Smyrna times., 1892-08-24
THE SCENE BEYOND.


AS the train crosses the bridge above
Harrisburg, the traveller can see on
the west bank of the Susquehanna,
huge masses Of craggy rock, rising
hundreds of feet into the air. We are
approaching the picturesque Juniata.
The river above Harrisburg, while
broad, is almost as shallow as a trout
stream.
Rockville, five miles from Harris
burg, marks the rising Of the Blue
Ridge or Kittatinny mountains, the
first of the Alleghenies.
DuncannOn, about ten miles further
on, marks the spot where the Juniata
pOurs its stream into the Susquehanna
and here the scene rises in grandeur,
while retaining its softer tints. And
here, it is advisable to state that the
characteristics of the Alleghenies are
not sublimity and precipitOus outline,
but sOftness and picturesqueness. The
railroad follows the Juniata from Dun
cannon to Petersburg, the union Of the
Juniata, and the Little Juniata, occurs
The railroad thereafter follows the
Little Juniata, to its source. crossing it
l3 times between Petersburg and
Altoona. 1t is this veritable Garden
of the Gods" that now merits our at
tentiOn.
About three miles from LewistOwn
the famous "LewistOwn NarrOws"
begin. The train rounds a mountain
whose massive form stands like SEN
tinel guarding the entrance to the pass
and behold we are in wonderland.
The train winds in and out and around
among mountains which press around
it thousands of feet above our heads,
while each turn of the road unfolds the
new beauties Of a never.exhausted
Kaleidoscope. Then, as if the quickly
piled grandeur would be too much for
the behOlder, the train suddenly de.
bOuches into the plain where Lewis
town lies.
An old Indian chief, named Logan.
once lived near LewistOwn. His por-
trait now adOrns the dining-room of
the Logan House, of Altoona, one of
the finest hotels in thesta All lofthis
wildly beautiful, region once was the
scene of shocking Indian cruelties.
Mount Union is the first station in
Huntingdon county, and stands at the
entrance of Jacks Narrows, which
are even more craggy and abrupt than
"Lewistown Narrows." They are a
remarkable fssure in the Jack Noun
tains, so named from Anderson, an old
hunter. These mountains, like the
rest of the Alleghenies, are covered by
a thick growth of trees. There is a
pretty legend concerning the origin of
Huntingdon county's name.
When the tide of civilization began
to press the Indians back from Juniata
an old Indian chief, seeing how hone
less the struggle was, treated with the
whites, aud agreed to move west. As
he stood on the crest of the mountain
in Huntington county, with his peo-
pie, en- route for the west, he turned
back, and waving his hand toward the
east, laconically said Hunting done. {"
Almost every variety of the useful min.
erals is found in this region.
ALTOONA.
In many respects, Altoona Is one of
the most remarkable cities in America.
1t is built up close against the noun
tains, and has grown to be a city Of
10000 In less than 30 years. Some of
the streets are paved nicely, and some
are not paved at all. Hills have been
cut away and marshes alIed in. The
Logan House, a fine railroad hotel,
stands where q frog pond once existed
The railroad runs through the cen.
tire Of the town, halving It. Indeed it