156 



^l)e ifavmcv'e i^lontl)lij Visitor. 



)ilaiiteil in the pathway, the hills cut down, the 

 rough places made smooth ! new acres have 

 been biouglit into cultivalioa, and the agricultu- 

 ral production doubled ; and yet even this is but 

 the beginning of wliat may lie. 



Passing on from Bedford we reach the an- 

 cient town of Amherst, tlie place at which when 

 first coming into New Hampshire we spent 

 the last seven years of otir minoiity, and where 

 at tliat lime was concenlraled all the great busi- 

 ness of the county of Hillsborough. Leaving 

 our friends at Bedfor.I and escaping the drench- 

 ing of a pouring rain by dodging out of the road 

 to the residence of our friend Sliattuck where 

 we spent the night, we came upon Andicrst on 

 Wednesday forenoon, the object first attracting 

 atteiilion being the puffing of the smoke of the 

 engine of its steam mill erected for fhe sawing 

 and manufacturing of lumber, for grinding corn 

 and other grains into meal, and for other useful 

 purposes. All the expense necessary to furnish 

 the power required by the engine of sucii a mill is 

 said to be the saw-dust and bark taken from the 

 logs and timber, and usually thrown away. We 

 bad thought as most of the lawyers congregating 

 at Manchester had drawn or were about to draw 

 the courts and law business away from Amherst, 

 the town would exhibit a sorry apjiearaiice. 

 Not so indeed — we never saw Amherst more 

 bright and flourishing — flourishing too in pros- 

 pect of permanency, because all her old cultiva- 

 ted lands produce better, and the lands recently 

 cleared off by the demand for their forest 

 growth are at once put into cultivation. Am- 

 herst is at this moment more wealthy than it 

 ever was, because all her cidtivated lands |)ro- 

 duce more than ever. 



But iMilfurd— three miles further on, a part of 

 the ancient Amiicrst— growing into a continuous 

 village of several miles from the manufactures 

 and trade fiom the use of the beautiful Souhegan 

 condng down to unite its waters with the Merri- 

 mack ten miles below;— Milford might be ex- 

 pected to carry away every thing west that wonhl 

 be left to Amherst by Nashua and Manchester 

 on the east and southeast. This is not so: Am- 

 herst holds her own; and Milford progresses 

 and still increases her business and population, 

 mixing manufaelures and trade all the way from 

 the centre along the fine intervale track upon 

 both sides of the river five miles up to the vil- 

 lage of East Wilton, near which unite three con- 

 sideralilc streams which come down from the 

 half amphitheatre of mountains seen at a long 

 distance, sluntiug out and separating the waters 

 of the Sonhegan from the Contoocook. It is a 

 remarkable feature in both of these streams that 

 their best and most steady water power is to be 

 found nearest their sources. All three of the 

 .Souhegan upper streams aie large enough for 

 tiiclories and extensive mills: the factories have 

 been most nvmieruus and successfid oil that 

 southern branch condng down from the north 

 line of Massachusetts, occupied mainly at the 

 Mason village and the New Jpsvvich factory vil- 

 lage further up. 



Cuming to this poiiit we found that uith dili- 

 gcuco exteiidiug oiu- intended journey out of 

 the ivny thirty iniici', we could have just lime to 

 reach Keenc in season to meet the farmers of 

 Cheshire in the agricultural show for that coun- 

 ty, and be detained little more than one day, giv- 

 ing us a less time for our visit to our fj lends at 

 Asl.liurnhani. . We parted on our road.s not far 

 from the centre of Wilton, whose magnificent 

 bills and fartns arc most of the way kept out of 



view by the new roads keeping near the bed of 

 either stream. Our course was over the centre 

 road towarils Peterborough. So ingeniously 

 have the hills been avoided that nearly all the 

 way upon the trot can the horse carry his bur- 

 den up, ii|) the bill until the gap between the 

 two most central prondnences is gained. Just 

 entering here tnridng to look barkward vvc have 

 a view of the whole coimtry eastward to the 

 ocean. Blue Hill southerly of Boston and Aga- 

 menlicus in Maine some twenty miles beyond 

 Portsmouth— the mountains of Nottingham and 

 Deerficid, Gunstock, Ossipee, the Red Hills, and 

 further oflf the Jecorvvay peak — all appear to the 

 naked eye in the clear lishtof a cloudless day. 



In a short distance passing on, the prospect 

 changes to a western view : we see almost at our 

 feet Peterborough with its numerous factories, 

 and casting the eye along the Contoocook, Jaf- 

 frcy at the soulli, Ne'son and Dublin further 

 north, anil north-east Bennington, with the vil- 

 lages of either town shining in the distance. 

 Over to the west nearly twelve miles stands the 

 town meeting house of Dublin at the highest 

 point of the north wing of 5Ianadimck which 

 divides the waters of the two main rivers. Here 

 over nearly twice the whole width of Peter- 

 borough as the afternoon sun was receiling 

 might be seen the shining light from the win- 

 dows reflecting through the meeting house west 

 to east from side to side : this bouse, the spot 

 where the desk was supplied for near half a cen- 

 tury by that eccentric clergyman, Edward 

 Spragne, tm-ns its waters from the roof of the east 

 side to the Merrimack and from the west to the 

 Connecticut. 



Peterborough, shut in by the momitains both 

 east and west in a valley running almost north 

 and south, will by no means consent to be de- 

 prived of her railway acconiiiiodations. The 

 centre about her oldest factories already exhibits 

 the evidence of city wealth and elegance : she 

 erects her granite blocks of stores and offices ; 

 her streams are passed on granite arches, and 

 she has herarbored gardens and her ornamented 

 yard and garden fences. Already in a single 

 year does a branch from the Fitchbnrg railroad 

 extend nearly half way its wing towards her, to 

 be followed from Townsend to New Ipswich 

 twelve miles where it passes through the Safford 

 gulf or gorge of the mountain perhaps some 

 eight nnles further into the village of Peterbor- 

 ough ilself. In building this railioad the ingeni- 

 ous and enterprising people have found the 

 way, it is said, to construct it over and among 

 the momitains at an expense not to exceed twen- 

 ty thousand dollars a mile: the wealth of New 

 Ipswich will grapple of this expenditure, feel- 

 ing it but little, from igGO.OOO to §100,000. I'ctcr- 

 borough can take as nnicb more ; and the elder 

 of the Boston .Appletons, who fimls it no sacri- 

 fice to make magnificctjt gilts tor the benefit of 

 his native town, his rclalivcsand his own prop- 

 erty in that vicinity, it is said takes $30,000 more 

 of the railway slock, without making cither that 

 a gift or a sacrifice. 



After the tremendous slorjn and fall of rain 

 on the night of the Ifiili October we might ex- 

 pect the streams swollen ; but ue had no idea of 

 the (pianiily of water that could pom- almost 

 from the tops of the high hills without tearing 

 up roads and bridges and every thing in its way. 

 We slaid nt Dublin upon the bill over nighi : 

 two Mules below on llio way fiom Petejborough 

 a branch of that branch of tho upper Conloo- 

 cook which carries the Harris factory of Nelson 



and Gov. Steele's factory of Peterborough, wa 

 swollen to a size apparently large enough to 

 supply the entire wants of the Contoocook sixty 

 miles below at its mouth. The landlord in- 

 fin-med us, he bad never yet seen this stream ae 

 high. 



Thursday morning after early breakfast we 

 were on the way to the cattle show of the day 

 at Keene. Half a mile carries us up to that point 

 of the hill where stands the meeting house : 

 here we look back to the enet and north-east, 

 shut out from the view of the country in the far 

 distance by the Peterborough, Lymleborough 

 and Francestown momitains, catching a glimpse 

 at Sunapee and Kearsage fiu-ther north. Soon 

 the view changes across the Connecticut to the 

 Green mountain range of Vermont. But what 

 shall we meet in this higher region but a beau- 

 tiful sheet of water nearly a mile over having its 

 sources in the roots of the .^lonadnock which 

 peers up at the south-east, with its top only 

 some three miles distant. Tsvo very good roads 

 not very distant from each other had been made 

 from Dublin to Keene : vvith these the people 

 were not satisfied, because although smooth they 

 did not avoid all the hills that might be avoided. 

 Directly at Dublin meeting Uiuse we commence 

 one of the most pe feet roads we ever travelled 

 in a hill country. Taking the north shore of the 

 pond, it preserves nearly a level for a mile ; and 

 alter that it lakes the stream, keeping an almost 

 perfect inclined plain nnich of the way never 

 losing a foot by a new rise where the fall contin- 

 ues. 



With ordinary diligence the well travelled 

 horse soon breaks upon Marlborough, another 

 busy place, on tliis branch of the Ashuelot, of 

 granite houses and blocks: this village is five 

 miles only from Keene. At or near the brow of 

 the hill which divides the upper from the lower 

 region passes over the .\shuelot upon an em- 

 bankment many feet high the Clieshire railroad. 

 The bridge over this stream is an arch of a sin- 

 gle span sixty feet over — a most magnificent 

 specimen of stone masonry founded upon a rock 

 and calculated to endure forever. From this 

 bridge in the distance of about two miles the 

 road descends at the rate of about sixty feet to 

 the mile over the level upon the wide embank- 

 ment until it arrives at the centre of the village, 

 where a large and capacious brick depot two 

 hundred feet by sixty is now erecting, with a 

 transport and nierchandize depot of nearly eqmil 

 extent. That beautiful village, already pro.^per- 

 ous for ils trade and especially for its busy suc- 

 cessfid glass manidiictures, is destined greatly to 

 accumulate its capital and ils business fiom the 

 advantages of its railroad. 



The exiract from the Sentinel bespeaks the 

 character of the Cattle Show of Cheshire. The 

 Presiilent of the Suciety is Chief Justice Parker. 

 All the people seemed to unite with heart and 

 soul to give interest to the exhibitiuii. Probably 

 the most rich agricultural region of that extent j 



in New Hampshire may be found in the distance I 



fifteen miles around Keene. It is said of Dub- 

 lin, which from ils rocks and ils location might 

 be taken as one of tho poorcsl, that it is the most 

 wealthy and independent both in its town fimds 

 anil individual means, has the best schools and 

 school-bouses, the best roads and the most equal ■ 



Condons for its inhabiianis of any town in ibu 1 



Slate. 



Of the fine working callle in ihc oxhihiiiim 

 w.is a pair beloiu;ing to -Mr. David Buckminslcr 

 of Koxbnry \v;ighing over 4000 pounds. As 



