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articles of interest. From the ruins of Fort Putnam, of Revolutionary fame, a splendid view may be obtained. There are many beautiful walks and drives in the vicinity and large and fine hotels furnish ample accommodations for visitors. In the river, a little distance above the town, is Constitution Island, on which Elizabeth Wetherell (Miss Susan Warner), author of "The Wide, Wide World," "Queechy," and other famous novels, had her home for many years with her younger sister, Anna, who wrote many popular stories under the name of Amy Lathrope.

Cornwall, a small but beautiful town on the west bank of the river, is probably the most popular of all the summer resorts on the Hudson. Here are many beautiful and fruitful vineyards and delightful scenes open to the eye in every direction. From this point Storm King, the last and one of the highest peaks of the Highlands, can be reached. From the summit, 1,529 feet above the sea, a wide and magnificent view is obtained. In the village are several large and well-kept hotels. The place is of interest to people with literary tastes from the fact that Idlewild, the home of the late N. P. Willis, is on one of its beautiful elevations. Here, too, the late Rev. E. P. Roe wrote nearly all of his wonderfully successful novels, and also gave an impetus to the business of small fruit culture which has been of immense. benefit to all the region around as well as an indirect advantage to the country at large. Four miles above Cornwall, and nearly sixty miles from New York, is the historic city of Newburg. It is located on a slope rising some 300 feet above the river, has about 18,000 inhabitants, is beautiful in itself and commands fine views of other localities. The old stone house in which Washington for a time had his headquarters in the War for Independence still remains, and is now owned by the State. This house was built in 1750 and contains a large number of interesting relics. It is freely opened to the public. From this place the proclamation disbanding the army was issued, and at a little distance is a monument erected jointly by the United States and the State of New York to commemorate the successful termination of the Revolution. Immediately across the river is Fishkill. Immense ferry boats, each large enough to take a full train of cars at a trip, ply between the two places. Here the West Shore road connects with the New York and New England Railroad, which has its western terminus at Fishkill. This gives a through line to Boston by way of Hartford, and passes through several im portant manufacturing centres.

Above Newburg the scenery is charming, but presents no very imposing

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features. The region is celebrated for the immense quantity and excellent quality, as well as for the great variety of fruit which it produces every year. At Poughkeepsie, seventy-five miles from New York, there are large manufacturing and commercial interests. The plain on which the city is built rises some 200 feet above the river, with a range of high hills in the rear. This elevated and protected location renders the name, derived from an Indian word meaning "a safe and pleasant place," singularly appropriate. In early times considerable latitude was allowed in the manner of spelling the name. It is asserted that in existing records it is spelled in forty-two different ways. The city is noted for its educational interests. Vassar College, the largest among the female colleges of the country, is on a beautiful and elevated site about two miles east of the city and attracts large numbers of visitors as well as students. There are half a dozen other important institutions of learning and many fine public and private buildings. A little north of the city are the large buildings of the State Lunatic Asylum. The great railroad bridge across the Hudson, which connects New England with the coal regions of Pennsylvania, is well worthy a visit. Including the approaches, it is about one and one-third miles in length. In its construction about 15,000 tons of steel and more than 6,000 tons of iron were used. It is built in the cantilever style and its construction is one of the great engineering feats of the age. The end spans and the centre span give a clear space to the water of 160 feet, while the others rise 130 feet above the surface. From the water to the top of the rail is 212 feet. This bridge is one of the finest and strongest ever built.

Across the river from Poughkeepsie is New Paltz Landing. It is reached by a ferry, and from it a line of stages runs to the beautiful Lake Mohonk, in the Wallkill Valley region. Passengers on the West Shore Railroad, or on the Erie, going up the west bank of the river, reach New Paltz by rail and from thence go to the lake by stage or private conveyance. Kingston, 88 miles from New York, is an interesting place, and is also a favorite point of departure for the Catskill Mountain region. Directly opposite is Rhinebeck Landing. Here may be seen the Beekman House, erected nearly 200 years ago and said to be the most perfect specimen of the old-fashioned Dutch homestead now remaining in the Hudson River Valley. Catskill, 110 miles above New York, on the west side of the river, is a famous summer resort as well as a point from which passengers leave for the Catskill Mountains. Hudson, a few miles further up the river, and on the east bank, is built upon. a rocky cliff and extends up the slope of the hill to a point 500 feet above the

river. From the high ground splendid views of the Catskill and other mountains may be obtained. Five miles away, in the Claverack Valley, is the quiet and pleasant resort known as Columbia Springs. There is a beautiful lake near by offering excellent opportunities for boating and fishing. Not far distant are the Claverack Falls, where the water passes over a precipice ninety feet high, and the scenery presents many picturesque features.

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At Albany the visitor finds one of the oldest settlements by Europeans in the United States. It has been an incorporated city more than 200 years, and the permanent capital of the State for more than ninety years. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson and extends for more than three miles and a half along the river. The ground is very low along the shore, but gradually rises until it reaches a tableland 150 feet high a few miles west, thus giving, when viewed from the east, a splendid presentation of its public and

private buildings. Of the many objects of interest the new Capitol building easily holds the first rank. This enormous structure will cost, when completed, about $20,000,000. More than $2,000,000 were required to complete the foundations and the walls of the basement. The building is 390 feet long, 290 feet wide, and four stories high. The corner stone was laid in 1871. With the exception of the National Capitol at Washington, this is considered the finest public building in the country.

It is an interesting fact that on the banks of the Hudson that curious relic of the Middle Ages known as the Feudal System was established soon after the settlement of this nominally free country and continued in existence for a long period. Large tracts of land were granted to various parties, who were known as patroons. In the vicinity of Albany a grant of a tract of land, twenty-four miles square on both sides of the Hudson was made to the Van Rensselaer family in 1629. The lands thus obtained were leased by the patroons to settlers, who paid them a certain fixed rental each year, either in cash or in the products of the soil. The system, though nominally done away in 1787, was not entirely abandoned until after the political party known as the Anti-renters, in 1846, secured the insertion of a clause in the State Constitution abolishing feudal rights and tenures and prohibiting the leasing of land for farming purposes for a longer term than twelve years. The old manorhouse of the Van Rensselaer family is still standing and there are various other buildings in the older part of the city which have an interest to the tourist as well as to the antiquarian and the historian.

At Troy, the final landing place of the boat and the last point to visit on the trip, the tourist will find various educational institutions, many beautiful buildings, and several large manufactories. But the chief point of interest will be Oakwood Cemetery, and a visit thereto will be well repaid. This Cemetery is located on high land, from which may be obtained a splendid view of the Mohawk Valley and of the falls at Cohoes. Within the inclosure are the graves of two Major-Generals of the United States army-George H. Thomas and John E. Wool. The obelisk erected as a monument to General Wool is seventy-five feet high and is said to be the largest stone taken out of a quarry during the last 3,000 years.

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