The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-08-10
.JrIY %, 1882

the delightful GOODNESS OF trip up Tue
Hudson taken short time since, and occa-
sion many vain sigh for duplicate OF II.
l feel as II I would almost be willing TO ell
ter either OF Sterne's classifications OF trav-
ellers for the pleasure OF ascending the nus
toric stream again. l would even become
peregrine martyr" for the inestinlao'e
privilege.
ting of q trip begun and ended in the first
half of the present month, yet so many OF
INV friends have asked for my impressions
OF Yankcedom and complained of my ne
elect In "sendng line" that | take this
method Of clearing my conscience and get
ting even.
No need of telling OF the Journey from
Richmond TO Gotham. Nv readers are all
familiar with the little taste Of the Atlantic
the voyage bv steamer affords. A sailing
vessel would give one something to talk
about, and we could then heave ahead with
as little trouble rs overheard. But by
steamboat there is more monotony than
NAL de men, unless the weather be stormy,
when there is plenty Of both, and they be-
come curiously alike. Our trip was a
smooth one, however, and can pay no
further tribute to the "vasty deep" than
that already rendered over the starpoaro
tafIrail, or thereabouts.
NV friends, with laudable intent, fur.
nisbed me with motley mass OF informa-
fion before / set out as TO how must con-
duct myself, and how protect my purse ana
person when l got amongst the hnlcker-
lockers. bestowed it all away carefully
i'm the proper cranial conyolution, ana
there il is vet, suppose. The thousand
and one thieves. and worse, that were go
ing to beset Ali Baba just so soon MS he put
his foot in New Amsterdam have never yet
made their appearance. This sort OF thinS
seems to be overdone. No doubt there are
thieves, and plenty Of them, there, but
they don't seem to want fellow any worse
than the same sort Of gentry do here. There
was one young chap in particular on the
steamer. who had been visiting in South
side Virginia and was returning home 10
New York, who, when he found was on
INV first trip, piled me through half the
night with stores OF the proves OF his
less-respectablc fellow-citizens until L ac-
tually trembled at the thought OF encoun-
tering such terrible creatures. now pc
lieye, however, that the element through
which the Prov OF the vessel was plying
at the same time was OF aboutthe same con-
sistency rs the young Amsterdamers
stories. | like his fellow-ctizens well
New York, to the eyes OF q novice, is too
impressive for description, were one neces-
sory in this ace of universal peregrinatiOn.
The glitter Of Broadway does not get out
OF ones ewes soon. The massive splendor
of Fifth avenue overtasks limited vocabu-
larry. Central Park, into which Richmond
could almost he set, cannot be compared by
Capitol-Sq,iare standards. Jay Gould ;
marble palace and Vanderbilt's three-mil-
lion-dollar brown-stOne, and thousands OF
others. dwarf Mr.. PAGES mansion into a
comfortable residence merely. The same
NAV be said of the post-ofice, the Herald
building, the Tribune ditto, and hundreds
OF other edifices Of every description. The
untravelled can have no idea OF these huge
structures and the effect they produce on
the provincial mind. Richmonders are ac-
customed to think the Dispatch building
"real handsome and so il is. But COM
pared with that Of the Herald or the Tn
bune it would about do credit to Manehes-
ter OF Skinquarter. 1t does very well, now
ever, considerin'."
Emerging from the brilliancy and ac-
tiyity Of Broadway, the grandeur OF the
avenue. the eXteusiyeness and beauty OF
Central Park, the roar OF traffic and the
"L" roads, the moral stagnatiOn Of the
Bowery, the surprising cleanliness and
amazing nastiness of the great city, and
the bewildering spectacle OF the wharves
and harbor upon the quiet beauty of the
Hudson, is like awakening from dream
OF Pandemonium on crested hlilock in
the "leaiy month OF june" The toll
and turmoil are left behind, and instead
n placid river, bOrdered on both sides
with scenery OF the most exquisite
kind. The view OF the upper and
better portion OF New York from the
Hudson steamboat is superb. Towers,
cupolse. and domes are chronic with the
Observation-Disclosures, and these, being
easily seen above the foliage, add their
beauty to the already lovely picture. sum
warehouses and country residences OF all
kinds, on which all the resources OF archi-
lecture open to unlimited wealth have been
lavished, are strung out thickly along DOM
banks OF the river for many miles ABOVE
the city-throughout almost the entir'
course OF the stream Goo miles,, IN iaci
The grounds surrounding these villas nave
lecn beautified to the last touch. No as
piring limb, hayward branch, or vagabont
tendril is allowed existence. All is clean
shayen. clear-cut-the epitome OF neatnes
and method. Nature has been liberal, bu
wealth has been lavish.
When Uendrick Hudson anchored in tn
Tappap Zee and sent his boats up to TIL
head OF the stream at Waterford, he nat
had Int a taste OF the feast OF beauty hi
men were to enjoy. There may be, ant
doubtless Is, grander and more imposin!
scenery on the Continent than the Hudson
affords, but lovelier there cannot be. BE
ginning with the Highlands and continu
ing with the Catskills, there is panoram
of beauty Of surprising richness. i
tln mt t.,c ahxttr.
from the river, which stretches betwee
like strip OF azure sky, their summit
crowned with the ever-clinging cloud an
their sides clothed with verdure OF tn
brightest hue. There Is softness, an in
describable meilOpneSS, in the atmospher
that gives everything the effect OF bein
seen i'm subdued or refracted light, whic
is agreeable to the vision and the sense
alike. The eye seems TO be rested instea
of fatigued, and the mind is soothed int
amiable repose.
What principally strike the travel,
from the South in this direction are u
surprising prosperity so evident on evel
hand and the very thickly settled state
the country. There are villages and citi
almost innumerabc scattered al along Il
Hudson at short intervals from New Yoi
to Waterford. comparison with d
James is striking. In length they are abo,
the same; but while the former is rs state,
the latter has not single city deserving Il
!. name, at least throughout its entire cour,
i from Richmond to Norfolk, and but one
y two villages, and they of the most son
horse" kind. The towns on the Hudso
are all extensive, thriving, and picturesque
Some OF them-Newburgh and Poughkeel
sic, for instance-are beautiful in the el
treme. The former is remarkable for II