Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-06-15
Iht Sire Dress.
A LOCOMOTIVE RIDE
Over the Burlington and LamOille
Railroad.
Secrets Of the Unbelievable and
Notes of the Trip up the Valley.
Prospects of the Road for the Coming
season.

BrownelI Of the Burlington and Lamoil
railroad, we recently enjoyed flying triI
from Burlington to Cambridge junction ant
return ON the fine locomotive "Lamoille,
just rclult at the shops in this city. Amonl
other Improvements, the engine has beci
equipped with chime whistle of three tones
which has doubtless, been puzzlng many o
our good people, who were vainly cndcavor
Ing to imagine what tug boat could be doinl
in the shallow waters of the historic Onion
river. They will now understand that The
mglodiuus thicnody comes from the new pas
sengcr locomotive on the Burlington and La
mobile road.
AT 10 o'clock n. M, with the editorial dig
nifty mounted upon one of the upholstered
and comfortable seats in the side of the cab,
and the genial engineer of the "Lamoille, u
Mr. William Lnslcy, upon the other,
while the fireman fed the yawning furnace
between us, we pulled out of the Central
depot, and began our flying cousc over the
rails. The trip from Burlington to Cam
bridge junction is II delightful one, and it
had, of course, special charm to us, mount
ed UPON the iron horse, with field and stream
and ru6d-bCd spread before us and nothing to
obst,uct the view. A locomotive is n sensi-
tive creature, and has considerable split and
quite n will Of lis own. AS The city was left
behind. and the track lay clear before it, we
could feel the great creature gathering itself
together, like race horse, and knitting its
slncws of steel with conscious trcmor
The engineer did not touch the bar, the ma
chine gathered its own momentum under the
head of steam it carried. Faster and faster
the rails vanished under the swaying mons
,si,,l Ia iCtl.
TO the imminent peril of our hat. The fire.
man opened the furnace again and we could
hear the fierce painting of the engine in its
fiery depths. With every breath the great
logs, each like single coal ,glowed to a white
heat. Then, as we nearc1 the first station,
the throttlc.bar was pushed in, and, with
deafenng Kisses from her escape pipes
the engine. well warmed to her work,
glided slowly past the platform, and
stood impAtiently painting for the next
run. Up the valley OF the Wnooski
we swept and as We crossed the
iron spiders-webs at the High Bridge
gorges the fireman pitched couple of sticks
of wood into the foaming water Tar beneath.
Almost before they touched the stream we
were laundering through the cut beyond.
The chime of the whistle sounded pleasantly
as it was swiftly borne along in air and dull
ed TO our cars by the rumble of the wheels.
At Essex junction we waited for the train
from the north, and then started east on the
Burlington and Lamollc road. AT Jericho
we encountered the remarkable rs" curve.
The grade here is so steep that in going a
quarter OF a1nic direct, the road-bed winds
about fer nearly two miles. Above the
grade. there is good course to In
derhil and we made the iun in fine
style, bowling past the famous Dixon inn,
with its empty piazzas, so soon to be crowd
ed with Summer guests from far and near,
and stopping at the little station beyond.
We are now entering the fertile Lamoille
valley, with its lich1 meadows surmountcd
by the rolling Green hills. Mansfield stood
out boldly upon the right, too sulIcn TO pull
off his cap OF cloud even to the re-appearing
sun. The ride up the Lamoile valley to
Cambridge Junction is II delightful one, at
this season Of the year. On every side
appeared the thrift and enterprise,
which las received such encourage
ment since the building of the Bur-
lington and Lamoille road. Fine new barns
for cattle and hay were being built on many
of the farms the pastures were full of
herds, and crops and grass in the meadows
were in most ilourishing condition.
At Cambridge junction, the end of the
run, we dismOunted from our seat on the
iron horse, and, by the courtesy of friend,
securing one behind horse Of flesh and
blood, proceeded TO take a pleasant drive in
the vicinity. Cambridge junction is a pleas
ant little village, nesting under the northern
fall of Mount Mansfield. 1t has several stores
and churches, Il neat hotel and some very
pretty residences. Our drive took us southeast
from the village, and up under the frowning
cliff of Mansfield. To those who have never
seen the mOuntsin from this point, we must
say, You have never really seen Mansfield. Its
grandeur from the end of the carriage road,
just before entering the gorge under the
''slide," is Undesirable. 1t seems impossi-
BILE, looking up from below, that the
mountain could lie scaled by way of the
precpilous slide, but we were assured that it
frequently has been. The narrow gray
rock looks as steep as the roof of house.
Under the brow of the peak we saw several
large patches of snow, which had gathered in
the crevice of the rock, and, sheltered from the
sun, still enjoy the cynical privilege of
looking Gown upon world shimmering un.
der intolclable heat. We were surprised as
we drew near the end of the carriage road tC
find traces Of severe and very recent storm
The leaves were stripped from the trees theil
branches and twigs broken, and many of the
trees themselves uprooted and thrown upor
the ground. Everywhere the grass was bea t
en- down, as though it had been ,rampled
fences were PROSTATE, and one barn WAS scat
tered in widely strewn pieces over the field
AS We reached the last house on the carrag
road, the proprietor, II s,alwart son of Erin
past the allotted limit of life by three years
as he afterwards informed us in his rich brOgu
came ont and we accosted him with regar
to the scene Of desolation. yes" he said
lit was the biggest storm | ever sew in IN,
lile-wind, by The powers and hail and rain
1t came up about O'Clock yesterday (Wed
nj sduy) afternoon. The air was close an
heavy. | stood at the door and saw blac
cloud coming fiom the noilh. II was swa
lows. The uir was full of tbcm, making fo
the thick woods on the mountain. The
were RAINING from the storm. 1t came II
the valley, in track about half a mile wild,
sweeping everything in front of it-heade
straight for the mountain. But the old fe
low was too much for it. 1t struck the sid
of him, and turned tight around and cam
back, pretty near in its old track, and tn,
was the last saw of it. 1t rained in shee
the whole lime"
"Do you think there was much DANA.
done y
"les, in the track Of the storm all Il
fruit was killed, and some of the crops tn
were up well"
"IIow long have you lived in this vic
nifty Z"
"Thirty.seven years"
GLOW do the people living here to,da
compare with those in your timc--are Tho
us healthy, and do they live as long?"
"No-- the old fellows are the only hcaltl
ones left, The young people are all dyil
Off like rotten sheep. You see that old gia
tree over yonderl We'll, when | came o
after the storm, yesterday, and saw it stan
ing there and all the young trees dov
around it, | said to myself, some day the @
tree will fall when there's not breath of a
So with us old ones We ouilast our ch
dren, and fall at last, when the time CONT
without warning
Leaving this philosophical representative
former generation, we returned to the Jur
finn aal A IL 4