VISITS NEW YORK CITY.
During the winter of 1849-50 Mrs. Bloomer visited the city of New York for the first time, accompanied by her husband. They passed up Cayuga Lake on a steamer, and from there were in the first railroad cars, by special invitation, over the Erie railroad from that village to the metropolis. It is remembered that several of the men who afterwards became distinguished as railroad magnates were on that train, and their conversation was listened to with a great deal of interest. That was long before the days of sleeping cars, and they had to pass the night as comfortably as they could in their seats in the passenger coach. In the city, they spent three or four days visiting some of the noted places, including Barnum’s Museum on Broadway, then one of the great attractions of the growing town. They returned by the same route in the midst of a great snowstorm which, with the high wind that came along with it, made their trip down the lake somewhat hazardous.
Mrs. Bloomer wrote of this trip as follows:
“We traveled by the route of the lake and the New-York-and-Erie railroad. Those who have not been over this road can form no idea of its sublimity and grandeur. To one who like myself had never been beyond the level country of western New York, it presents a grand, imposing spectacle. The prospect is at one moment bounded on either side by lofty mountain peaks covered with evergreens, and the next by solid masses of rock towering higher than the eye can reach, and through which at an enormous expense and great amount of labor the road has been cut. The water pouring over these rocks from above had frozen in its descent, and now hung in masses and irregular sheets down their perpendicular sides, forming a beautiful contrast to their surface. Occasionally you come into a more open country, while at one spot you find yourself on the summit of a mountain where you have a view of ten miles in extent through the valley below. * * * Winter had robed all in her snowy mantle on our return, adding new beauty to the scene. Summer, we think, would lend enchantment to the picture; and should we ever take a trip over this road again, we shall aim to do so at a more mild and genial season.
“We were fortunate in meeting several directors of the road on our downward trip from Ithaca. To them, and especially to Mr. Dodge, of New York City, we are indebted for much information concerning the road. Every attention was shown us by this enterprising gentleman from the time we left Ithaca until we shook hands with him at parting upon our arrival in the city.”