have
in return for it? That general question has been
answered in detail many times during the last
hundred years and more, but that other cues
tion. "What good do we have in return?' has
never been answered; no attempt even has
ever been made to shew what it is.
went to Troy and have come hero to help
in solving the question. ssHow shall we save to
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