204 FIRESIDE SCIENCE. 



ual. The town is so wedged in by the hills that 

 only one narrow street is practicable, and the whole 

 space is taken up by the walled river, the canal, 

 railroads, street, and line of houses. No place on 

 earth presents so many interesting and wonderful 

 points connected with the coal interests, as Mauch 

 Chunk. Standing upon the balcony of the hotel, 

 and looking out upon the mountains, they seem to 

 be alive with long trains of coal cars. These are 

 not confined to the valley, but are seen far up the 

 sides of the mountains, and upon their very tops, 

 at an altitude of twelve and fifteen hundred feet. 

 They shoot along, looking like huge serpents, wind- 

 ing around among rocks and trees, and by deep 

 chasms, and over trestle-work supports, carrying 

 their heavy loads of black diamonds to the waiting 

 cars and boats below. The trains not only run 

 along upon horizontal pathways, but up and down 

 the mountains, upon inclines which seem almost 

 perpendicular. At the highest points are huge sta- 

 tionary engines which draw up the long trains of 

 empty cars with the greatest despatch. 



The starting-point of what is known as the 

 " Switch Back " railroad, is at Mauch Chunk, and 

 a most unique and wonderful road it is. It was not 

 designed for passenger travel, but solely for the 

 conveyance of coal from the mountain mines, about 

 nine miles from the town. An enterprising gen- 



