90 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



the walls, with stone beams projecting from it in the several stories, for the reception 

 of transit instrument, transit clock, artificial horizon, &c., &c. 



"3. The walls of the observatory to be built of stone, in the most substantial and 

 durable manner, with a traversing dome, fitted according to the most approved scien- 

 tific buildings of this character. 



"4. The observatory to be erected as a tower to, and in connection with, a large 

 substantial stone building, no feet long by 50 deep, with an ell 90 by 40. The whole 

 to be three stories high, with flat roof, and calculated to accommodate one hundred 

 and fifty visitors during the summer months. 



";. The Mt. Washington Road Company, under their charter of incorporation, a 

 copy of which is herewith submitted, will build a substantial carriage-road from the 

 base to the top of Mt. Washington, with a grade not exceeding one foot in eight, and 

 eight miles long, to be completed before July, 1855. 



"6. The company will place this road at the service of the U. S. government, and 

 will transport all instruments, furniture, and persons belonging to or connected with 

 the government observatory, over the same, free of charges of any kind, at all times 

 when the said road shall not be rendered impassable by the elements. 



"7. The Mt. Washington Road Company will erect, or cause to be erected, a sub- 

 stantial line of telegraph wires from the top of Mt. Washington, to connect with the 

 line already in operation along the line of the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, 

 which is distant only eight miles from the base of the mountain, and which telegraph 

 line connects at Portland, Me., with the lines extending to New York, Philadelphia, 

 Boston, Washington, Cincinnati, and other portions of the United States. 



"8. To facilitate the continuation of scientific observations during the entire year on 

 the top of Mt. Washington, the Mt. Washington Road Company will place at the 

 disposal of the U. S. government such portion of the building as shall be necessary 

 for the accommodation of those who may be in the employment of the government, or 

 of any scientific society approved of by government, without charge, and will transport 

 at their own cost over their road, all fuel, provisions, &c., for the support and conven- 

 ience of such persons. 



"9. To enable the Mt. Washington Road Company to build this national observa- 

 tory in the manner stated above, and in accordance with plans of the same herewith 

 submitted, and for the furnishing a carriage-road, telegraph communication, and all the 

 facilities above stated for the use of the United States government and the cause of 

 science throughout the world, they ask, in consideration, an appropriation of $50,000, 

 to be expended under a joint commission of two persons, the one to be named by the 

 government, and the other to be the president of the Mt. Washington Road Company. 

 " D. O. MACOMBER, President Mt. Washington Road Company. 



" December ist, 1853." 



In 1859, Jonathan Marshall, a recent graduate of Dartmouth college, 

 conceived the idea of spending a winter upon the summit of Mt. Wash- 



