166 
sacred, but afterwards by Mr. Rapp’s desire, of gay character. 
With real emotion did I witness this interesting scene. 
We had an excellent dinner in Mr. Rapp’s house, and the 
musical members of the society took this opportunity to play 
their best in front of it. The band consisted of twelve musi¬ 
cians, and performed very well, among them were two who 
played bugles. Both the Rapp’s, and especially the elder, ad¬ 
vised me strongly to settle in their neighbourhood, and purchase 
at ten miles hence, the Beaver Falls on Beaver creek, for twenty- 
five thousand dollars. There I might establish iron works, said 
they, and make a great deal of money; they and their society 
would assist me in every possible manner! 
With peculiar feelings we took leave of the friendly and in¬ 
dustrious Economy, at three o’clock. No payment was received 
at the tavern, and we set out through the same beautiful places 
by which we had come towards Pittsburgh. Mr. F. Rapp, who 
had business there, followed us, accompanied by Gertrude. Dur¬ 
ing this ride I had another opportunity of admiring the beauti¬ 
ful rocks as we passed by, and particularly the caverns, probably 
made in them by water, which remind one of the little caves 
near Ems, on the Lahn. 
We stopped at Alleghany town to examine the new and 
unfinished penitentiary, which is arranged according to the 
system of solitary confinement. The whole is surrounded by a 
high hexagonal wall. The principal building, which is of sand¬ 
stone, is three stories high. This is to contain the residence of 
the superintendent, the offices and infirmary. On two of the 
other angles of the hexagon are high round towers, from which 
the interior of the house can be overlooked, where the guards are 
to be stationed. Behind the principal building in the court-yard, 
stands a smaller building, containing, besides many cells for the, 
convicts, the kitchen and wash-house. In a circle which is in¬ 
terrupted by the above mentioned buildings, stands a one-story 
building, containing convict cells, which has one row of 
entrances near the inner circular yard, and the other towards 
the space enclosed by the hexagonal walls. Each cell is eight 
feet long by six broad. It contains a bench, and receives its 
light through an opening secured by an external iron grate; 
within this is a wooden door, which the prisoner can, at his plea¬ 
sure, open or shut. Before each cell is a very small open space. 
The cells are floored, and provided with iron rings to which the 
prisoners may be secured if necessary. These unfortunates have 
neither light nor room enough to work; I was informed that 
each prisoner was to be allowed to enjoy the fresh air for fifteen 
minutes daily. In this way, this new system can scarcely have 
any other result than that of destroying the health of the con- 
