Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-10-06
AMONG THE CIOrns.
nance from the summit of the Ann.
lachian King,

SUMMIT MT. WASHINGTON. Sent. oath
We are off for the great thorouybfs,e 10
.he white Mountains. namely, North Conway.
Tor September vacation. The half hundred
hoteis are nearly vacant, and will soon be
'o'aiiy 80 Tor this season, for the sharp winds
Vi approaching autumn, and the white frosts
are now every day visitors. The rush of
business has reached its climax. at this period
OF the nineteenth century. and the old cry of
ali full, no room for more" is no longer
heard And yet North Conway will remain
popular resort, for here nature
has chiseled the first great ingre..
up through the great northern Appalachian
Mus. The morning was bright and clear
when we left North Conway and wheeled
along up TO Bartlett BY the antiquated Wiley
House, which years ago was crushed by a
terrific mountain-slide. We crossed the
Notch, the veritabIe far-famed White Noun
tam Notch. Here is jus, room for road, az
though Jupiter Fulmens had rent asunder the
mighty perpendicular mountain and said
Let man pass between" The Saco river
has refused to flow on contentedly in the well
worn ancient bed, and ravaged many an
ailuvial, we'll titled field and shown discon-
tentment all the way up to the Notch 10
many cases broad and fertile acres have
IN single freshet been cut away and
rendered as barren as the Sahara.
Inc vesti2es of the eocene geo
logical period have. in the valley, entirely
disappeared, and nothing but the post tertia-
ry remains. But on we pass. and up to Fa-
oyans. few minutes ride on branch
railroad brings US to the base of the monarch
OF the White Mountains. II is grand old Mt.
w a,hIngton. But its grandeur and subiitnl-
~ can only be partially described, for to de-
scribe 1t fully would require a HumboIt or a
Splx, or Marcus, and would exhaust the
Smiles ando synonymes of the English
language. And here begins the mountain
railroad in earnest. Small, comfortable cars
are slowly drawn up the steep incline by
the small but massive locomotives, up.
up the steep mountain side and
on up the almost perpendicular ia
cob's ladder, until at last we stand on the
very crest of New England This upward
course leads through half decayed forest :
then higher, through scanty growth OF
dwarfed vegetation, where the vegetable
kingdom struggles for a scanty existence
| But when we arrive on the summit nature
seems TO gain the victory in favor of desoa-
! ton, and the immense granite lodges stand
| forth IN all their ruggedness and prominence.
| This is the highest railroad station, with but
one exception, On the globe, and that is on
Mt. Cvnis of the Alps. From the pinnacle
| the eye sweeps a circle, the circumference of
which is more than two hundred miles.
Clouds are fitting around the Green Moan-
tains of Vermont, but to the south
and east perfectly clear sky favors the view.
The broad ocean skirts the indented horizon.
The glass brings forth in bold relief land
scape of hill and vale, lake and forest. and
cultivated fields 1t is indeed magnificent
panorama of unexcelled excellence. The
railroad station, the TIP Top house are am IN
the objects of interest that relieve the stern
realities of inhospitable Nature. We look
around for traces of the eroisve scratch
ers' OF the glacial period and succeed in find
ing them farther down the mountain. This
altitude of one mile and a quarter above the
level of the sea has already been whitened by
several inches of snow, and overcoats are a
comfort rather than an ornament OF dress.
! The thermometer registers an atmospheric
velocity of thirty miles an hour, and shiyer-
ing group of visitors can be seen hovering in
every protected and sunny spot. The warn
| ing whistle of the locomotive summons a de
scent, ana as We came up so down we go.
E. j. b.