The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-03-07
The American Rhine.

the noble Hudson. Grand as that majestic
river appears in summer, win us ever
changing panorama of Kaleidoscope beau
~. vet thrice grander does 1t appear, to
me, when robed in its winter habiliments.
In summer it is the very acme of queenly
beauty, with those magnificent floating
palace.like steamers, white.winged yachts
skimming its surface, slow sailing slug.
CARDS and long lines of lows. Then the
delightful homes, lovely towns and charm,
ing little villages, sloping hills and pictur'
esoue Wales the majestic highlands,
wandrous palisades, and the grand old
Catskills, In all, a river scene such as can
he found nowhere else in the world And
vet with all its summer beauty, more
wondrOus does it seem TO me in winter .
Then it is that it appears in all its royal
grandeur. The landscape, robed in its
winter shroud the hills covered with garb
of "the beautiful" the sunny peaks of the
Catskill, and the other mountain tops lift
ing their crested peaks to eternal heaven /;
while from shore TO shore the river, as one
icy crest, smooth and glossy as sheet of
glass, upon whose surface thousands skim
along on the glittering skates, and hun
dreds more-dove likely beneath the
white winged sails of the fairy like ice
boats. And all of such nature as might
induce the gods to leave their summer
land above for one brief period in this
arctic.like zone below. But can not pic.
ture in fitting colors the grandeur OF a
scene like this 1t would require mightier
pen than | can WELD to do it justice, and
even then it should be seen TO be under
stood.
left Albany one morning on the fast
train for New York But three stops are
made and it runs at the rate of forty five
miles an hour We were behind time as
we pulled out OF the crescentlike depot,
and after crossing the great iron bridge
that spans the river, connecting the two
Albanys, we flew along the east bank at
lightning speed The morning was clear
and bright, and eternal space seemed but
small, so translucent was the atmosphere.
The thermometer was below zero, and
you may believe 1t seemed like region
on "Greenlands icy mountains" Nothing
particular took place until we neared
Poughkeepsie, our attention until then be-
ing occupied in momentary chances at the
armies of men cutting ice for the summer
days to come, when mint juleps and ice
cream will be in order, the monster ice
houses on both sides Of the river affording
no small attraction to the scene as we flew
by. Then the thousands of skaters here
and there, as village after village, and town
after town was passed, the latter nesting
amid the hills and along the banks like
fairy homes. And again, the landscape,
mountains, hills and valleys, with the tall
pines and wooded slopes dotting here and
there a place, which seemed like dark
specks upon white mantle. Next came
the hundreds of fishermen, plying their
vocation, and fishing through holes in the
ice, their "marks" dotting the broad sur
face from shore 10 shore, and presenting a
picture that was unique in itself. RIO
AS our train glides on towards the south,
the snow grows beautifully less, but the Ice
formations more grand and some Of them
entrancingly charming in many places
appearing like mighty cataracts, great wa.
terfalls and immense cascades. But it Is
down the run Of the more lofty hlllsldes
that those formations seem the grandest.
Looking up, say from 800 to 800 feet, and
In some places the sides are almost perpen.
dicular, you catch glimpse of where tho
stream, which may have been nothing but
a little riyulet, breaks over precipice,
courses down In its frozen descent, appar-
emily one solid ice formation, sparkling and
.llttering In the sunlight like roadway
paved with mammoth Diamonds, or seem.
ingly as though silver stairway to heaven.
But the most exciting scene Is a ride
down the Hudson at this season of the year
in the ice boat. The ice boat is yachtlike
in cnstruction-one mast with sail and lib
and the ship itself is nothing but large
plank, with three monster skates, two in
front abreast CT each other and one behind,
which answers for rudder and to guard the
craft. This completes the ship These
"crafts' skip along at lightning speed, and
with spanking breeze" they will leave
train going at 40 miles IN hour, so quick,
that one would imagine that the train was
on siding, switched off for special" to
pass. SO much as an explanation, IN case
your readers never heard of an ice boat.
And now for brief description of the race
that ! witnessed on my journey down the
Hudson last week. The day was all that
could be wished for by the arctic naviga.
tors-bright clear and cold, with "spank.
ing breeze from the northeast, and the ice
as smooth as glass, rejecting shadows on
It's surface from the opposite shore. We