Morning journal and courier., 1889-07-24
CORRESPONDKNCR.
AT Rethlehem-About' Some Noun.
ta1ns- FabYan's Bedlam - Railroad
Management and Mismanasement.

AT hetn1o0e"-ADOut Some Noun
tains- FabYan's Bedlam - Railroad
Management and Mismana8ement.
FORT WILLIAM HENRY HOTEL.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
The clerk, in explanation, says it ia the
same all over. The hall boy puts it this
way: every few American families In the
hotel, SIR" Three GASES I can vouch for;
Crawford's, the Glen House and Maplewood.
It is odd that SO many people edo" the
White Mountains without visiting Bethle-
hem. ga place of second-class boarding
houses," says the dude. When the dude
crews to be man he may find that the class
'he stigmatizes as second-class boarding house
folks are the most valuable citizens of the
republic. Still the dudiest dude could find
no fault with the Aaplewood. The real rea-
son for the partial neglect of Bethlehem may
be that when tourists start for the White
Mountains they are not disposed to stop till
they are as near as possible to one of the two
chief objective points. These are Mount
Washington to the east and the Franconia
notch, fume and Profile mountain to the
west. So you find nine-tenths of them
booked for Crawford's or the Glen House on
the one hand and for the Profile House on
the other. Bethlehem is where the roads
branch, and where you can sit down most
comfortably for day or two, survey every
thing and make up judicial mind for the
next move. The view from the Maplewood
belvidere, above the famous barn, is as fine
as fine can be. All the presidential tops
show themselves at their true attitudes. If
Jefferson does look little taller than he
|,,ooo anil hot vwo hou 1r1of hod
one Democratic President and may have an
other. From no where elee can the Franco
MIA range be seen to such advantage.
Mount Lafayette possesses all the qualities
of most satisfactory mountain; large base
and sufficient isolation to convey an idea of
personal character and Of independent sup
port. There is no appropriating the sub
stance of ones neighbors. In the Mount
Washington group only the tops are individ-
| ual. Mount Lafayette is all Mount Lafay-
cite. Its sides slope with sufficient irregu-
| lsrity to prevent monotony, but with no
| more. Its top is crown of glory. To an
| exact geographer like Peter Farley the noun
| tain must have been choice delight. With
l the given materials he could himself have
constructed better illustration of his def
milton. Coming down, stop In the barn;
! visit the Shetlanls and inspect the queer de-
vices for fixing COWS.
With the increase of traffic and the clash
4 Ing OIL TlShl IdllEOauS aOJa Auo boSoAho q
fearful bedlam. How many systems meet
and fight at this particular point would re-
quire time for investigation. All tho east
ern railroads seem to be sending their carl
up to or through this particular point. The
superheaters Of our beloved Consolidated art
there. The Boston and Maine, Maine Gen.
trail and Central Vermont are apparently the
three chief bedlamites; each with long re-
tinue of lesser and component corporations.
How anybody finds his right way is a myste
ry. Instead of saying Chow d'y dor to 6
friend the correct salutation is, "How's your
trunks"
To the diurnal din imagine six hundred
excursionists suddenly thrown into the me-
lee and you may have notion of the uproal
at Fabyan's last Monday about noon. In the
midst of 1t all a woman with tears in hel
eyes seized me and implored me to tell hel
if had seen her husband. As if, poor
thing, circumstances had been propitious for
making the acquaintance of stray husbands
and marking them for future Identification.
Another railroad matter. There are
many short railroads in New England built
from ten to thirty years ago, and built en-
tirely for local convenience. They were con-
structed economically and no high rate OF
speed was anticipated or attempted. They
twist around country hills, carrying farmers
and the product of their farms to market,
and encourage the building of a mill here
and there where a roaring stream excites en-
terprise The curves are sharp, but safe
] enough provided twenty to twenty-five miles
l an hour be the limit of speed. These small
| roads are being rapidly absorbed into trunk
l lines and are used to make short cuts be-
| tween distant capitals. Every now and then
fully equipped express trains are thundered
over them at the highest attainable speed
| The car in which you are seated will strike g
| curve with force to send you sprawling,
4 and hnfn aan annthAr blow
| will come, until you are as helpless as in the
surf off Fire Island when a so'easter is ra'
ging. How the train keeps on the track and
how the track stands the repeated blows are
| engineering problems beyond my ken. With
given curve speed should be limited, ano
it should be the duty of the railroad com
missioners of the several States to prescribt
has become a matter Of exact science, ane
the science should be applied with sxactness
A road of this description is the Montpe
lier and Wells River railroad. The road wal
probably originally built for the accommo
dation of the farmers to the east of Montpe
lier, and also 10 help Vsrmonters to get ou
| of their rock bound State with fewer defec
. tions. The road is about as crooked as al
. | unending rams horn. In the old time table
| you will find that the original trains too
about two hours to make the thirty eigh
miles. Now the road Is part of one OF tn
q | through systems between Boston anu Aon
d treal, and express trains are pounded over
at the rate of over thirty miles an hour
The schedule time is one hour and clever
q minutes. When we reached Montpelier an
l had taken long breath of relief the onl
answer to my observations was: "Well, "
j. have got to make connections" The cour
!. try is dreary country. An accident woul
be entirely without picturesque surroune
ings My advice to all who have not tn
i phlegm Of doughnut is to avoid the Mont
O pslier and Wells River railroad till the acc
}, dent has taken place and speed has been r.
duced to the requirements of safety.
6 The baggage smasher is getting in b
+ bravest work. My Gladstone bag is, ALA
n of the pastl Some hero of the guild, prob
;. bly, discerning its English origin, has laid
10 low; and brand new sole leather valise {
% the strongest workmanship has had one I
10 its impregnable corners knocked in by
n blow that would have knocked out Sulliva
\ himself Is one to be blamed for sighing
bit for lands where travel is fine art; whe
y hotels are comfortable homes and whe
Is small purses are respected And how ol
r. does miss earth's towering snow-oapped We
teb1se to give completion and sense of pc
!" manence to these beautiful fairgrounds
lake and hill topl PERIANDER.
a TROUBLESOME.