Washington Township (part 4 of 12)

I can readily anticipate the lively satisfaction that will be derived from the trip and incidents connected with it by all those whose patriotic impulses iivill be exerted in behalf of those great lines of intercommunication which serve to connect the different States of the Union as one family, and which by the facilities of intercourse they furnish, must tend in a large degree to deprecate those uncontrollable and unnatural prejudices which mischievous demagogues are eternally laboring to promote. Professing to feel a profound solicitude on this subject myself, it is with great regret that I am compelled to deny myself the privilege, so kindly tendered.

John M. Botts

Philadelphia, ^fay 20th, 1857. Dear Sir : - I regret that engagements of an imperative character will not allow me to accept the invitation to the opening of the \\'e5tern Railroads. The enterprise that thus strengthens the social relations of different parts of the country, is working out wealth and character for the East, while it is giving population to the West, and the patriot must view the operations of that enterprise with as high satisfaction as is felt by the man of business.

Boston, Mass., May ISfh, 1857. 3f>/ Dear Sir: - Your obliging commiinicatiou, inviting me to the opening of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, was received this morning. I pray you to present my most grateful acknowledgments to the Committees of Arrangements, whom you represent, and to assure them of my sincere regret at being unable to join them on so interesting an occasion. My engagements at home will not allow me to think of it, and I can only offer you these off-hand congratulations on the completion of so important a line of railroad communication. Believe me, Dear Sir, very respectfully and truly, Yom- obliged and obedient servant, W. P. Smith, Esq. ROBT. C. WINTHROP.

Washington, D. C, May \^th, 1857. Dear Sir: - I received by yesterday's mail, through the Committee of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Company, your letter inviting me to make one of your companj^ and to participate in the joint incidents and ceremonies attendant upon the trip, on the interesting occasion of celebrating the opening of the several lines of road whicli unite the Baltimore and Ohio line, at Grafton, with the river Mississippi, at St. Louis.

Please accept my thanks for your kind invitation, Avith an assurance that it would give me great pleasure to accept it if indispensable engagements did not forbid my doing so.

Baltimore, May Idth, 1857. Wm. p. Smith, Esq., Assistant Mast. Transp. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Dear Sir : - I have been honored by j'our kind invitation to take part in celebrating the opening of the ]\Iarietta and Cincinnati Railroad, on the 2d of June, and the Ohio and Mississippi, on the 4th of June, and at the same time the important branch of your own road from Grafton to Parkersburg.

It would have given me much pleasure to be present on this great and interesting occasion, if my time would permit ; but my engagements to the eastward ft'ill prevent, and I can only wish that the event will pass satisfactorily, and that success will ever attend this important line of railroad.

George Peabody

New York, 3Iay 19^^, 1857. 3fy Dear Sir: - I have already accepted an invitation from the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company, and my plan is to reach Cincinnati on Saturday night, Maj' oOth, and await there the arrival of the train.

If I proceed to Cincinnati by the route dear above all others for grand scenery, what train had I better take, and where can I stop over night, so as

Dear Sir: - The invitation with which you have honored me, on behalf of the Committees of Arrangements, to attend the celebration of the opening of the railroads, though dated on the loth Jlay, did not reach me until this morning, owing probably to its being misdirected.

I beg you to communicate this circumstance to the Committe of Arrangement in explanation of my not having duly replied to their very obliging invitation, which it would have given me the greatest pleasure to accept.

Washington Irving

Ah ! my dear sir, icouldrHl I like to be one of your splendid party, on a fine grand route, and a noble road ? But " what's the use ?" I can't ; and labor, hard labor, is my excuse. " Excuse ?"' I don't mean excuse ; I mean my deep regret.

With many thanks to you, personally, for your kindness, which I shall be glad to reciprocate, let me ask you to substitute for me, my publisher, jNIr. S. Hueston. He will furnish notes, and although not as good-looking, nor as cute, as I am, is yet a law-abiding citizen, and a temperate. His habits are not carnivorous. He drinks water and lives on " garden saas " and apples. But he will do his duty, and duly report.

L. Gaylord Clark

Washington, D. C, Jan. 21st, 1857. My drnr Sir : - I feel so much regret at being obliged to decline the kind in-\ntation to the great St. Louis celebration with which I have been honored, that I liave put ofi^ from day to day, the reluctant task of saying that it will be out of my power to join in the joyous excursion, happy as I should be to do so under circumstances less unpropitious than those which now forbid me. With grateful thanks to the committees and yourself for your politeness, I remain, my dear sir, yours sincerely, W. Prescott Smith, Esq., Baltimore, Md. W. W. SEATON.

Dear Sir: - I beg leave to express, tlirough yon, to the Committee of Arrangements for the celebration of the formal opening of the Cincinnati and St. Louis, the Marietta and Cincinnati, and the North-western Virginia branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads, my most respectful acknowledgments for the honor of an invitation to participate in the incidents of so interesting a celebration. It would give me great pleasure, were it in my power, to be present at the inauguration of the great national line of communication between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, and to avail myself of the occasion to visit that portion of the country through which it passes, under so fjivorable auspices as it would afford, and of acquainting myself more fully, from personal observation, with the character of the great works which have opened to us so direct and expeditioiis a route ; but I regret that the pressure of my engagements here obliges me to forego that pleasure.

Nathan Hale

New York, May 25th, 1857. My Dear Sir: - I have delayed until the last moment deciding whether it would be practicable for me to accept of your kind invitation to be present at the opening of the most important link in the line of our railroad communication to the great A\'est, but I am exceedingly anxious to be of your part;\% and, God willing, I shall be able to accomplish my wish to be with you in time to join in the festivities of the occasion.

Washington, D. C, May ISth, 1857. My Dear Sir: - I am honored with the receipt of an invitation, through you, to attend the celebratiouof tlie opening of the Marietta and Cincinnati and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroads, at Cincinnati and St. Louis.

I regret that it will be out of my power to accept the invitation in consequence of a previous engagement to attend a convention, about the same time, of the railroads of Virginia to be held at Bristol, Tennessee.

^ Each link in the chain of these railroad connections between the Atlantic cities and tliose of the West, must be regarded by the patriot with hope, as so many aiiguries of a luture for our countrj-, of security, prosperity, and greatness, which only t!:e madness of fanaticism has ever been able to" darken.

The Excursion From Baltimore

The only regular excursion party from an Eastern city to Cincinnati was arranged under the auspices of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, leaving Baltimore at six o'clock in the morning of Monday the 1st of June, 1857. A large and jovial company fairly filled the train of neat, comfortahle, and commodious cars provided for the occasion. Upon the assistant-master of ti'ansportation especiall}' devolved the duty of looking after the social comfort of the guests, and " Captain " George A. Rawlings, "the model conductor," was put in charge of the train. A magnificent and powerful locomotive, under the care of an experienced engineer, furnished the power. The departure was from the Camden station, Avhere the Company have planned and partly erected one of the most extensive depots in the United States, which is designed to be but gradually completed.

When all was ready, the train moved out of the station amid the parting cheers of quite an assemblage of spectators, whose salute was eloquently answered by the "Independent Blues" band of Baltimore under Professor Holland, which occui)ied the front car, having been engaged by the Marietta Conipany to contribute their excellent mnsical performances to tlie pleasures of the trip. The band accompanied us all the way to St. Louis, availing themselves of every suitable occasion to afford us neAv and grateful evidence of their taste and skill.

A special time-table l;ad been issued for the trip by Dr. Woodhouse, the Master of Transportation, securing perfect safety, and enabling us to run at a high s eed, without fear of meeting sudden danger. To guard against accidents to the motive power, extra locomotives were stationed at convenient and most distant points, ready to snp|ily tlie place of any which should become disabled. These precautions, and a free use of the Magnetic Telegraph line belonging to the Railroad Company, and by which the movements of their trains are continually regulated, rendered accident or delay almost impossible. The follo\s'- ing is the time-table on which the excursion train was run :

Time Table Tjie Departure From Baltimore

All the tonnage, coal, and stock trains will wait at the meeting places until the special train has passed them, unless clearly ordered otherwise by the Supervisor of trains or his assistant.

A few minutes brought us to the "Relay House,"' or Washington Junction, where <a conj^iderable addition from Washington, Annapolis, etc., to our party was made. The new comers on board, and our train fairly off' again, Ave had opportunity to look about and see who were our conqxionom de voyage. Among the number we recognized, as well as we can remember, tlie following: -

M. de Sartiges, French Minister Plenipotentiary at Washington and suite. Hon. Thomas Swann, Mayor of Baltimore. Hon. J.Morrison Harris, M. C, of IMaryland.

"We should not omit to mention tliat there were also quite a number of ladies in the party, wliose refining influence added not a little to the pleasure of the occasion. By tlie aid of tlie officers of tlie Eailroad Company, the excursionists soon became acquainted witli each otlier, and the usual annoyances of travel were speedily forgotten in busy scenes of social and friendly intercourse among those avIio, but now, were strangers to each other. Never did time pass more rapidly on a railroad trip. Eacli member of the party seemed brimful of liappiness, and precisely in condition to enjoy every thing fnjoyable, and turn minor drawbacks even into elements of hilarity. When -we left the Camden Station the rain was falling quite hriskly, and the weather continued sliowery all daj- - sufficiently, at least, to "lay the dust," although the clouds at no time were heavy, or low enough to prevent clear views of the ever varying scenery on the line of the road.

The Line

The country through whicli the Baltimore and Ohio Raih-oad winds its path has a world-wide fame for grand andheautiful scenerj'. Some brief notice of the chief points of interest will not he deemed out of place as we hurry along in our description of the work itself, and the events of the excursion trip.

The road from the Camden Station to the Washington Junction was already familiar to nearly or quite all the party : but when our locomotive dodged the massive and beautiful granite viaduct crossing the Patapsco at this point, and the train began to wind along the tortuous bank of that serpentine stream, many of the strangers found themselves on novel ground. It is at this point that the Patapsco breaks through its rocky gorge to find its way to the Cliesapeake. The river is rapid and shallow as we proceed, affording an abundance of water-power, freely availed of for manufacturing purposes. Tlie Avalon iron-works, situated on a flat rising apparently from the bed of tlie river, afford a pleasing feature in this picture of American industry, seated in tlic lap of a cliarming and prosperous valley. The rocky hill sides hounding the valley near the Washington Junction bear up many a well-improved site for country villas, occupied chiefly by gentlemen whose daily minglings in the toil and strife of the neighboring city only render their rural retreats the more grateful and inviting. A few miles beyond, the road crosses the river at the Ilchester mill - in a very rugged part of the valley - by the Patterson viaduct, a fine granite l)ridge of two arches of fifty-five and two of twenty feet span. The Thistle and Gray Cotton Factories were soon passed, and then we approached the well-known town of Ellicott's Mills, dis- tant fifteen miles from Baltimore, covering the face of tlie valley and tlie slopes of the steep liills enclosing it, the tops of these hills being crowned most picturesquely with several cliurehes and other public edifices. The old " National " turnpike is crossed liere by the railroad upon the "Oliver Viaduct," a stone bridge of three arches of twenty feet span. The Patapsco narrows considerably as we approach the mills, rolling and tumbling along over its rocky bed, and presenting some very jiretty specimens of miniature cascades at points where the descent is most rapid.

Five miles further and we were at Elysville, where tlie party alighted to examine the peculiarities of an iron bridge invented by Mr. Wendel BoUman (the head of the "Road Department" of the Baltimore and Ohio service), spanning the river here with a double track three hundred and forty feet in length. The river is again crossed a half mile further on by another of those enduring structures which are entirely different in their principle of construction from any other, - and their various parts are peculiarly adjusted with a view to obviating the ditficnity experienced in all other iron bridges from the expansion and contraction of their material, under the influence of changes of temperature. Experience has demonstrated the entire success of this invention, which is working its way into public favor.

Five miles west of Elysville we struck the " fork " of the Patapsco, where the road turns its Avestern branch by a deep cut through a narrow neck. A few miles further, near Mariottsville, we crossed the Patapsco by an iron bridge, of fifty feet span, and then daslied through our first tunnel, penetrating a sharp spur of the hill, a length of four hundred feet through mica slate rock. Crossing meadow lands, and following a crooked gorge to the pretty village of Sykesville, thirtyone miles from Baltimore, we found ourselves in the heart of a region abounding in minerals. For a considerable distance beyond, our course lay through a rather uneven country, the roadway for much of the distance cut from the solid rock, until, leaving the granite region, extending thus far from near "Washington Junction, we struck Parr's Ridge, (42 miles from Baltimore,) dividing tiie valley of the Patapsco from that of the Monocacy and Potomac. From the summit of this ridge, at Mount Airy Station, we obtained charming views of the Plains of Frederick, backed by the nearer spurs of the Blue Ridge, and extending a distance of full fifteen miles to the Catoctin ^lountain. On the western side the quiet Monocacy flows placidly through the fields and meadows of a fine agricultural district, till it issues, by a gorge, on the eastern side, and thence courses along to the termination of the iiiountaiii?, to empty into the Potomac. Near the mouth of tliis pretty little stream the insiilatetl spurs of Sugar-Loaf Mountain shoot up ahruptly ; while, on the other side, magnificent groves of choice timber cover the slopes and transverse valleys. The railroad crosses the Monocacy river by a new iron bridge of three spans, each of one hundred and ten feet, elevated about forty feet above the bed of the stream. Here, fifty-eight miles from Baltimore, the Frederick branch railroad, three miles in length, diverges from the main track, and terminates at the city of Frederick, the centre of one of the most fertile, "wealthy and populous sections of Maryland.

Quitting tlie Mouocacy Yalley, we crossed southwestvvardly over rich limestone levels, embracing the famous '' Carroll Manor" land, between the Catoctin and Sugar-Loaf, by long straight stretches and sweeping curves towards the "Point of Rocks." Approaching this place, we passed, by a cut of some extent, through the ridge of breccia marble, from whicli the beautifully variegated columns of the old National Legislative Halls at "Wasliington were obtained. It certainly seemed almost sacrilege to use this beautiful material for ballasting the road bed - a purpose to which not a little of it seems to have been appropriated. Near this point we struck the Potomac where the railway runs on a broad and rocky ledge cut from the precipice of the Catoctin Mountain, towering up on the right, and is supported on the left by broad embanking walls, separating it from the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, wliich divides with the road tlie pass by which the river escapes from the rugged hills. The Potomac, at this point, is more than a thousand feet wide, and foams over a succession of rocky ledges extending across its bed at right angles. Speeding along the base of gently sloping hills, passing the villages of Berlin and Ivnoxville, and the "Weverton factories" in the pass of South Mountain, we soon struck the foot of another precipice, along which our course lay for some three miles, the last of which was immediately under the lofty clitfs of Elk Mountain, forming the nortiiern side of this noted pass.

The announcement of our approach to Harper's Ferry attracted very general attention, and all eyes were soon engaged in earnest inspection of its famous scenery, referring to which Thomas Jefferson said that the passage of the Potomac through tlie Blue Ridge, at this point, was "one of the most stupendous scenes in nature, and Avell worth a voyage across the Atlantic to witness." The beautiful and romantic Shenandoah enters the Potomac immediately below the bridge by which Ave crossed the latter, and their united currents rush swiftly over the broad ledges of rock stretching across the river bed.

Point Of Eocks From Monocacv To Iiakper S Ferrv

The bridge referred to is constructed somewliat in the shape of the letter Y, dividing as we approach its western end, tlie left-hand branch connecting with the Wincliester and Potomac Eaih-oad passing up the Shenandoah, and tlie right hand carrying the main road, by a bold curve, up the Potomac. The bridge, is about nine hundred feet in length, and consists of six arches of one liundred and thirty, and one arch of seventy-five feet span over the river, and an arch of one hundred feet span over the canal. These arches are all of timber and iron, and covered in, except the Avestern arch connecting with the AViachester Road, Avhich is constructed entirely of iron, on Rollman's plan. This work attracted a good deal of attention among northern railroad men during the few minutes allotted for our stay at Harper's Ferry. It is remarkable not so much for its length as for its peculiar form, the ends being curved in opposite directions, and the structure bifurcated towards the western extremity.

The town of "Harper''s Ferry," (which obtained its name in the ancient days when a ferry here aiforded the only means of crossing the streams,) is built upon the narrow declivitous tongue of land lying directly in the confluence of two rivers. As the mountain steeps converge precii)itously at all points about the gap, but small space is left for building with accessible convenience. The National Armories located here, and taking their manufacturing "power" from the torrents of the Potomac, quite exhaust the level land on the Potomac river margin, so that the town is compelled to go clambering picturesquely up the hills and bluffs, whose summits are crowned with church spires and sepulchral monuments and groves.

Jefferson's Rock, a great-overhanging cliff, is in sight, balancing upon its base, and even threatening to come down upoii tlie gorges below in a destructive avalanche. It was from this elevated standpoint that Jefferson pencilled his graphic description of the scene which there bursts upon the view. He said: "You stand on a very high point of land; on your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent ; on your left approaches the Potomac in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, I'cnd it asunder and pass off to the sea."

At llari)er's Ferry, an addition of fifty or sixty persons was made tt) our i>arty, consisting of a detacliment of New York guests, invited by the Ohio and Mississippi and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Companies, who had preceded the excursion-train thus far in order that they might have more time to ramble over the picturesque region in

we overtook tliein. Among tlie niinibei- Avere: Hon. James Brooks, (Ed. N. Y. Exjivess,) Messrs. J. S. Atwood, Henry C. Boweii, Ed. 0. Bowen, Wm. Tracy, J. N. Tappan, all of New York, and many others whose names are not now familiar to us. Quite a number of ladies also accompanied the new delegation.

A short distance west of Harper's Ferry the road leaves tiie Potomac, and passes up the ravine of Elk Branch, which presents itself at this point in a favorable direction. This ravine, at first narrow and serpentine, becomes wider and more direct until it ahnost loses itself in the rolling table-land which characterizes the "Valley of Virginia." Tiie head of Elk Branch is reached in about nine miles, and thence the line descends gradually over an undulating champaign country to the crossing of the "Opequau" creak, which it passes by a stone and timber viaduct of one hundred and fifty feet sj)an ar.d forty feet above the water surface. Beyond this viaduct the road enters tlie open valley of Tuscarora creek, which it crosses twice and pursues to the town of Martinsburg, 'nineteen miles from Harper's Ferry. At Martinsburg the Tuscarora is again bridged twice, the crossing east of the town being made upon a viaduct often spans of fort3--four feet each, of timber and iron, supported by two abutments and eighteen stone columns in the Doric style, and which have a very agreeable architectural effect.

The railroad company have erected here large engine-liouses and workshops, and have made it one of their principal stations for the shelter and repair of their machinery, a measure greatly promoting the prosperity of the town, which, like many of the old Virginia villages, had previously been in a finished state for a long period. Martinsburg is also the dividing station between the first and second working divisions of the road, one hundred miles from Baltimore.

At Martinsburg, where we arrived at eleven o'clock, we stopped to lunch. Here, too, we were joined by Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of Maryland, and Hon. Charles J. Faulkner, the present distinguished representative in Congress of the Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg district, whose handsome and hospitable residence and grounds are beautifully located at the south end of the town.

There was nothing striking in the scenery after leaving Martinsburg until we crossed Back Creek, eight miles distant, on a stone viaduct with a single eighty feet arch, elevated fifty-four feet above the stream. Here we again opened the valley of the Potomac, with magnificent views of the North Mountain and Sideling Hill in the distance. Not far beyond, we reached the margin of the river at a point opposite the remains of Fort Frederick, erected by the colonial government of Maryland in 1755, for "frontier" defence. How suggestive of our country's gigantic strides is the fact that this frontier outpost of only one hundred years ago, is passed hy as now almost at the beginning of a continuous railroad stretching a thousand miles west of these ruin relics of our fathers! Beyond Fort Fredeiick we began to tmich historic ground, associated with the names of St. Clair, Braddock, and Washington. Hancock, one hundred and twenty-two miles from Baltimore, is the station for Berkely Springs, two miles from the railroad, whose virtues were early recognized by Washington and the Fairfaxes ; and have made Berkely at the present time a favorite wateiing-i)lace to large numbers of fashionable pleasure-seekers Avho throng it every summer. "Westwardly, the route to Cumberland pursues the margin of the Potomac River, with four exceptions. The first occurs at Doe Gnlly, eighteen miles above Hancock, where, by a tunnel of 1,200 feet in length, a bend of the river is cut off and a distance of nearly four miles saved. The second is at the Paw Paw Ridge, where a distance of nearlj' two miles is saved by a tnnnel of 250 feet in lengtli. Tlie third and fourth areAvithin six miles of Cumberland, wliere two bends are cut across by the route with a considerable lessening of distance. In advancing westward from Hancock, the line passes along the western base of Warm Spring Ridge. It then sweeps around the termination of the Cacapon Mountain, opposite the remarkable and insulated eminence called the " Round Top." Thence the road proceeds to the crossing of the Great Cacapon River, nine and a half miles above Hancock, wliich is done by a bridge about 300 feet in length. Witliin the next mile it passes dam I^o. 6 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and soon after enters the gap of Sideling Hill, that famous bugbear of the traveller, which on the National Turnpike opposes such a formidable barrier to hisjourni-y, but which here is rnnoticed, except in the fine profile which it exhibits on each side of the river, as it declines rapidly to the water level.

The next point of interest reached is the tunnel at Doe Gully. The approaches to this formidable work are very imposing, as for several miles above and below they cause the road to occupy a high level on the slopes of the river hills, and thus aftbrd an extensive view of the grand mountain river and scenery. Tlie tunnel is about a quarter of a mile in length, through a compact slate rock, which is arclied with brick to preserve it from future disintegration by atmospheric aclion. The width of the o[)ening within the brickwork of the arch is 21 feet, and the height 20^, aflording room for two tracks. Tlie heiuht of the 7* hill aLovo the roof of the tniinel is 116 feet. The tunnel at Paw Paw Eidge is of similar dimensions, eomi»letely arched with brick and foced with white sandstone. Tlience the route reaches Little Cacapou Creek, 2H miles east of Cumberland. At the mouth of this stream there are fine flats, and a beautiful view of tiie mountains to the eastward is obtained. The viaduct over the creek is 143 feet long.

About live and a half miles further on, sixteen miles east of Cumberland, the soutli branch of the Potomac is crossed on a bridge 400 feet long. This is, in fact, the main Potomac, and would have been so treated, it is said, by the conmiissioners Avho determined the ^boundary of Maryland and Virginia, but tliat the north branch lias the a])pearance, at the confluence, of being the larger stream. The river bottoms are here wide and exceedingly fertile, and the scenery very beautiful. The arching of the strata in the section of the South Branch Mountain, jnst above the junction, is most remarkable and grand.

Some two miles above is a fine straight line, over the widely expanded flats opposite the ancient village of Old Town, in Maryland. These are the finest bottom lands on the river, and from the upper end of them is obtained tlie first view of the Knobh' Mountain, a remarkable elevation, which lies in a line with the town of Cumberland, and is singularly diversified by a profile Avhich appears like a succession of huge artificial mounds. Dan's Mountain towers over it, forming a fine background to the view. Patterson's Creek, eight miles from Cumberland, is next reached. Immediately below this stream is a lofty mural precipice of limestone and sandstone rock, singularly perforated in soine of the ledges by openings Avhich look like Gothic loopholes. The valley of this creek is very straight and bordered by beautiful flats. The viaduct over the stream is 150 feet long. Less than two miles above, and six miles from Cumberland, the north branch of the Potomac is crossed by an iron viaduct 700 feet long, rising in a succession of steps - embracing also a crossing of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This extensive bridge carries us out of Virginia and lands us once more in old Maryland, which Ave left at Harper's Ferry, and kept out of for a distance of 91 miles. The route thence to Cumberland is across two bends of the river, between Avhich the stream of Evert's Creek is crossed by a viaduct of 100 feet span.

The " Mountain City" of Cumberland, of which we had a fine view as our train approached, is situated in a grand amphitheatre formed by the surrounding mountains, that seem to have expanded themselves here in extended curves with a view to giving room in their lap for the city, required by the great coal trade, naturally cen- tring at tliis point. The occasion of our visit "was a gala day in town, and an immense crowd greeted us as we entered the depot of the company at the intersection of the railroad with the celebrated national turnpike.

At Cumberland the guests were furnished witli meal-tickets by the Railroad Co., and parcelled out to the diiferent hotels for dinner, to the discussion of which half an hour was appropriated. Mr. Jo.seph H. Tucker, late Mayor of the city, had made liberal preparations for the entertainment of a number of the guests at his residence, where the Hon. Secretary of State, General Cass; Hon. Thomas Swanu, Mayor of Baltimore; Count Sartiges ; Chauncy Brooks, Esq., President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company; Hon. Joshua Vansant, Hon. J. Morrison Harris, Colonel Spencer, of Aimapolis, and others, liad tlie pleasure of meeting several prominent citizens of Cumberland, and partaking with them of the ex-Mayor's hospitality.

Bidding our new friends at Cumberland fai'ewell, we left the city soon after 3 o'clock, P. M., by a remarkably solid stone viaduct of fourteen arches, fifty feet span each, designed and constructed by Mr. Benjamin H. Latrobe, crossing AVills' Creek at an elevation of tliirtytive feet above the bed of the stream. From Cumberland to Piedmont, twenty-eight miles, the scenery is remarkably (picturesque, and elicited many enthusiastic expressions of wonder and delight, as we skimmed over the gradually ascending level along the North Branch of the Potomac, between the western slope of Ivnobly and the eastern feet of Dan's and Wills' Mountains. One of the finest of the many views is had near the crossing of the Potomac, twenty-one miles from Cumberland, where the railroad, after passing through a long and deep excavation, spans the river by a bridge of iron and timber, on stone abutments and a pier. Tiie view from this point up and down the river is well wortii attention. For the last six miles before we reached Piedmont, the river coursed its way by a deep chasm, cut by its own torrent, through the mountain base. After crossing the bridge, the road wound, by easy curves, through romantic scenery, passing Queen's Cliff, Thunder Hill, and Dan's Mountain, until we reached the " foot of the mountain " at Piedmont. This remote town lies upon a flat of limited extent on the Virginia side, opposite the ancient Maryland village of AVestern Port, at the mouth of George's Creek. It is a thriving and prosperous town already, although created simply by the necessities of the Railroad Co., who found an engine-station hero desirable. It contains extensive engine-houses, designed by Mr. Latrobe and formed in tlic shape of marquees, each one being arranged to hold sixteen locomotives. Here, too, are located very extensive shops lor the repair of engines, cottages for workmen, etc. Piedmont is the dividing station between the second and third working divisions of the road, being 208 miles from Baltimore and 108 from Martinsburg.

At this station our train was divided, and placed under convoy of two powerful engines, in order that we might the more readily overcome the unusually steep grades by which we were to climb to the mountain's summit. The necessity for this precaution is apparent, we state that in eleven of the seventeen miles from Piedmont westward, the grade ascends 116 feet to the mile. After the trains were divided, quite a number of gentlemen, including M. Sartiges, the French minister, and several members of the press, mounted the locomotives for an outside ride to Altamont, the better to view the grand and rugged scenery upon Avhich we were entering. One who has never ridden the iron horse can scarcely conceive the sensations produced thereby, nor can they well be described. Suffice it to say, that it fills the most philosophic with enthusiasm and a sensation of buoyancy, as though he were possessed of wings, which tempt him to soar away in a contest of speed witli tiie locomotive itself, confident tiie of achieving an easy victory. Many were the expressions of wonder and surprise as our train wound its way aupon a broad shelf cut in the mountain side, gradually crawling upward, and leaving the valleys still farther and farther below. The views from the head of the train were grand beyond description. Starting from Piedmont, and looking up at the mountain walls, piled together by the Creator on every side, we naturally wondered by what pass we could hope to issue from the fastnesses which surrounded us. Escape was impossible, so far as it depended upon any visible outlet. There lay the track in front of us, but it seemed to dive directly into the foot of the elevations towering before us, and there to find an impassable barrier. But these, like other difficulties, vanished as we approached them. A graceful curve winds our train out of harm, and we dash along in safety and with perfect ease over the mountain path laid out by human science and skill, plunging speedily into a perfect wilderness of forest and rock, with no sign of civilization except one or two log-houses and garden patches perched away up on the very summit of a peak, and occupied by some recluse who makes his living by hunting deer during the winter, and in the suniiner cultivates a little field of corn and potatoes for amusement merely.

Partial View Of Residence Of Hon. C. J. Faulkner

ravines, heard despite the roaring of our fiery steed, only added to the grandeur and sublimity of the scene. Our course, after finally crossing the Potomac near Blooniington, two miles above Piedmont, overhung the Savage River, Avhich boils down the western shoulder of Savage Mountain, and was left full two hundred feet below us ere Ave readied tlie summit, appearing like an attenuated thread of living crystal drawn out far below our feet, and viewed across the top of the tallest trees of the valley through which it flows.

From the mouth of Crab-Tree Creek, a wild tributary of the Savage - itself a wilder tributary of the Potomac, - where the road turns the flank of the great backbone mountain, the view up the Savage to the north, and along Crab-Tree Creek to the south-Avest, is magnificent, - the latter presenting a vista of several miles up a deep and gradually narrowing gorge, and the former a bird's-eye view of a sinuous ravine, bounded by mountain ridges of great elevation. "Winding up the gorge of Crab-Tree Creek we come to an excavation, or Kailroad "Cut," an liundred and twenty feet deej), through a rocky spur of the mountain, and five miles from its mouth we cross the creek on an embankment of 67 feet in height.

Seventeen miles west of Piedmont we reached Altaraont, the "top of the mountain," Ucenty -six hundred and iicentyie&'i ahoxQ tide-water, and the greatest elevation on the route - indeed the greatest railway altitude in the country, we believe - having made the ascent so gradually that it was difficult to realize that the stupendous obstructions to our westward passage presented by the Alleghanies, had actually been 80 easily and so safely vanquished. We passed this dividing ridge between the Potomac and Ohio waters, by a loiig open cut of upwards of thirty feet in depth, and struck the "Glades," the beautiful and fertile natural meadows, extending a distance of nineteen miles to Cranberry Summit, and jdentifully watered by the Yougliiogheny and its numerous tributaries. Tlie meadows are plentifully interspersed with forest groves in all their native wildness, and divided by narrow ridges, which break them up into a series of unfenced fields, over which the herds rove almost as wild as the buftalo on our western plains. This region is famed throughout Virginia and Maryland for its excellent butter no less than its superior mutton, abundant venison and other game, and innumerable trout streams, alive Avith specimens of tlie spotted beauties, such as Avould thrill the heart of Izak Walton Avith joy. Prof. Henry, of llie Smithsonian Institution, Avho leisurely crossed the Alleghanies by this route, not long since, in company with the historian Bancroft, Brantz Mayer, Prof. Morfit, and others, has

The little village of Oakland, nestled in the centre of the Glades, promises to become, "within a few years, a favorite summer resort for those who seek healthful recreation and pure air, rather than the fashionable dissipations of Saratoga and Newport. A modest but comfortable hotel is located here, which has already made quite a reputation among enterprising sportsmen and health-seeking travellers. The air of this region is highly raretied, and very cool and bracing throughout the sultry summer months. When the denizens of the cities ftir below are sweltering in the heats of August, groaning out sleepless nights under mosquito bar canojjies, woollen blankets are found comfortable on this n.ountain-top, and the sleeper rises in the cool morning with a new lease of life, refreshed and invigorated for whatever sport the day has in store. The writer spent a brief season here in the summer of 1856, and remembers well that while the sunlight air was most delicious, the morning cf the 1st of June - just a year preceding this railroad excursion - was ushered in by a snow-storm, which would have been ci'editable to December. A few minutes after sunrise all evidence of the wintry visitation was passing away in the streandets flowing at every side, leaping in innumerable sparkling cascades as they course along towards the rivers which draw from them their crystal supplies. Oakland is 232 miles from Baltimore.

"We crossed the Youghiogheny between one and two miles west of Oakland, by a single arch of timber and iron, of 180 feet span, and passed the picturesque falls of Snowy Creek, where the road quits the plains, and strikes a mountain-glen, through which the stream tumbles and foams rapidly downward, contrasting prettily with the hemlocks and laurels which fringe its course.

At Cranberry Summit the mountain levels terminate at an elevation of 2,550 feet above tide-water, and we enter upon tlie grades by which we are to descend tlie western slopes. From this elevated point we obtained the first grand glimpse of the " Western World," and tlie successive depressions of the Allegliauies upon that side over which we were about to descend towards the Ohio. Some of the grandest distant views on the whole line are obtained by looking westward in the four miles beyond Cranberry Summit. We began our downward path at once after passing the Summit Station. The descent of eleven miles to Cheat River presented a rapid succession of heavy excavations and embankments, and two tunnels, both now beins; arched

Oaklands The Cranberry Grade Cheat River

-with stone and brick, - the McGiiire tunnel five hundred and the Eodenier tunnel four liundred feet in length. The Salt Lick Creek, -which wo bordered in our approach to the Cheat River, passes tlirouj^h a dense forest of fir-trees. Cranberry Summit is 242 miles from Baltimore.

Cheat River is a rapid mountain-stream, of a dark cofiee-colored -water, which is supposed to take its hue fi'om the forests of laurel, hemlock, and black spruce in which it has its rise. Our road crossed the stream at the foot of Cranberry grade by a viaduct. This is composed of two noble spans of iron, roofed in on abutments, and a pier of solid freestone taken from a neighboring quarry. Arrived at this point we fairly entered the " Cheat River Valley," which presents by far the grandest and most boldly picturesque scenery to be found on the line of this road, if indeed it is not the finest series of railroad views on our continent. The European travellers in our party were as much enraptured by it as were those of us who have never visited the mountains, lakes and glens of Scotia or Switzerland. For several miles we ran along the steep mountain-side, clinging, as it Avere, to the gigantic clifts, our cars like great cages suspended - though upon the safest and most solid of beds - midwa}'-, as it were, between heaven and earth. At one moment the view was confined to our immediate locality, hemmed in on every side, as we were, by the towering mountain spurs. At the next, a slight curve in the road opened to view fine stretches of the deep valley, "with the dark river flowing along its bottom, and glorious views of the forest-covered slopes descending from the peaks to the water's edge. Amazed at the grandeur of the ever-varying scenery of this region, the French Minister is said to have exclaimed in ecstasy, Magnifique ! Zere is nossing like zls in France ! "

Tiie engineering difficulties overcome in the part of the road -within the first few miles west of Cheat River bridge, nmst have been appalling, but for us the rough places had been made smooth as the prairie levels. After crossing the river itself at Rowlesburg, the next point was to ascend along itsbaidvs tlie " Cheat River Hill." The ravine of Kyer's Run, a mile from the bridge, seventy-six feet deep, was crossed by a solid embankment. Tiien, after bold cutting along the steep rocky hill-side, we reached Buck-eye Hollow, which is one hundred and eight feet below the road level, and finally came to Tray Run, which we crossed at a height of a hundred and fifty feet above its original bed by a splendid viaduct, six hundred feet lonp, founded on a massive base of masonry piled upon the solid rock below. These viaducts are of ironj - designed by Mr. Albert Fink, one of Mr. Latrobe's assistants, - and are exceeding!}- graceful, as Avell as very substantial structures. ^Vhen we reached the west end of the great Tray Eun Viaduct the cars halted, and the company alighted for a better view of the works. A walk of a few feet brought us to the brow of the precil^ice overlooking the river, nearly three hundred feet below.

The view from this spot, both of the scenery and the grand structure which so splendidly spanned the immense mountain ravine, was truly inspiring. From our great elevation the stream appeared to be almost beneath our feet, an illusion promptly dispelled when the strongest and longest-armed among us failed to throw a stone far enough to drop it in its bed. With the entire train full of guests, the band also alighted here, and^ taking position near the clitf, struck up the popular air of " Love Not," in sweet harmony with the emotions inspired by the scene. The sun had just retired behind the distant mountain top at the head of the valley, casting a lengthened shadow over the place, and leaving us quite alone in the grand and stupendous solitude, all things combining to impress us deeply with the intiuence of the solemn poetry of Xature, whose sanctum sanctorum we seemed to have invaded. The shrill note of the steam whistle recalled us to the realities of our position, and we reluctantly resumed our seats to be whirled along on our westward journey.

Passing two great clefts in the mountain, we wound upAvard across Buckhorn Branch, and lialf a mile further left the declivities of Cheat Kiver, wliich meanders oft" to the north, and of which we obtained a last glimpse through a tall arch of forests reposing in its wealth of wilderness solitude far, far below. The mind of the beliolder of the stupendous works of engineering that characterize tliis division of the road, involuntarily praises the genius that wrought them, and they will prove the enduring apotheosis to Bkxjamix H. Latrobe.

At Cassidy's Kidgo, nearly a mile from the river, and eighty miles from Cumberland, we found ourselves entering tlie great western coal field of the Alle.r!iany range. Here again our road tinds a threatening barrier to its further jjrogress. Hitherto for a long distance up hill and down, through ravine and brake, on shelves overhanging preci- ])ices, or carried over the deepest dells by massive viaducts, our steed had thundered along all the way from Piedmont like a giant prisoner, chafing his bars and resolutely seeking release. But the mountain cannot 1)6 turned again. There is no depression - no descending valley - no cleft in the hills through which it is possible to find escape. By bursting through the wall of the vast prison-house alone can we hope for an outlet. For awliile, before the entire completion of the road, a track was la'd across this steep siiiiimit with an ascent of 500 feet to the mile, over which iron for the track westward Avas hauled by a locomotive engine, which propelled a single car at a time, weighing with its load eighteen tons, at a speed of ten miles an hour or more. This plane, however, was not available for trade and travel ; and so the last westward wall of tlie Alleghanies was pierced by the Xingwood Tunnel, through which we passed. This subterranean passage, 4,100 feet in length, - not including its '' approach cuts," - was made. Crowds of laborers spent nearly three years in opening it, and another year and a half in arching it with brick, iron and stone. The entire cost of the tunnel, in all its elements, from the first to its ]jresent complete state, has exceeded a million of dollars ! The formidable character of this great work, originally, will be appreciated, when we state that some two hundred thousand cubic yards of earth and rock were removed in constructing the tunnel itself, and grading its approaches. A still greater triumph of skill and industry, perhaps, has been since achieved in the work of widening for two tracks, and permanently arching this great tunnel. To Wendel Bollman, tlie road-master, and his splendid, operating corps, the credit for this is due, Avhile Mr. Latrobe's name also properly graces the cap-stone as its Chief Engineer.

Leaving Kingwood Tunnel, the line for five miles descends along a steep hill-side to the flats of Raccoon Creek, at Newburg Station, eighty-eight miles from Cumberland, and two hundred and sixty-six from Baltimore. In this distance, it lies high above the valley, and crosses a branch of it with an embankment one hundred feet in elevation. Two miles west of the Kingwood Tunnel, is Murray's Tunnel, two hundred and fifty feet long, a regular and beautiful semicircular arch cut out of a fine solid sandstone rock, overlaying a vein of coal six feet thick, which is seen on the floor of the tunnel. From Newburg, westward, the route pursues the valleys of Raccoon and Three Forks Creeks, which present no features of difficulty, to the moutli of the latter, one hundred and one miles from Cumberland, at tiie Tygart's A^'alley River, at Grafton, the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio with the Northwestern Virginia Road, the newly-completed branch line to Parkersburg on the Ohio.

"When we had emerged thus far out of the mountain fastnesses and entered in the softer and more human region of Tygart's Valley, our railroad managers from the East, who had witnessed this gi'eat work for the first time, were earnest in praise of the bold enterprise and the engineering skill which had braved and subdued the magnificent wil-

(lerness tlirougli which tliey had just passed. It was conceded that Mr. Latrobe and liis assistants had established the feasibihty of passing, by rail, over any mountain in the country. Such grades as he had introduced with success wei'e never essayed before. He is entitled to the honors of pioneership in that respect, as the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company is to the same honors in the railroad history of the United States,

On the Baltimouk k Ohio IJ \ilkoai>. Miles from Baltimore, taken at the Point where the Uoad leavks the Kiveu and turns to\v\hi> Kinowood I'unnel.

View Of Eastern End Of

The Road to Wheeling is seen in the foreground, while the Road to Parkersburg crosses the Tygarll Valley River by the new Iron Bridge. The Road Workshops and the new Hotel are seen in the forks.

Arrival At Marietta

We reached Grafton - Avhere it was arranged that we sliould lie over for the niglit - at nine o'clock in the evening. Our approacli was hailed -with salvos of artillery, and bonfires were lighted on tlie surrounding bills, spreading a lurid glare over the crowd of villagers who had turned out en masse to receive us. Wearied with a day of pleasurable excitement the company gladly left the cars and entered the railroad hotel, conveniently located here just across the station platform. These hotel buildings, recently erected by tlie Kailroad Company for the convenience of their patrons, though not of extremely large size, are replete with conveniences, and kept in a highly creditable manner. It is not often that its business will call for more than the sixty comfortable sleeping-rooms Avith which it is provided, - but the dining-room is spacious enough for the accommodation of quite two hundred guests at one sitting. Our experience at supper and breakfast gave pleasing assurance that its affairs are administered with more than ordinary skill and liberality.

After supper the ladies and elderly gentlemen of the party were allotted the sleeping apartments of the house, and the youngsters put up for the night in comfortable sleeping-cars upon the side tracks of the road. In this way all Avere accommodated for the night. Wiiile these arrangements were making the Blues Band favored us with a serenade, soothing the travellers into slumber, and delighting the villagers who still thronged the premises in large numbers, manifesting their gratification in enthusiastic rounds of applause.

of the following morning, our party was astir, refreshed by tlie night's rest and invigorated by the bracing air. Now the party had an opportunity to take a look at Grafton, which was found pleasantly and picturesquely located near the three forks of Tygart's Valley River, one of the main branches of the Monongahela. Tliough young yet, it bears upon its face the evidences of progress and prosperity, i)romising to become at some day a much more important place tlian it is at present. The company of excursionists was considerably increased here by guests who liad preceded us thus far, others who overtook us during the night by the regular train from the east, and still others wlio met us here from the Ohio. Among the latter were A. Caldwell, Esq., Mayor of Wheeling, several members of the city council, and a number of private citizens from the same place.

At six o'clock A.M., having breakfasted, we resumed our seals in the cars, i)laced in two trains, the conductors shouted " all aboard,'' the whistle sounded, and away we sped on our journey towards the Ohio at Parkersburg, via the Northwestern Virginia Railroad. The following special Time Table had been prepared for our train, and was run with scrupulous exactitude.

From Graftox Junction To Parkersburg W. S. Woodside

This road, it will be seen, is one Imndi-ed and foui* miles long. It lies through a very rough but fertile country, wherever subdued to purposes of cultivation. The ridges running generally parallel with the Ohio, it was impossible to find a course for the road along the sides of the elevations or in the valleys. In constructing the work it necessary therefore to strike boldly across the country direct for the Ohio terminus of the line, passing the ridges by no less than twenty-three tunnels and many deep cuts, and crossing the valleys transversely by heavy embankments.

These characteristics of this route led us to the conviction that we had discovered the ''underground railroad" at last. Assuredly no more appropriate designation could be found for the western portion of the line. The country through which it passes, though rugged, is well adapted to grazing, and already boasts a number of thriving towns.

Clarksburg, Va., twenty-two miles from Grafton, prettily located in a more open country, is the centre of a grazing district, from wiiich Baltimore obtains a considerable instalment of her finest beef. It is the county town of Harrison, one of the richest portions of the State. Here we were greeted by a large and good-looking collection of the natives, of both sexes. An immense business is done on the line of the road in staves, of which we saw enough apparently to barrel the Mississippi, - or, if that figure is not strong enough - coop up all the whiskey which floats down the "father of waters " and its tributaries. The country traversed by the road is exceedingly rich in minerals. Of coal its supplies are inexhaustible.

The bed of the road is twenty feet wide in excavation, and sixteen in etnbankuient, designed for a single track except at sidings. The tunnels are excavated not less than sixteen feet in width by eighteen in height, and are substantially timbered, so as to make them perfectly safe until they may be finally arched. The masonry is of the best materials, in large blocks, regularly ranged, and laid mostly Avithout mortar. The superstructures of the bridges are upon the plan of Mr. A. Fink, previously tested by Mr. Latrobe upon the " Main Stem" of the Baltimore and Oliio Road.

The track is composed of T rail, -weighing fifty -two pounds per yard, three and a half inches high, of the same width at the base, and two and a quarter inches wide at the top. Two-thirds of the rails are of English manufacture, of superior quality. The remainder of the iron was rolled at Mount Savage (near Cumberland) and Wheeling mills, and, it is hoped, Avill not come short of the standard of the imported rail. The shortest radius upon the road is one thousand feet, and the heaviest grade fifty-two feet to the mile. The principal tunnel is twenty-seven hundred feet in length. The culverts across narrow ravines, and bridges over water runs are almost innumerable. The construction of so fine a work as this, through such a country, adds well-earned laurels to the brow of Mr. Latrobe, the engineer, to w-hose enterprising skill, aided and sustained by the financial energies of Mr. Swann and others, the country is chiefly indebted for its successful completion.

Ten miles' east of Parkersburg we struck the bank of the Little Kanawha River, and bowled down its quiet valley to the Ohio terminus of the Northwestern Virginia Road, three hundred and eightythree miles from Baltimore, and the first division of, as the Cincinnatians call it, ''The American Central Railroad Line." Our approach was liailed with every demonstration of rejoicing by a very large assemblage of tlie people of Parkersburg and the surrounding countrj\ Cannon were fired, bands of music sounded our welcome, and the Virginia ladies greeted us with bright eyes, and the waving of hand kerchiefs. Altogether it was a scene quite refreshing and pleasing to all concerned. It should be remembered also that at all the stations on the route from Grafton to Parkersbui-g the people had collected for miles to greet us as we passed, and the enthusiasm manifested indicated the general joy with Avhich this outlet to a region cut ofi" from the rest of the world is hailed by all classes. The depot at this place is one of the largest in the United States, being over eight hundred feet in length. It will safely enclose seventy-five of the largest class cars; has Storage room for sixteen thousand barrels of flour, and altogether is one of the most litly arranged railroad stations to be met with. It fronts its entire length on the Kanawha River, and is only about one hundred yards from the Oliio. It combines great facilities for the arrival and departure of passengers, and the transhipment of freight by drays on the land side, and hoisting machinery on the water side. The outer station consists of an extensive and beautifully situated area of fifteen acres upon the upper plateau of the town, out of reach of high water, and Avitli sufficient front upon the Kanawha and the turnpike to give ready access to them both. On this ground is a brick engine house and workshop, with a water-house under the same roof.

Tlie town of Parkersburg is advantageously located on a high bluff at the junction of the Ohio with the Kanawha. Though civilization has somewhat modified and tamed the natural appearance of the locality, it yet presents much to remind us of the still current legends of the trials .'«id struggles of which it was the scene in the early history of Western Virginia. There is scarce a point in sight which has not connected with it some tale of bloody massacre, or thrilling hairbreadth escape, or undying deed of bravery in resistance to savage outrage.

The town presents on every side abundant evidence of vigorous growth and extraordinary prosperity. During the last year an excellent liotel - the Swann House" - has been erected. The building is of brick, contains forty chambers, can accommodate about one hundred persons, and is doing a flourishing business. The town contains also six modern-built church edifices, occupied by as many different denominations. It also boasts a sound bank, two daily papers - the Gazette and Xews, - a number of steam flour and saw mills, and several manufactories. One of the latter, a wooden ware establishment, uses up every particle of wood brouglit within its walls, turning out every thing in the shape of wooden ware, from a whiskey barrel to a match box.

Standing upon the bluflf in front of the town we had a fine view of Blannerhasset Island, a little way down the Ohio River, whose wild and natural beauties, no less than the melancholy history with which its name is associated, have made it familiar to us all. It will be remembered that this picturesque little islet, which gems the bosom of the Ohio like an emerald on the breast of beauty, Avas the residence and estate of Herman Blannerhasset, an Irish gentleman of wealth, intellect, thorough mental culture, and all the enthusiasm of his race. Nestled away in the ornamental forests of In's island home, and em- ploying his leisure in the cultivation of refined and elegant tastes, it seemed as though Blannerhasset was surrounded by all that could contribute to his comfort and happiness. Here, in unambitious retirement, Aaron Burr found him. The quick perception of that wily and unprincipled political gamester saw in him a man capable of the most generous self-sacrifices in the service of any friend or cause whose interest he should espouse. Burr marked him at once for subjection to his will as a valuable instrument ; and, bringing his artful batteries to bear upon his Avarni-hearted victim, soon succeeded in Avinning him to his purposes, and attaching him as an earnest friend and coadjutor. From that hour he was lost as inevitably as is the brave bark which trusts itself in the fatal current of the maelstrom. The subsequent troubles of Blannerhasset, the seizure of his beautiful liome by the government, the burning of his beautiful residence, his flight, arrest and trial, and his death at last in penury and want, are all matters of history. Blannerhasset Island, now thickly covered with half grown trees, and presenting a melancholy scene of isolated desolation, stands a fit souvenir of the sad history of which it was the scene.

After a brief stay at Parkersburg, we were joined by a number of its prominent citizens, including the local Directors of the Nortliwestern Virginia Railroad, and proceeded on board the steamers Albemarle and John Buck, which were lying in wait at the levee to convey us to Marietta. "We should not omit to mention that we were also joined at this place by several representatives of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Company, and many members of the Western Press, who had come thus far to receive us.

Swinging out into tlie stream, our vessels were lashed together, and thus proceeded leisurely up the river'to wards Marietta, some eleven miles distant, the Blues Band favoring us the while with their charming performances. In the dining saloon of each steamer a sumptuous repast was served to the guests, whose numbers had now swollen to some five or six hundred.

After dinner, a meeting of the passengers was held on the Albemarle, at which Win. Tracey, Esq., of New York, was called to the chair, and John Ritchie, of Maryland, and Ira Goodnow, of Vermont, were appointed Secretaries. The object of the meeting was stated to be an embodiment, in suitable form, of the sentiments of the guests towards those under whose auspices the excursion had proceeded thus far; and the following gentlemen, understood to represent "the Press," were appointed a Committee on Resolutions:

Whereas, The Baltimore and Ohio Raih-oad Company, - the progress of which, from the time thej- started a few horse cars for tlie transportation of passengers and freight, up to the present moment, wlien they have in complete working a road that is a monument of art and engineering skill, has been unprecedented, - have united with others in the opening of the Ohio and Mississippi road ; therefore,

Peso/reil, That the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, the Master of Transportation, the Directors and Managers, for their unusual attention to their guests in providing a special train to Parkei-sburg, and also for providing food and lodging during the entire trip, have displayed a munificent liberality hitherto nnprecedented, and deserve not only the warmest thanks of all who took part in the excursion, but the most unbounded prosperity.

liesolved, That our warmest thanks are especially due to Prescott Smith, Assistant Master of Transportation; Wendel Bollman, Master of Road; Henry Tyson, Master of Machinerj' ; A. DifFy and B. L. Jacobs, Supervisors of Trains ; George A. Rawlings, Conductor ; John McGoweu, James Fulton, and Wm. Bryan, Engineers ; and M. C. Perry, Baggage Master, for their untiring and gentlemanly attention to the guests of this excursion while on the special trains under their charge.

Of course these resolutions were adopted unanimously, for ever}'- body had enjoyed himself famously, and the parties generally alluded to in the resolutions, so evidently deserved commendation, that every guest was in haste to respond with a wilful " aye." The intention of the resolutions exactly met the views of all, and so they were adopted at once.

It is to be regretted, perhaps, that a little time was not taken, however, to examine the resolutions critically, and see whether they really conveyed the intended idea, instead of trusting that important matter to the hurried supervision of the individual who drew them up. We are led to this suggestion by the fact, that the form of the resolutions has been justly criticised in some respects. The special correspondent of the l^ew York Times., for instance, referring to the subject in one of his letters, points out tlie obvious impropriety of thanking " the Directors and Managers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, for their ujiusual attention to their guests," on this occasion. He objects, perhaps with good reason, that the language is invidious, and insists that attention is not " unusual" on the part of the Company in question, but that they always, on every occasion, maintain an enviable reputation for kindness, civility, and " attention " to their passengers.

While on our way np the river, the guests were formally transferred by the officers of tlie Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, (through Mr. S. A. Leakin, of the board,) to the delegation which had come from Marietta (headed by Beman Gates, Vice-President of the Marietta and Cincinnati Eoad) to receive and escort them to that point of the Ohio frontier. As our steamers groaned and puffed along towards their destination we obtained a fine view of the city of Marietta, erected on three successive plateaus or shelves, rising from the river one after another, as the country recedes from the bank. The Muskingum river, noted for the immense quantities of tlonr milled upon its banks, flows into the Ohio, bounding the city on its lower side The appearance of the place is not prepossess- - ing as viewed from the river, although closer examination, Avlien one gets away from the levee, shows it to be exceedingly neat and well built, and full of tanneries and other evidences of manufacturing wealth. Its educational advantages are rarely surpassed elsewhere, and Marietta College, with its valuable library and ample philosopliical apparatus, has a high reputation wherever known.

The place, as is well known, was settled under the auspices of the New England Ohio Company - Gen. Rufus Putuam being commander of the expedition, which left tlie Eastern settlements in the autumn of 1787, spent the winter in travelling across the trackless forests, and in April arrived at Youghiogheny. Here boats were built, and the party descended to the Muskingum. On the 7th of April, 1788, they landed on the bank of the river and selected tlie spot for their settlement; thus planting the germ of the State of Ohio. On the 2d of July a meeting was held for the purpose of naming the new settlement, and after some deliberation the name " Marietta " was resolved on, in honor of Mary Antoinette, of France.

The first civil court ever held in Ohio, convened at Marietta on the 2d of September, 1788. A fort about this time was erected, known as Fort Ilarmar, on the Muskingum, a short distance from the mouth. Ship building was subsequently carried on very successfully. The first ship built Avas called the St. Clair, and Marietta became a port of clearance. In the year 1807, a vessel cleared from this port with a cargo of pork and flour, for New Orleans, thence she sailed to England, and from thence to St. Petersburg. Here she was examined l)y tlie oflBcers of the port and seized, the officers deciding there was no such port on the civilized globe. After much difficulty a map of the United States was i)rocured, and the Yankee Captain, commencing at the mouth of the Mississippi, traced that stream to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence up the latter to the mouth of the Muskingum, where he pointed out to the astonished Russians the port of Marietta,

The river bank at Marietta was thronged with people, -wlio greeted us with the booming of cannon, vociferous cheering, and the martial strains of fife and drum, all responded to from the mouth of a noisy swivel, planted at the bow of one of our steamers. It was quite evident that the population had generally turned out to meet us.

Ascending the levee, we were met by the authorities of Marietta, and formally welcomed to the State of Ohio by its Governor, the Hon. Salmon P. Chase, in the following appropriate remarks :

Gentlemen : - It is, indeed, an auspicious occasion -whicli unites the citizens of so many States in celebrating the happy consummation of a great work, so lono- ao-o commenced, so steadily urged, and, at length, notwdthstanding manifold discouragements and difficulties almost innumerable, so triumphantly accomplished.

It is with especial gratification that I welcome to our soU and to our hospitalities, the representatives of that ancient and honored Commonwealth, whose infancy was guided by the wisdom of religious toleration, and whose maturer a^e was illustrated by the conception and inauguration of the first railroad attempted from the seaboard, across the mountains, into the vast interior tof^ether with the representatives of that ancient dominion, honored mother of Washington and JefiFerson, under whose auspices the settlement of the North-west was inaugm-ated.

It gives me great pleasure to include in this cordial welcome those members of the Federal Administration, and those senators and representatives of our sister States in the Federal Congress, whose presence here attests the national value of the occasion, and to see among them the diplomatic represent-

I greet with no less satisfaction, and with salutations no less hearty, the directors and officers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the members of the city government of Baltimore, the gentlemen of the press - members of that other government which governs us all - and those other distinguished citizens, whose concuiTence in this celebration makes this one of those white days, -which we anticipate with pleasure and remember with delight.

Welcome, gentlemen, welcome, one and all. May you derive from your brief sojourn within the limits of Ohio, a pleasure as real and as great as that which your coming affords to us - To you, sir, {turning to General Cass,) I may say something more than welcome to Ohio ! I may almost say. Welcome home ! Welcome, I may certainly say, to the theatre of your earliest manhood ! Welcome to the community from which you received your first political trust ! - Welcome to the spot which witnessed, near half a century ago, the commencement of that long career of distinguished public service and high public trust through which you have moved - a career long yet, Ave trust, to be protracted through a vigorous and honored age, in the midst of regards and affections which may be augmented, perhaps, by political sympathies, but cannot be extinguished by political differences. Here, sir, now, as then, rolls the same beautiful Ohio ; there, with willing tribute, comes the same swift IMuskingum ; yonder rise the same verdant slopes ; above bends the same benignant sky. Would that I could add that now, as then, here and all around you stand the friends of your youth, to welcome you back to the spot consecrated by youthful friendships. A few, indeed, yet remain to greet you. The rest - but let me not awaken vain regrets. Even the departed survive in their spirit and greet you through their works.

My gratificatiou in welcoming you to Ohio, gentlemen, is doubled by the circumstance that, at the same moment, I may welcome you to the spot where the foundation of the State was laid - where, indeed, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of the illimitable North-west was begun.

Hither on the 7tli day of April, 1788, not yet quite sevent}- years ago, after a winter's journey across the Alleghanies, through deep snows and over almost impassable ways ; after a voyage in boats constructed by themselves, down the Youghiogheny, down the Monongahela, down the Ohio ; under the lead of Kufus Putnam, a Brigadier-General of the Revolutionary Army, who possessed and fully deserved the entire confidence of Washington - came the first settlers of Ohio - noble souls - devoted patriots - brave soldiers - who having gallantly aided in achieving the independence of their country, now consecrated their energies to the establishment of new homes for freemen, and a new empire of freedom in the Western wilderness.

Here they found, in singular preservation, those remarkable and extensive earth works, existing, though in a somewhat impaired condition, to this day, the purpose of whicli. whether civil or military, secular or ecclesiastical, baffles antiquarian research, though all agree that they must have been constructed in remote antiquity and hy a race of men which has long since disappeared. * * * * Here, too, they found the successors of that race, the Red Men of the forest, still resentful of their defeats in Pontiac's war, and jealous of the encroachments of the white man.

With characteristic energy and promptitude, on the very next day after their arrival they commenced the work of dividing the land, and prepared at once for cultivation and defence. Hope painted for them a bright, though distant future, but not even the magic pencil of hope could have pictured the magnificent reality. From this germ in the wilderness has already sprung a State as rich in resources and as powerful in arms as were the whole united colonies at the era of the revolution. Other States have risen in rapid succession. Westward and still westward, the star of empire has taken its way, carrying, by its mighty attraction, Anglo-Saxon dominion and Anglo- Saxon civilization, in the form of Republican Institutions and Republican States across the Mississippi, across' the prairies, across the mountains, till it pauses at last at the very gates of the evening, to look down over the Pacific, now vexed by the keels of an unwonted commerce, upon the latest accession to the Republic, young, brilliant, golden-robed California.

To what spot then, in Ohio, gentlemen, could I welcome you - to what spot in the great central valley of the Republic can you be welcomed - more fraught with historic interest or more suggestive of the grand, hoped-for future than this ?

And what an event it is, gentlemen, which we here unite in celebrating ! What thoughts it, too, awakens of the past, and what hopes for the time to come ! Three distinct periods seem to mark the progress of intercommunication between the eastern and western - western once, but western now no longer - sections of our country. Our fathers were glad to avail themselves of the Indian trails and bufi'alo paths on land, and of canoes and broadhorns upon the water. Eighty-seven years ago a red man, standing here on the shores of the Ohio, might have remarked, floating downward with the stream, a iTide canoe manned by two Indians and bearing three wliite men, of whom one, in the prime of noble manhood, was easily distinguished from the others by his dignified bearing, and by his athletic proportions. It was Washington, who had crossed the mountains on horseback, by the rough paths of the period, and was now on his way to establish pre-emption claims in behalf of himself and his fellow-soldiers in the French and Indian wars, by marking trees and setting up monuments on the lauds south of the Ohio, just ceded by the Six Nations. Here, and not very far IVom where we now stand, he landed to exchange tokens of amity, and smoke the pipe of peace witii an Inilian chief, whose friendship he had gained seventeen years before, when he had visited the tribe as the youthful envoy of IJinwiddie.

But the day of canoes and broadhorns, of Indian trails and buffalo paths passed awav, steamboats made their appearance on the rivers, caiials furnislied new channels of water conimuuicatiou, and turnpikes and niacadumized roads facilitated intercourse by land. Over the Alleghanies and westward as far as Sprinjz;field, in Ohio, the national road was built for the accommodation of the traveller and the emigrant, and to secure the means of prompt communication in times of peril. The traveller on this road may still see, standing by the wayside, not far from the city of Wheeling, a simple monument which commeniorites the services of Henry Clay, iu the creation of this then important bond and ligament of union between the Atlantic States and the interior. The monument will crumble, the road itself may be deserted and forgotten, but the name of Clay will live while patriotism is honored and genius finds a sshrine iu the hearts of men. (Long continued applause.)

Turnpikes and macadamized roads, rivers, and canals, still supply indis- ])ensable facilities of intercourse. But a third period has begun. - The railroad anil the telegraph now assert their claims to pre-eminence as the most important means of raj^id communication, and the most beneficial agencies of progress.

With this new era the great work, of which we now celebrate the accomplislinienr, stands closely and prominently connected. While yet a youth, pursuing my professional studies iu the city of Washington, I remember to have witnessed the celebration of the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad - perhaps to Ellicotl's Mills - perhaps, only, to what is now the Washington Junction. It was a great event, and deserved to be appropriately celebrated - it announced the earnest beginning of a work, then without a rival in boldness of design and grandeur of conception. Tlirough what difficulties it has been prosecuted - what marvels of engineering skill it has evoked - how successfully obstacles, seemingly insurmountable, have been overcome, others may better tell than I.

I rt^joice to see among you to-day a friend of my younger years, to whose faithful and intelligent acts, as President of the Company, something, at least, of its success is due. I have no heartier welcome to give to-day than that which my heart offers, before my tongue cais utter it, to Thomas Swann.

All those who faithfully labor in the commencement of great undertakings,- seeking to realize in material forms great ideas, build far more M'isely than they know. The projectors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad little imagined how much more vast than even their own conception were to be the results of the work they undertook. They contemplated a connection with the Ohio, and, through the Ohio and its afliliated rivers, with the immense territories watered by them. But they did not dream that these rivers, themselves, were to be half superseded by other railroads, continuing their own iron track farther and farther towards the setting sun.

western Virginia Railroad, over which you have just come hither. Still less did they anticipate that when that branch of their own road should he completed to the Ohio, this Cincinnati and Marietta road would be here to receive its passengers and freight, and convey them westward. He would have been counted insane who should have j^redicted it. Tlie only hospitalities thought to be due to him who might then have hoped to participate in such a celebration as this, would have been the hospitalities of the Lunatic Asylum.

To-day, gentlemen, you will have an opportunity of seeing how sober such an anticipation would have been. To-night you will be welcomed at the ancient metropoUs of Ohio. To-morrow you will be received by the Queen City of the gi-eat Central Valley - still justly entitled to that proud distinction, though many ambitious aspirants are eager to pluck the crown from her brows. There a greater wonder awaits yon. The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, forming still another link of the American Central Railway, stretches away still westward ; and the iron horse, impatient of delay, is eager to bear you on beyond the ancient limits of the Republic, where the memories of the Cnisades and of French empire and of French civilization, are perpetuated by the name of St. Loviis,

There you may pause ; but the Railroad, the Locomotive, and the Telegi-aph - iron, steam, and lightning - the three mighty genii of modem civilization - still press on, and, I venture here to predict it, will know no lasting pause until the whole A'ast Hue of railway shall be complete from the Atlantic to the Paciiic - ^from Baltinrore to San Francisco.

Gentlemen, I must not detain you by reflections. It were idle, indeed, to attempt to express the feelings which these themes excite. God grant that we may have the wisdom to understand that this, our wonderful heritage of liberty, prosperity, and extended empire, came from Him, and can only be preserved by obedience to his laws. God grant that the Union of the States, wliich this great railroad brings into such intimate relations, and that large Union which embraces all the States of the confederacy, and which forn>s the best assurance and guaranty of the permanence and enlargement of our precious heritage of free institutions, may endure in all its glorious strength and beauty, while the mountains and the rivers traversed by the roads shall stand or flow.

To tills beautiful and effective address of welcome, which was received hearty applause by the multitude, General Cass fittingly and feelingly replied as follows : -

I have listened with deep interest to the address made by your Excellency on the reception of the strangers who have just landed on the north bank of the Ohio. I am one of them now, though this is not my first visit to this wellremenibered city. No one can appreciate better than I do the interest of these passing scenes. Within a few feet of where I now stand, I landed more than half a century ago, a young and poor adventurer, seeking that land of promise, in the then remote West, which has proved to me and to so many others a land of performance. The circumstances in which I now find myself awaken sensations more easily felt than described. I left this place a scholar - I come back a teacher. I went forth to fight the great battle of life, and I return towards its close filled with gratitude for the success which has attended me. The result is a glorious illustration of the blessed equality of our institutions. By the favor of his countrymen, the poor adventurer has been borne forward to the high places of the land, and has represented the Republic at the court of princes. No other nation under heaven offers such inducements to its citizens. Hold on, then, to this government, acquired by the wisdom and valor of our fathers, and which has made us the happiest and most prosperous people on the face of the globe. Our lines, indeed, have been cast in pleasant places.

Fifty-seven years ago the North-western Territory of that day contained only 30,000 people ; now the States included within its boundaries number 6,000,000. The man yet lives who was living when the first tree fell before the woodman's axe, in the vast western domain. And the man now lives who will live to see it contain 100,000,000 of people. Since the dispersion of the human family upon the plains of Shinar, there has been no such increase in all the elements of power and prosperity. And well will it be for us if we learn to appreciate the blessings which Providence has granted us. The State of Ohio has kept full pace with the progress of the age. Its triumphs over the obstacles the early settlers encountered, are among the proudest monuments of human industry and enterprise. I cannot survey her cultivated fields, her thriving and beautiful cities and towns and villages, her schools, her churches, her internal improvements, without recalling the dense forests which covered its territory when I first entered it. The steamboat and the railroad-car have superseded the tedious and painful mode of conveyance of former days, and journeys are now measured not by distance but by time. Fifty-one years ago I representid this County in the legislature of the State. At that session, Fulton and Livingston presented a petition asking for an exclusive right to navigate the waters of the State by steam, and offering as a consideration to employ boats which should be propelled up the Ohio at the rate of four miles an hour. To us, who had seen nothing descend the river but the unwieldy flat-bottomed boat, and nothing ascend it but the heavy barges, polled by almost naked men, and employing six months in a trip from New Orleans, the proposition seemed so impracticable as to approach the ridiculous, and im- 8* worthy of our consideration, and we wisely rejected it. And so you see, that if the result had depended upon our action, the magnificent enterprise of steam-navigation would not now he startling us with its grand achievements.

I have just passed over the railway traversing the mountains, dividing the East from the West, a work which Rome never equalled even in her palmiest days, and during the whole passage my memory turned back to other days and scenes. I have traversed heretofore the whole distance from Washington to St. Louis hy this railroad route. I travelled on horseback, and it was a painful journey of many days. We have found the conveyance now but a party of pleasure, too rapid indeed for a proper survey of the country.

The allusions of your Excellency to the Puritans, connected with the settlements of Marietta, were happily made. This was the second step in the march of that remarkable people, whose character is impressed not less upon the opinions than upon the deeds of their descendants. This vast region, extending to the Pacific Ocean, is destined to feel the same impression in its future settlement and progress.

The remarks of the distinguished speaker elicited the deepest interest, and were very warmly received by the great throng of listeners Avlio heard them.

lion. Xathaniel Cox, Secretary of State for tlie State of Maryland, in tlie absence of Governor Ligon, next responded to the remarks of Governor Chase.

Being the only functionary attached to the executive department of the government of Maryland present, to participate with you in the interesting ceremonies of the day, those of my fellow-citizens now your honored g-uests, have deputed me to return thanks, on their behalf, for the cordial greeting with which they have been this day welcomed to the soil of your great State.

The occasion which has brought us to stand together to-day on the banks of the mighty river which rolls at our feet, that we may mingle our rejoicings over the execution of that work which now unites these waters with those of the " father of waters," is one of no ordinary interest, and has been most happily availed of by your Excellency to give utterance to some sentiments so patriotic, that tliey must, I am sure, have found in every heart around us a ready and a lively echo.

We thank you for the generous allusion you were pleased to make to our own State of Maryland, as having i-ignaJized her infancy by being the first to unfurl the sacred standard and to maintain the doctrines of reliinous toleration, and in after years made herself the -' Pioneer" of railroad enterprise by entering \ipon the construction of what is now confessedly the most stupendous work, and among the best managed roads of o;ir country. We appreciate it the more fully because we feel it to be no unmeaning compliment to our people, inasmuch as tbey may rightfully claim that the spirited projectors of that gigantic work which now constitutes so material a link in that great cliain which to-day binds together in, I trust, indissoluble tics of interest and of union those wide-spreading regions of our country it was intended thus to bind together and develope, are entitled to high honor for the unfaltering courage - the unflagging hope - the steadiness of purpose and tlie indefatigable energy -with which it .was pursued until all was happily rewarded by the glory of success achieved. How forcibly such a work evidences and illustrates the might of human genius and the power of man's indomitable will ! The day was, when, to many minds, the project of constructing a railroad from the city of Baltimore to some point upon the bank of this river seemed but the suggestion of the most reckless and inconsiderate folly. But, despite the jeering of those who thus co)isidered it, the work pressed ou ; mountain after mountain, with its frowning front and breast of stone, gorge after gorge, with its power to smite with terror, gave way before man's subduing skill and power, until every obstacle, however formidable, encountered and overcome, the great steamhorse with his " heart of fire and breath of flame," mounts with iron tread his patli to the very summit of the Alleghanies, and awakens the slumbering echoes of hill and plain witli bis shrill whistle, at once the signal of his power and the psean of a mighty conquest in the march of engineering science. Verily, " Peace has her victories no less renowned than war."

The pleasure of descanting, more in detail, upon the history and character of this road, I shall leave to another here, whose fonner connection therewith will enable him to treat of it more to your gratification, as well as with a greater degree of justice to the achievement itself, and those concerned in it. I thought I might, without offence, exult for a moment over it as a work of which we are proud, and we need not, I tbink, blush to acknowledge it.

Such was, I believe, the commencement of railroad enterprises in the States; but what mighty changes a few short years have wrought in this regard. Now such is the extent of that interest, so completely has it become interwoven with all the great interests of the country, and such are its effects upon the condition of tlie people, that the railroad may legitimately claim to rank among the great humanizing institutions of the age, and to exercise a socializing and moral power in the land wiierever fostered and encouraged, and that may now be said to be eveiy where, " where civilization has spread her luminous wing."* The railroad now accelerates her flight from shore to shore, and is no mean instrumentality in the work of regeneration. Those then who regard occasions like this as the mere appointments or expedients of pleasure's votaries, mistake much their true character and the good results which follow them, and which extend their benign influences far beyond the fleeting pleasures of the present hour. Wlio, tor instance, can trace the region of country we have traversed in our journey hither, together with those Ave are privileged yet to visit, and not feel his "heart new opened," his love of country enlarged and strengthened, by what he beholds ou every hand ? Who can witness, without deep emotion and unbounded exultation and thankfulness, the vast elements of material wealth with which God, iu his providence, has blessed our land ? and that heart among us must, indeed, be cold and insensible to all high patriotic emotions, that can contamplate without a throb the probable greatness and glory of the future of such a land, shall wise counsels but be permitted to prevail, and we but prove true to her, to each other and to ourselves.

Besides, these occasions serve the further purpose of extending and strengthening among us the social feelings, and of awakening and fostering that fraternal spirit of brotherhood which should ever subsist between the citizens of the different States of the Union. The mountains are no longer a barrier to divide vis as in the olden time ; steam has diminished the space between us, as it were to a stride, and we are frequently brought together in large numbers at the festive board ; we are then enabled to look each other in the face - to shake each other by the hand - to feel in the presence of each other that we can claim to have a common country which we love - that we are not aliens and strangers, but fellow-citizens and brothers. Thus as we come to know each other better, so do we appreciate each other the more ; we are led to extend towards each other more of the spirit of mutual forbearance, and day by day grows stronger our love for one another, and our deA'otion to the institutions of the land and of that happy Union which is the glory, not of any one State, but of all.

But, sir, I must not weary your patience and occupy too much of the time of our friends. It was my purpose merely to acknowledge civilities of which we have been the recipients, and then to leave our friends to employ such time as may be spared before resuming their journey farther westward, in observing whatever objects of interest to visitors may be in the vicinity. So permit me, sir, in conclusion, to proffer you, on the part of the State of Maryland, and through you to the people whose voice you have just spoken, cordial and unfeigned thanks for the very generous welcome so kindly extended to us this day.

IToD. Fayette McMulleu, recently appointed Governor of Waslilngton Territory, then delivered a speecli, in which he thanked Governor Chase for liis complimentary allusions to the State of Virginia, and regretted the absence of Virginia railroad officers and authorities, most of Avhoin, he said, in company Avith those of Tennessee, were to meet in convention at Bristol the next day to consider the proposition of a French capitalist to establisli a line of steamers between Havre and the Capes of Virginia.

To the people of Ohio (he continued) I desire to convey sentiments of cordial regard from the mother State to her second daughter. Viro-iiiia owes a debt to Baltimoi-e for tlie enterprise which has brought Western ^^irgiIlla into notice - a portion of tlie State I have for the first time passed over to-day, the rich treasures of which have been newly opened, to be hud in the lap not only of Baltimore, but of Philadelphia and New York. Virginia has not had the enterprise to commence and prosecute such a work as we have witnessed today, but it has been boldly achieved by gallant Maryland. The eloquent manner in which you, my old friend, have presented the advantages of the road, precludes the necessity of further dwelling on this interesting point. These and other such roads are to unite all our States. We must visit and know each other. The North should visit the South, and the South should visit the North, I give you a hearty shake of the hand, in token of the cordiality of the friendship of Virginia and Ohio.