National Republican., 1883-09-08
A Pedestrian Tour Over the HillS and Noun
tainS Of New Hampsf Fire.
The ,co7p7l ststioo e.tfhe Top Of Mount
Washington .
Stone in Sufficient Quantities to Supply All the Gov
ernmont Buildings
A Courteous Hotel CIerk-Cynthy's Per,
fermanCc ON the beatty Organ.
ypecidl Letley.

finest things about this section Of our coun-
try-exouse me-. mean our nation-Is the
ease with which one can got from place to
place by the oldest of all known means of
ooomotion-walking. 1t is not more than a
fair days walk from any place of resort up
here to its next door neighbor, ten or twenty
miles distant. The Appalachian club has
done much land thinks it has done much
more) to make this form of exercise and
recreation popular; but limited exchequer
and determination not to miss anything
worth seeing haye done far more. Apropos
of the Appalachian club, they tell me up
here that two of its members got into little
difficulty this week as to the accuracy of
their respective compasses, the upshot of
which was that they spent the night
in the woods (being utterly unable TO
find one of the half dozen ways out of
the wilderness) to tho alarm and disgust of
their friends Boarding that "sociable little
railroad train," of which your correspondent
speaks (you see we read THE REPUBLICAN,
up here in doubtful New Hampshire) in q
former letter, l proceeded to the end of tho
route, mostly asleep, thinking with our Colo
RADIO Irishman, who would not be aroused in
the stage, that would have time enough to
observe the scenery as l came back afoot.
file so often described falling in by the way
with an amateur photographer at the Basin !;
thence to Echo lake, with its saucy responses,
is an old story. Stopping only to scan the
one pretty face on the hotel veranda,
wended my way through the stately hills
of the Franconia notch to Bethlehem,
or rather Bethlehem Street." Why
doesn't some good inventive Yankee start
up and invent some new and appropriate
names for the small towns in New England +?
Woodstock, North Woodstock, Woodstock
Center, North, South, East, and West New
ton, and so on. Next tliing we know we shall
hear Of Nor-nor-east- by east half-north Wash
ington, for there is no limit to the subdivis-
ional system of nomenclature. But in spite
of its name which it did not belle, as it was
truly the house of bread" Bethlehem Street
is very pretty place. Macadamized roads,
well sprinkled, mako o good substitute for
asphalt, and if they have no gas, they also
have no gas company: Good hotels are thick,
there being, according to popular belief,
thirty, though was able to count but seven
rising to that dignity But here, o, ye gods
and little fishes found / coffee, with cream
in it, from the land of the earthquake, and
not from Rio. No wonder they have yellow
jack in country that produces such con-
coction as Rio coffee There, with twenty
eight miles of tramping to my credit, passed
the night, or so l suppose, for do not know
anything about that night.
The next day, off bright and early for the
gigantic derrick that was to land me ON the
highest mountain in the east.
Fabyan's is the station from which we
start, and there is only one place in the hills
more unattractive than Fabyan's, and that is
the Twin Mountain house. The proprietors
must have paid Henry Ward Beecher pretty
handsome sum to spend his summers there.
From Fabyan's ten miles or so by rail, and
then we begin to climb on the worlds won
der. We scramble shamelessly for seats as
we change cars, and then up we go, slowly
and carefully, at a snail's pace slowly enough
for me to pick few berries to convince a
lady that they are not exceptionally large
blue berries, but only the ripe fruit of the
deadly nightshade, and that it would be un-
wise to partake of them. Still up, literally
tooth and nail, for large cog
wheel drives us with as much noise
as one of our street sweepers in
August evenings till we get to the top and
find stiff northwest wind, taking one along
at a lively gait, temperature within 80 of
frost and clouds enough to hide the view and
wet the observer to the skin. Around rush
with the crowd, registering my name in the
hotel book, SO as to have it emblazopNdrGy
immortal renown upon tbas, which, with
journal 4moGPKoes to press as soon as We
true ar given it any item, and then imme-
diately over to the signal station, where
Sergt. Bealps patient face, as he ascertained
"what fools we mortals be-" precluded me
from asking single question to add to his
grieis AS saw the carpet on the office floor
rise and fall in the wind, gentle zephyr of
forty-five miles an hour, my mind strayed
to the winter season, with the wind at lao
and thermometer too low to count, and l
thought of these brave men tramping back
and forth between two red hot stoves, trying
to keep alive in the intense cold. l also
thought, in terms far from complimentary, of
ba ptibla nnrgimnnv Of
ernment, too mean to provide proper accom-
modations for its officers in places whore they
cannot help themselves. Stone enough to
build ten cities lies all around, and for $1,000
or $4,000 a comfortable building could be
erected provided Mr.. Murch was not en-
ployed to put $50 worth of work on So worth
of stone) suitable for all the needs of the SER
vice. Down the mountain afoot was the next
move eight miles by the road to the Glen
house, a mile and q half away. 1t soon
waxed warm as L went down into the
valley, and five miles down an old
red COW contentedly munching her huge cud
was too tempting to resist, so turning my
travelling cap Ia single piece of felt inside
out, quart of tactical refreshment was soon
cooling between two stones in the adjacent
brook, A sandwich and the milk made a
good lunch, and then to the finest hotel in
the White hills.
The "Glen" rejoices in ev cry luxury and
who is unatfectedly courteous to even such a
veritable tramp as your correspondent. The
name of this phenomenon l did not learn;
but he cannot blush forever unknown. 1t
seems rs if his life must be in danger in a
country where the penny close to tine eye
obscures tho more distant dollar. Nothing
for nothing is the rule here-not even man
ners. In this state each man is as good as his
neighbor and little better SO there is a great
deal of dignity to support. Several
men, seated alone lin various conveyances
went by me on the road, but, though looked
as wstful as / could, there was no offer of a
lift an omission which would put any old
darkey uncle in Virginia if there be any
left under tho ban of social ostracism in
"the quarters" There is much excuse, how.
ever, for this. A constant rush of selfish
discourteous summer visitors has much to dc
with it. "Cynthy" was summoned to pre-
side at one of those ubiquitous squeak boxes
a Beatty organ, in the next house of enter.
tainment, where your unwary correspondent
stopped for glass of "lemonaid." Cynthy
was not aware that G and F sharp held dowI
together for four or five bars are discordant
if original Her rendering of that choice
gem, ain the sweet by and by" was some
what marred in consequence thanked hel
heartily, but did not tell her it was for stop
ping i struck out then for Jackson, agains
which | was much prejudiced, meeting OF
my way couple of college men, tramps lik'
I .lra ,,ap,hnra nf tha hrOt hprhonf