Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-21

TILED. The barns were in better condition
ana the fences were we'll kept, and pros
Perlty instead of adversely seemed to rule.
We passed large tobacco warehouses and
great barns bursting with hay and straw,
ana on All sides we could see evidences of
comfort and success. We drove into York
in time for supper, and found it the most
pushing little place we had met with on our
whole trip. Everything seemed to be on
the 60, and am confident that there is more
life and hustle in York in proportion to the
number OF Its Inhabitants than there is in
any other city or town in our State, except
Pittsburg.
THE STATES GARDEN SPOT.
We left about O'Clock next morning for
Lancaster. Our drive was through the gar
den spot OF our State. We would leave one
well-stocked and well-kept farm for another,
and that was our experience all the way to
Wrightsville where we crossed the Sus-
quehanna on the old covered bridge, which
is mile and quarter long, used by both
railroad, wagons and foot passengers. We
waited until the train came across, then
were given-the signal to enter, and driving
one horse on one side of the track and the
other between the tracks. and one wheel on
one side of the track, and one wheel be-
tween them, we crossed In about IL mln-
Gus, for if an engine had entered the bridge
at either end, it would have been extremely
disagreeable; but there are signal boxes, and
they do not allow train to enter the bridge
while any carriages are upon it,
We passed through Columbia, and then
continued our drive to Lancaster over the
fine broad turnpike and through the finest
farming land in the world. We reached
Lancaster about 2 P. NJ. Lancaster In many
respects is like New York, although great
jealousy exists between them. Lancaster is
now, owing to its great railway facilities,
excelling its busy little rival
From Lancaster the turnpike leads along
and so crosses and recrosses the famous
Pennsylvania Railroad, upon which every
body rides from Philadelphia to Pittsburg,
that the description of the country would be
but a recital of what one can readily see
from the train, SO the record of our drive
will end at this point.
PLEASANT AND INSTRUCTIVE.
The horses reached home in excellent con-
dition, and we felt we had not only had
most delightful trip, but that the six days
spent in travel had been most profitably
employed, and we had learned more OF the
geography of our State, and the habits of
our people, than could have been learned in
so trips across the Alleghenies In a parlor
car or in a sleeper. Why more people do
not take such trips is a mystery. The ex-
pense is incousiderable, and the incidents
are delightful, and the memories most
agreeable. In such trip, one gets among
people, away from all the sameness of city
lie and city customs, among people who
live natural lives, among the woods; the
majority of those you meet being true and
simple hearted, always ready with a hearty
welcome.
The trip left three very vivid impressions
on our minds. First That it was a vital
necessity Tor the future development of the
southern portion of our State, that there
should be better roads and better communi-
cations.
Second-That with all possible speed the
present owners of the Pennsylvania Southern
Railroad, whoever they may be, should COM
piete said road from Pittsburg to Harris
burg.
Third-That there was a great opportunity
for the people in comfortable circumstances
to buy large tracts of land and old farms in
the southern counties of our State for few
dollars an acre and make them their summer
homes. The inhabitants themselves are
too poor at present to build the
roads necessary for the proper de-
yelopment of the country, an6 until
the Pennsylvania Southern Railroad is
completed there is little hope of its being
done. Upon the completion of that road,
however, there will be large numbers of
people seek that section of country for
country residences. The lands will then ap-
preciate in value, the roads put in excel
lent condition, and the present inhabitants
brought out of their distressed condition
into prosperity, and there would be no
longer any need of deserting their ancestral
homes, as over one-hslf of them have been
doing for the past 25 years.
If this letter shall be the means Of induc-
Ing one party to drive across the State and
experience the same pleasures that we ex-
perenced, shall feel that it has not been
written in vain. j. B. II.
PHILADELPHIA, June 18.