iS;i)c JTarmci-'s iUontl)lij llisitor. 



as=5: 



135 



nrtic-le for econoriiicul and scientific piir|H)scs. 

 On the W!iy iVoin the cenlie to xhr. nnith line 

 of Grafton, tho- stream passes through n pom! of 

 oontiideralilc lixtcnt, down to wliicli on i-itlior 

 Iiaiid tlie ninnntain lc(l:,'es pxtcnd. Tim old turn- 

 pike, cntlin.!; off" the distancf, has its course over 

 unavoidahle steep hills linthcr cast : a ne^v road^ 

 more level lint further rouml, had within a few 

 years heeii constructed hy the poiul. The rail- 

 road has also made provision for itself in this 

 gortje, a portion id" the way of "ccessity the same 

 !is that of the travelled road, but much more di- 

 rect, fillini; in over the side of the [lond itself, 

 where a more direct line retpiired iti Through 

 the frnri;cs and fastnesses of this munntain re 

 gion, to the stranger passing rapidly, the scenery 

 is wild in the extreme, especially at th" points 

 where the ilarU forest trees overshade the rocks 

 and the stream, one or both on either hand. 



The approach to the summit, in a rise of some 

 two hundred f'ct, is mad(! for the road no where 

 exceedinj;; forty-two (eet to tlie mile. The exca- 

 vation of theroi-k at tliis siinimit is fifteen hun- 

 dred feet long, with the maximum of thnty-two 

 feet as the i^reatest depth. The great work of 

 excavation in its whole length has been perform- 

 ed through this rock within the last eivbteeii 

 inonlbs : it will be completed at an expense not 

 much to exceed eighty thousand dollars. The 

 artificial well, which was pre-fent when we visit- 

 ed the work one year ago, has been broken up, 

 and the exterior wall carrieil away : a rounded 

 stone at the bottom of a harder material than 

 that which it wore out, vvhi(di in the flowing and 

 whirl of waters over this ridge performed the 

 work in times even anterior to the great flood of 

 scripture record, had been carrieil away by the 

 professors of Dirtuionth College, probably to aid 

 investigations which shall give more exactness 

 to the unwritten history, reaching back to times 

 when the "earth was without forsn and void, 

 and darkness covered the fiice of the dee|)." 

 Several other artificial weatings in the process 

 of excavation have been opened under an over- 

 liangiiig and rocky cover. 



The barrier broken over in this part of the 

 nionutaiu rau'^e is indeed a curiosity, whether 

 we take and consider it as it is, or what it has 

 l)een. The primary rocky formation — upheaved 

 when the momitains were firmed, lined with 

 hardened fissures of trap-rock, extending across 

 the entire ridge of dilTering kinds of rock, alter- 

 nating from pure and mixed granite, splitting in 

 regular block.s, to whiter felspar breakitig into 

 crags, is there — overlaying it not in burizontui 

 but in less upheaved strata, are diluvial depositee 

 alternating from conglomerate h.ird pebble.", long 

 worn by water to strata, now of clayey sand to 

 pure sand ; ami the interstices through the whole 

 filled in with extensive beds of rich black peat 

 muck which, for agos on ages, has beeti fur m 

 ing, either from trees growing on the spot, or 

 from materials washed down tiom one side or 

 the oilier of the higher moimtain ridge. 



The waters divide at either end of the fifteen 

 hundred feet summit, passing off at the north- 

 west towards Connecticut rver, and south-east 

 to the .Merrimack. The mountain ri.ses on eitlier 

 hand to the extent of several hundreil feet — on 

 the north-east side more immediately. The val- 

 ley first north of the ridge is the head of a con- 

 siderable stream, which snou becomes a morass 

 and sunken pond, nearly at the level of the rail 

 road as excavated. Into this morass inuob of the 

 excavated rocks has been thrown — these have 

 settled down frojn lima to time in a mud hultotn, 



whose hard base could be reached, the superin- 

 cumbent weight of the rock raising the ground 

 on the east margin of the road. This is the 

 source of the stream running west. A less ex- 

 tended valley on the other declivity overlooking 

 the summit, has found ii place for its waters in a 

 b.isiu of the rocky ledge of the summit itself. 

 Within n very few rods of the well the basin 

 conunences: the turnpike road a looir time pass- 

 ed a few feet easterly of the well, directly over 

 the muiidy morass, which widened ou the east 

 tovv.ards the mountain base, and in the bottom 

 of which flags and water bushes and vogHtables 

 grew. Excavating the rock through the ledge 

 from both extremes, the basin morass was reach- 

 ed near the centre. ,\ stream of water, one of 

 the sources of Smith's river, had rim off over a 

 low point of iho rock a little to the west of the 

 turnpike track : soon was it found that the water 

 here rested in a bi:d of consolidateil black veget- 

 able muck or peat. Means were found to lower 

 th(! <lrain of water as soon as the soulherly part 

 of the ledge had been perforated up to the allu- 

 vial deposites resting in the basin. Drawing ofl" 

 the water as well as might be, the carrying away 

 of the black deposite was commenced. Several 

 feet near the surface it was intermixed with the 

 remnants of logs, and limbs, and roots of trees ; 

 but the more exieusive the eftorts to tike away 

 the channel for the road, the more powerful was 

 the rush of matter from either side filling it in. 

 This course was pursued day after day : the pro- 

 gress made by u gang of persevering Irishmen 

 ihroiigb the day, was repeateilly arrested by an 

 eipial filling in at night. The water diained off" 

 as the channel below was lowered ; but the im- 

 pending sides of sole black muck continued to 

 rush down and fill in. In excavating the swamp 

 at a few feet below the surface near the centre, 

 another ledge in the rock, extending across as a 

 barrier, was reached. On the north side of this 

 ledge the excavation has sni^ceedeil thus liir with- 

 out the pressm-e entirely filling it up. Although 

 there is no visible point of draining through this 

 led^e, the water goes oft'as fast as it conies down, 

 and is seen running out at the channel which 

 takes the water from the other side several rods 

 below. No remedy fur the inlermimible difliculty 

 of a constant settling down of the immense 

 mass of black peat muck filling up the basin 

 could be found, but in the driving of spiles of 

 whole length trees as a b:irrier ou either side of 

 the excavated track : no bottom to the basin has 

 yet been reached by the spiles. The driving of 

 spiles and the digging out and carrying ofl^ of the 

 black peat muck, are going on at the same lime 

 with as much rapidity as Yankee iugenuily 

 knows how to devise. As the heavy work in a 

 limited space must bo done, the new obstruction 

 from the impending morass not having been an- 

 ticipated, it IS wonderful that the progress to- 

 wards 1 ompletion has outstripped the original 

 calculation. The ledge has been much more 

 easily perforatctl from the regularity of the larger 

 portion of its granitic striunure : the drilling and 

 blasting have been upon a most magnificent 

 scale — the larger drill and greater blast being 

 adopted. One hundred and tliirty square yards 

 have been tlirown out on this ledge at a single 

 blast. From the energy with which the work on 

 the Northern road has been carried on, we ran 

 scarcely doubt that as soon as the first day of 

 January next cars will pass over the whole dis- 

 tance, coiTimunicaling with the Central Vermont 

 road on the westerly side of Connecticut river. 

 If this shotild be SI), it will present, as iibeliev- 



ed, a case hitherto unparalleled in the history of 

 railroads in this eoimtry: a road over the moun- 

 tain ridge prosecuted ami completed within the 

 space of about two years. The expense of this 

 railroad, not much exceeding two niillinns of 

 dollars, for a distance little short of eighty miles, 

 will be otdy about one half per tiiila of the suin 

 expended in the road of Massachusetts from 

 Worcester to Albany. That road with its enor- 

 mous expenditure has advanced its stock to the 

 price of about ten per cent, above par: what may 

 we calculate will be the worth of the stock in 

 the Northern road at a cost of one half, with n 

 better business certainly when the reach shall be 

 all the way through Vermont to Ontario and the 

 great West, after the Ogdeusburg railroad shall 

 be completed ! 



In our trip to the smnmit we found our.selves 

 in much better gratuitous accommodations than 

 om- deserts : the pass presented by Mr. Stearns, 

 the snperiinendent, carried ns over the road the 

 full length of the running cars to Cass's, in Graf- 

 ton, where we Ibnnil, digging out ami drilling in 

 his own way the si'rvitors upon the road, the 

 President of the corporation reaily to imu his 

 direction for our accommodation, us well as to 

 •settle anil arrange in the best manner all difficul- 

 ties with snbcontrifctors and workmen on the 

 way, that could mit be conveniently settled and 

 arranged otherwise. Without practical knowl- 

 edge and experience, every enterprise may fail ; 

 with the benefits of practical knowledge, almost 

 every thing may be accomplished. The Presi- 

 dent of the Northern road has shown his tact in 

 buying for the road a whole farm for four hun- 

 dred dollars, gpvered with a growth of wood 

 wanted for consumption, where the owner would 

 not settle fiir half the amount paid simply lor the 

 light of way through the fiuiii for a road : he also 

 gave lis a useful lesson how we might purchase 

 a beautifid spring of water necessary for flie ac- 

 commodation of om- own premises in all fntme 

 tjme, by incideut.dly letting us into the knowl- 

 edge of how much competition for any price in 

 money will induce men to trade who h.:d seldom 

 seen money in that region in any of the couunon 

 transactions of life. The price of forest wood 

 up in this country, nicely cut and carted, had 

 been one dollar the cord, aiid.feiv buyers at that: 

 men were anxious to contract for the five thou- 

 sand cords wanted for the first year, delivered on 

 the road, lor li-om a dollar twenty-five cents the 

 cord downward. The President of the road 

 fixed the standard price at one dollar fifty cents: 

 we predict that an additional half dollar will fix 

 itself within the next two years upon the value 

 of every standing cord in that region, in an arti- 

 cle which, with all the present superabimdance, 

 in a few years the supply \vjll not be equal to the 

 demand. In this way a value is given to things, 

 which before have long remained without value : 

 this is a spontaneous creation of capital for the 

 benefit surely of somebody. 



Our journey of two days to the summit was 

 very agreeably carried, with quite agreeable com- 

 pany, beyond the summit. Besides a steady 

 horse, making slower or more rapid progress ac- 

 cording to our wishes, the President of the road 

 was by our side to answer all inqiuries. With 

 us he went froin the lower Grafton depot to the 

 summit, describing and giving much belter im- 

 pressions than we could be able to give our 

 readers. The black muck exhibition at the sum- 

 mit is somewhat as we have described : wo 

 thought it to be a most excellent bed of manure, 

 if it could Ik used by our fanners; and if occa- 



