The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1891-09-05
For the WING.
a Ramble Around CreSsOn-The
Old Portage Road.
MoUNTAIN uOUSl

MOUNTAIN House,
ericsson SPRINGS, August22. 1881.
The aspiring young man Of LDngiel-
lows creation cried Excelsior" The
more matter of fact gentleman from Ire
land said ''to the very tip top | will go
be jabers;" aud this morning Nj. and |
moved by the same spirit started from
the Mountain House for the summit
This hotel is advertised as being OF the
top of the Allegheny Mountains, but
there are several higher points within a
few miles. For half an hour and more
we toiled up the old turnpike on which
Henry Clay and all the western members
of Congress staged in tue olden time, and
on which wagons hauled the produce of
the West and the merchandise of the
East. What slow, dreary drag it must
have been. But we reached the summit,
and there, before us, spread out twenty
miles and more of mountain peaks, deep
notches, little gems of cultivated valleys,
smoking furnaces and the ceaseless roar
and scream of the railroad trains.
But our ambition was more intense
than that of Longfellow's youth, and We
not only went to the tip top but down the
incline on the other side, determined to
find if possible some trace of the old
Portage road. This was one OF the early
attempts at railroad building in this
country and l believe the first attempt to
overcome nearly three Thousand feet of
grade. The state of Pennsy lvania had
lent it's aid to the construction of canals
to HolIidaysburg, on the east of the
mountains, and from Pittsburg to Johns
town on The west and, to form connec
tion between these, was the object of the
Portage road. A mile or SO of level road
was made, and then higher point was
reached by steep incline, then another
level and another steep incline, and so on
to the summit; and the same process was
repeated on the other side. l am not
able to say whether the cars were pro-
PEELED on the levels by steam or by horse
power, but they were dragged up or
lowered down these steep inclines by
stationary engine with wire ropes. These
iucIines were numbered from east to
west, and one old gentleman who pro-
fesses to have seen all, and worked upon
part of the Portage road, told me there
were SIX on the east aud five on the west.
The point of our visit was No 5, which
is in the best state of preservation. The
shed in which the stationary engine was
sheltered is now devoted to the ignoble
use of horse stable. Between No.
and No. 6 the line of the Portage road is
used as public highway now, but from
No. 5 down toward No. the incline is
plainly marked aud here and there pieces
of timber used in it's construction are
still to be seen. 1t is very manifest that,
like our old Frenchtown aud New Castle
railroad, this was built by laying wood
stringers on blocks of stone. We saw
some of them such as our friend Frank
Price built into the cellar wall OF his new
store. One we saw in the corner of a
stone house with the large holes i'll it,
and thought here the sparrow might find
a nest. But our English sparrow has not
scaled the summit of the Alleghanies
vet. At least we have not seen the
nuisance.
The visit to this old road was very in
teresting. The remnants of the road, aud
the conversation with the old man, took
us back to the past, but a half hours
walk brought us again in full sight of
train after train of cars, on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad, with their hundreds of
passengers, and their thousands upon
thousands of tons of freight. The past
was all gone and the rushing present was
before us.
If there is any better summer hotel
than this one, | have never seen it. In
every department it is simply perfection.
We were pleasantly surprised as we
entered the house on Wednesday evening
to find an Elkton boy, Harry Elder, as
clerk. Like all Elkton boys he has done
we'll and have never seen more gen.
tlemanly clerk. Another Cecil county boy,
Joseph T. Richards, is here with his
family. Mr.. Richards is from the Eighth
district in Cecil, and his wife is from
Chestertown, Kent county. Mr.. Richards
is the assistant chief engineer of the
Pennsylvania railroad, position which
he has won solely by his merit and
ability. There is not much vacation for
him, however, as his duties keep him al.
most constantly employed during his stay
here. But work is the lot of man and
am reminded that l can only enjoy this
place for two days more. j.