1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



sm 



be obtained in sullii'ieiit. quantities, nnd in blocks 

 euliiciently large, as I think il may. it will be ol 

 immense value lor ornamental architecture.'' — 

 (Geological Surceij, p. 82.^ 



>\ hen we lake into consideration the wonder- 

 ful lertility of the soil ofOiiio, its vast and various 

 mineral wealth, its central position in regard to 

 the Union, its easy conimunicaiion with the great 

 mercantile ciiies, by prompt and easy steamboat 

 navigation, or by cawal and railroad carriage, as 

 New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans— that 

 the routes of the most important character, yet in 

 contemplation, as those of Virginia, and South 

 Carolina, wiih her associates, will, when finished, 

 terminate ihei-e — it seems an obvious conclusion, 

 more particularly when the sagacious, enleiprismg 

 and perspveiinir character of the people of Ohio 

 is considered, that that country is destined speedi- 

 ly to attain the condition of one of the most adorn- 

 ed of the Uniied States. 



Leaving Chilicothe about the 25th of April, I 

 returned by the canal to Portsmouth, and took a 

 steamboat there for Cincinnaii. Although long 

 familiar with the valley of ihc Ohio, I was never 

 so fbrcit)ly impresseii with its beauty belbre. The 

 majesty of the river, the lertility of the lands that 

 bind it. the rich verdure of the Ibrest just expand- 

 ing into leaf and crowning the gently sloping 

 highlands, that in some cases come near the wa- 

 ter's edge, and afford the must beautiful situations 

 for dwellings on their summits. The neat larnis, 

 and country houses, and thriving villages, pre- 

 sented an assemblage 1 have never seen surpass- 

 ed, perhaps not equalled. This scene seems to 

 have warmed the imagination of the coolest and 

 most judicious of those foreigners who have re- 

 cently visited our country. "The river (says M. 

 de Tocqueville) which the Indians named by way 

 of distinction the Ohio, or the 'Fair River,' bathes 

 with its waters one of the most magnificent valleys, 

 that man has ever made his residence."* The 

 regrels of that gentleman for the loss of this fine 

 country to France are':^eelingly expressed, (p. 299.) 

 as are those of another lively and agreeable tra- 

 veller, JM. Michel Chevalier, who has been recent- 

 ly Its visitor.f 4' 



The abuse of English travellers, and the re- 

 grets of the French, both springing jrom sorrow 

 felt for the losses susiained by their respective na- 

 tions, of territory within our boundaries, destined 

 to become the seat of a mighty empire, however 

 differently expressed, enable an American to calcu- 

 late the value of his country in the eyes of foreign- 

 ers. Indeed, the pertinacity with which the British 

 cling to a little slip of territory on the northern 

 boundary of Maine, to which they have no man- 

 ner of right, is irreh-eofable evidence of their esti- 

 mate of American soil. Nothing but a breach of 

 the union can prevent our attaining a power, both 

 by land and sea, in comparison with which the 

 western nations of Europe must appear perfectly 

 insiirnificant. We have no reason now to lear 

 or envy any of them, and as their intercourse 



* Le fleuve que les Indiens avaient nomme par ex- 

 cellence rOhio, ou la Belle Riviere, arrose de ses eaux 

 I'une des plus masnifiques vallees dont I'homme ait 

 jamais fait son sejour." Democratie en Anieriquc. 

 Tome 3me p. 17.3. 



t See his letter at Pittsburg Nov. 24th, 1SS4.— 7;c/- 

 tres sur VAmerique du Nord. 



with us is reciprocally beneficial, I hope it, may 

 conlinue to be our policy to cultivate amicable re- 

 lations with them. 



From Cincinnati, I ascended the Ohio to Pitts- 

 burg, and was exposed as liir as Wheeling to the 

 danger of bursting boilers, iVi conseiiuence of a 

 race between the boat on which 1 took passage, 

 and one which left Cincinnaii an hour or two 

 alier us. Pillsburg, with ils dark and lurid coal- 

 smoke atmosphere, oilers little to check a travel- 

 ler's im|)atieiice to continue his journey. I left it 

 ilie evening alier my arrival in a packet canal- 

 boat Ibr the east. The boat departed about nine 

 o'clock at night, and I was consecjuently deprived 

 of seeing the country in the vicinity of the town, 

 and along the Alleghany river. 



The next morning found us near the junction 

 of the Alleghany with the Kiskemineias, and 

 along the valley of the latter the canal passes on 

 the roule to Johnstown, at the wesiern base of 

 the Alleghany. This valley is generally narrow 

 and ruffged, abounds in sandstone, and the Ibrest 

 growth is chiefiy oak. Vegetation on the 27th of 

 April was just discernible on a lew trees, near the 

 margin of the river. A lew patches of wheat 

 looked well, but the whole aspect was dreary and 

 liarren, contrasted with the rich verdure of the 

 Ohio valley. VVa arrived at .Johnstown in the 

 night succeeding that we lelt Pittsburg — the dis- 

 tance about one hundred and twenty-six miles — 

 and the next morning about sunrise were trans- 

 ferred to the railroad, which crosses the Allegha- 

 ny mountains, and communicates wiih the east- 

 ern portion of the canal, at Hollidaysburg, The 

 distance from Johnstown to Hollidaysburg is be- 

 tween fbriy-two and forty-three miles, and tliere 

 are ten inclined planes, five lor the ascent, and 

 ?i\e for the descent of the mountain. The cars 

 are raised and lowered by means of a powerful 

 rope attached to them, and worked by a stationa- 

 ry engine at the summit of the plane. The pas- 

 sengers' cars arc detached at those planes from 

 those that carry produce, and are raised and let 

 down first, then (he produce cars undergo the 

 same process, and are reunited, at the foot, or sum- 

 mit of the plane. This I understood was intend- 

 ed to secure the passengers from accidents that 

 mi(j;ht arise from overstraining the rope. And it 

 seemed a wise precaution, lor, with all their care, 

 one cannot help libeling that their 'Ives depend as 

 much on the strength and secure fastening of the 

 rope, as if they were suspended by it a mile in the 

 air. Accidents do sometimes happen, wifh every 

 precaution, an instance of which occurred about 

 a fortnight previous tothe time 1 was there. Two 

 cars, loaded with flour, became detached from the 

 train, and rushing with fl-'arful velocity down the 

 plane, were crushed to atoms wiih their loads. 

 The sense of insecurity, Horn travelling across 

 this mountain, is so extensively felt, that I was 

 advised by several friends in ihe west to avoid 

 this route on that account; and those who know 

 the western people, and their general reckless dis- 

 regard of danger, know that their cautions, on 

 such subjects, are rarely lightly given. But my 

 curiosity overcame my prudence, and on arriving 

 at Hollidaysburg, about two o'clock, I felt pleased 

 that I had paid no dearer for its jjralificalion. 

 "There are in the Allecrhanies, (says the plea- 

 sant traveller I have before quoted, M. Chevalier, 

 speaking of railroads,) those which present inclin- 



