Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1897-06-30
Editorial Correspondence.
4 little vacation among the pic
turesque scenery of New York
state.


noon, and left it again four hours later
by way of the Hudson River r. r. This
road runs alongside the Hudson River
through some of the most beautiful and
picturesque scenery in the United States
The most of the distance the track is
within less than fifty feet of the river
and in many place not half that distance
from your seat in the cars. Soon after
leaving New York you came in sight oi
| the Palisades" "a wonderful geological
formation of solid rock on the opposite
| side of the river, that stands close to the
waters edge, and rises to height Of
| three or four hundred feet. The walls
are as perpendicular as the side of q
house, exactly level on top, and straight
as line mile after mile. In many places,
on the face of these gigantic cliffs, large
pieces of rock have become detached and
fallen down leaving big cavities that
look like windows at a distance. All
along the Hudson the traveller is re-
minded of famous places. At IrviDgton
we pass the home of the late Jay Gould,
| and points made memorable by the pen
of Washington Irving. At Sing Sing
you pass near enough to New York's
great State Prison to see the con-
victs at work in the grounds or on the
roads and to remember that here is q
select settlement of seventeen hundred
people who never have to plan what
they shall have to eat, or where they
shall sleep, or worry about who they
will have to entertain. Everything is
arranged for them, even to the time of
their arrival and departure, and the
kind of service they shall render the
State in part payment for its tender
care. And yet l fancy they are not
wholly contented with their lot, and
would gladly change places with even
the poorest of those who are still at
liberty beyond the pale of the law.
On the opposite side of the river
Stoney Point recalls one of the des-
perate battles of the Revolution, upon
which much depended for the
American course. Also West Point is
seen, embowered in walls of living trees,
| and where the United States Military
Academy is located. Some of the build
ings can be seen from the swiftly moving
train-but not the famous parade
ground where the men are drilled. At
one place we caught glimpse of the
stars and stripes-the United States
flag.
"And through the hill-gaps sunset
light
ShOne O'er it with a warm goodnight
As we COUP the river the hills gradual
| ly grow to the size of mountains that
| rise in grandy-sweeping curves like
gigantic blue discs outlined in magnif-
cent beauty against the sunset hues OF
| the evening sky. At their base the river
reflects their outline in the silvery sur
face of the water, while rowboats and
sailboats, canal boats and steamers
| glide up and down as if propelled by
| invisible forces. At Duchess Junction we
leave this sublime picture of light and
shade painted upon river and mountain
top, to switch off thirty or forty mile
ride through a still more billy section
| dotted with villages, manufacturing
great beauty.
Our point of destination was Mill
brook, pretty little town and village
of thousand inhabitants. l was sur
| prised to find it contained what is pro-
| baby the finest school buildings of its
size in the United States. There are less
pupils than in the school at Pleasant
vile or Smiths Landing-only 130-but
the building cost one hundred thousand
dollars before it was furnished. Every
| thing is of the most substantial and
durable character and the furnishings in
clude all the latest modern improve
ments. Among the many rooms is a
| large hall, with fine stage, and enough
seats to accommodate five or six
hundred people without crowding. do
not see how it would be possible to con-
struct more perfect building for school
purposes. Of course town of thOus-
| and inhabitants would not be likely to
raise money enough by taxation to
build such schoolhouse but they are
| fortunate in having q man-one of their
| own citzens-a Mr.. Thorne, who is very
| wealthy and who desired to leave some
lasting mement OF his generosity. The
| next day after my arrival the closing
exercises of the year were held, and
| gladly accepted an invitation from the
Board of Education to be present. The
exercises were very interesting, but
believe / could pick couple dozen
pupils from our own schools that could
duplicate them,
| Another very rich man is making an
earthly paradise of thousand or more
acres of Millbrook. Handsome cottages
and barns, great lawns like green velvet
magnificent gardens. walled or terraced
miles of flowers, orchards and fields
fountains and statuary greet the eye
everywhere you go. At one entrance if
q big tower and castle such as the
| ancients built q thousand or two years
ago, constructed of rough stone weigh.
| ing any where from ten to ten thousand
pounds each. 1t cost seventy-five thou
sand dollars and made capital market
for the surrounding farmers who had
their fields full of rocks and wanted t.
get rid of them.
The scenery as / saw it in q twenty
five mile drive through and about Mill
brook is typical of New England. The
country is very billy, the roads hard and
smooth and the fields enclosed by stOnt
fences. The cozy ponds and the brooke
dashiDg down in miniature waterfalls
the big boulders and lodges weighing
hundreds and thousands of tons, anC
more than all, the thousands of great
maple shade trees that line the roads
everywhere, all combine to remind me o.
the natural scenery of my native State
of New Hampshire. 1t is rich farming
and grazing country. The fields wert
burdened with heavy crops of grain
timothy and clover, and the pasturagl
on the high hills was the finest l have
ever seen. Some of the great stocl
farms were fairly alive with large herdl
OF fancy cattle and blooded sheep. stand
ing in pastures where the grass was uE
to their knees. Corn and potatoes ar
not 80 far advanced as in New Jersey
and there are no such truck farms as WI
see around the lower end of Atlantic
County. Apples are quite plentiful and
saw some fairly good pear orchards, bu
none equal to some could mention il
Linwood, Egg Harbor City, Harmon
ton, and othe towns in our own county
took drive through the grounds o
Mr.. Thorne, the donor of the fine school
house previously mentioned, and had ,
chance to zee what money will do whel
expended in labor on some heavily
wooded hills. There are miles Of elegan