The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-12-01
a TRIP TO THE CATsKILLs.
Mrs. Tarbox of Oneonta, N. Y, Gives an
Account Of Trip to Those Picturesque

Account of Trip to Those Picturesque
Mountains.
Dear Princeton Friends: A few
weeks ago several members Of our
family boarded long excursion train
of many coaches on the Ulster and
Delaware railroad, bound for Kaater-
skill, one of the highest points in the
Catskill mountains. In and out,
through pretty hamlets and villages
we went, including the quaint town of
Roxbury, where Miss Helen Gould
spends many weeks in the summer and
where she has erected a handsome
stone chapel in memory of her fathers
birthplace. Farther on we passed
Fleischmann's, named from the rich
man SO greatly mourned by the fam
Gus ''bread line" of New York.
Fleischmann's is especially charming
and we look from our car windows
down upon the many coloried roofs,
gables and towers of summer villas
and hotels. nesting in the green val
ley. Our train pulled onward, drawn
by two engines. Over deep ravines,
through wild gorges, creeping along
mountain sides, winding in and out,
we came in sight of Grand Hotel, the
largest house in the Catskills and
which can be seen for miles away.
like an immense horseshoe and
mile or so across the country we
could see the rails we had'.glided over
a few minutes before. Mountains
everywhere, not SO wild and broken
as the White mountains of New Hamp-
shire, but much longer chain. Thus
we reached Phoenecia, where the seats
as we'll as the engines were reversed
and we in the rear car were next to
the two big locomotives. Another en-
CINE pushed and thus we were really
ascending the mountains, although in
places where we passed between two
big crests, we seemed shut in instead
of ascending. Many times in looking
back on curve we had a picturesque
view of the cars behind US and the en-
CINE putting in the rear. After sew
eral hours ride from Oneonta we ar
rived at Kaaterskill, the terminus of
that branch of the road. People
poured out of the various coaches;
millionaires, teachers, clerks, mer-
chants, everybody promiscuously and
every group with lunch boxes or bask-
cts.
Our mountain tramp soon began.
For mile we walked the highway,
then turned aside into the woods
where we were obliged to go in single
file for another mile or so it seemed
to us. Suddenly we emerged close by
a big hotel now closed for the season,
the old Catskill Mountain House,
which was erected over seventy years
ago. We saw people farther on form
ing in line in front of the hotel. Hur-
rying on we found ourselves on the
brink of a hug rocky precipice. At
first the mists somewhat obscured
full panorama opened as our sight
grew more an more accustomed to it.
Hundreds Of feet, directly below us
lay rocks and trees in wild profusion,
while beyond were farms, rivers, vii
lagos and towns. An immense plain
stretched away for miles and miles
and in the far distance could plainly
be distinguished an uneven silvery
strip Or band which proved to
be the Hudson river, some fifteen or
twenty miles distant. Had the atmOs-
phere been perfectly clear. which is a
rare occurrence there. we could have
seen portions of Vermont, Massachu-
sets and Connecticut. Father said
it reminded him of Moses view of the
Promised Land. Below on the vast
plain, at first there seemed to be no
sign of life. 1t looked as a country
might to a balloonist. Finally, by
straining our eyes and gazing at some
particular spot, we could discern
atoms in motion. A tiny: white speck
creeping along miniature line proved
to be one or two white horses no doubt
travelling at a good pace. A steep
inclined railway from the rock just in
front of the old Mountain House con-
veyed cable cars to and from the plain
below. We did not attempt this trip,
although we saw trains descending
and ascending in manner similar to
those on the Duluth inclined railway.
After lunch which was heartily en-
joyed on. shady knoll overlooking
the precipice, we began another long
tramp, this time through the forest
dark and old to a hotel on the oppo-
site side of the mountain A few trav-
elers murmured because of the length
and tediousness of this walk before it
was completed. But it was neverthe-