Three years from to-day-if we are not wrong-the traveller may breakfast in Philadelphia, dine at Williamsport, and take tea in the city of Erie-the future Buffalo of the Keystone State. It will be a proud day for our old Commonwealth when, by the aid of steam, she unites the waters of the Delaware with those of Lake Erie-when she can stretch forth her iron hand to the shores of the young ocean of the north-west, and receive the rich treasures awaiting her enlightened and friendly grasp. Die Novello tutto par bello-but truth is much more so.

Sunbury is one of the oldest towns in Pennsylvania, having been established as the county-seat of Northumberland in 1772. It is situated on the eastern side of the Susquehanna, a short distance below the junction of the north and west branches of that stream. It is a dull and drowsy village, and will require for its complete resuscitation a new birth and baptismal blessings. The soil immediately surrounding is rich and fertile, being liberally supplied with basins of limestone, and the decomposing shales and debris of the mountains. The county of Union, separated from Northumberland by the Susquehanna, is one of the finest agricultural districts in the State, especially that portion extending along the Susquehanna, and, as is usual wher ever a good soil is to be found, is settled principally by Germans.

One of the most extensive deposits of iron ore in the United States, lies between the north and west forks of the Susquehanna, and constitutes the northern boundary of Northumberland county. It is known as Montours' Ridge, from which the newly erected county of Montour derives its name. The numerous furnaces and iron works at Danville are supplied with iron ore entirely from this district, which appears to be altogether inexhaustible, at the same time that its position is extremely favorable for practical uses. There is probably no portion of Pennsylvania better calculated for the production and manufacture of iron, in all its stages and ramifications, than the immediate vicinity of Sunbury. Coal, iron ore and limestone are found in extraordinary abundance, while the public improvements made, and about to be made, connect the place with the four cardinal points of the State, by railway, canal, and river navigation. Besides this, the country is incomparably rich in its vegetable resources-capable of supplying a population twenty times its present extent, with very little enhancement of prices. How is it that this remarkable spot has so long been overlooked? Has every body been asleep?

Northumberland and Montour make a ridiculous appearance on the map. What folly to dismember the fair proportions of counties in such manner. Montour, stuck in between Columbia and Northumberland, looks like a fault in a coal vein, or like an erratic comet, with a long tail!

The village of Northumberland, lying on a projecting point between the north and west branches of the Susquehanna, with the main stream immediately in front, has long been celebrated for the picturesque beauty of its position and scenery. The river, at the point of union, flows off in one broad sheet, hemmed in with bold and rugged hills; while behind the village, for a considerable distance, there are swelling ridges, which finally merge into the loftier one of the ironbound Montour.

Some eight miles west of Northumberland is New Berlin, the judicial seat of Union County. It is a small village, situated on the northern side of Penn Creek, and contains the usual number of lawyers and politicians, blacksmiths, wagon-makers, inn-keepers, and merchants, who sell at the "usual low rates" for cash or country produce. Eight miles beyond Northumberland-(pretty name, though Macbeth had no affection for it!) smiling on the beautiful west branch, we have Lewisburg, with its neat sparkling houses, its shaded streets, and its busy aspect. It is a growing village, and does a brisk trade with the thrifty farmers in the neighborhood. The Pennsylvania canal, though some distance from the town, is hospitably supplied with fresh water from the Susquehanna, by means of a dam and navigable feeder. Lewisburg contains an excellent Academy, which, we believe, is in a flourishing condition.

A few miles farther up, on the eastern side of the river, is the borough of Milton, which also has a considerable trade by means of the canal. Its population is about 2000. Some two miles above Milton, we enter the county of Lycoming, one of the largest, in geographical extent, in the State. The West Branch enters it on the south in a course north-west, but soon curves round and proceeds for many miles in a westerly direction. The borough of Williamsport is situated on its northern side, where it receives the waters of Lycoming Creek. Williamsport contains a population at the present time, of over three thousand, and it is increasing with great rapidity. Its buildings are generally superior to those of any other borough in the Commonwealth-many of them indeed are models of architectural taste. Lumber being plenty and cheap, is probably one reason why

1

the citizens gratify their taste, in this particular, to the extent which they do. Lycoming is one of the principal lumber producing counties of the State, and certain portions of it are capable of producing "nothing else." The land around Williamsport, however, and generally throughout the southern part of the county, will compare favorably with the best in Pennsylvania.

We have elsewhere made some remarks in reference to the lumber trade of Pennsylvania-we shall, therefore, content ourself with a few words in this place. Next to the Anthracite coal trade, stands that of the production, manufacture, and shipment of lumber. The forests in the eastern part of the State have, to all intents and purposes, been exhausted, and can never again be replenished. The timber regions of the Alleghany and the Monongahela are worked to their full capacity for the extraordinary demands of the valley of the Ohio. Where, then, is the supply for the eastern market to come from—from what quarter are the extraordinary demands of Philadelphia and Baltimore to be supplied, to say nothing of the large and increasing markets of the interior? Ten years hence, the Anthracite coal regions, instead of producing lumber, as they have heretofore done, will not be able to provide props for their mines, much less the timber for building. There is but one quarter to which we may look for our future supplies, and that is to the northern counties of the State, drained by the west branches of the Susquehanna and its thousand and one tributaries. It is to such counties as Lycoming, Potter, Elk, Clearfield, Clinton and Tioga that we must hereafter look for our principal supplies;just as we now look to Schuylkill and Lehigh for our coal. These counties, or some of them, are nothing but vast forests of tall and majestic trees. In enumerating the sources of the prosperity of Philadelphia, it is common to dwell particularly upon her manufactures, her commerce, and her unparalleled coal trade;—it seldom happens that her lumber trade is mentioned. And yet, we venture to assert, that this constitutes one of her principal resources-scarcely excelled in actual value by the coal trade itself! It is one of those things, however, the statistics of which cannot readily be obtained;—but we have no doubt that the production of lumber, in the northern counties of Pennsylvania, is annually worth six million of dollars. This product, whether large or small, will be annually increased with the increased demand of the market.

At a very considerable outlay of money, a Boom has lately been

constructed in the Susquehanna, some three miles above Williamsport, for the purpose of catching and retaining saw-logs during the floating season, which is in the Spring, when the snow in the mountains melts away. This is the mechanical object of the Boom;-the commercial or speculative object, is to bring distant lumber districts into the market, or rather to bring the logs to the saw-mill, instead of the saw-mill to the logs. Thus; a man owning timber lands at the head of Pine Creek, or Cedar Creek, or Kettle Creek, instead of erecting a saw-mill some sixty or eighty miles from the head of canal or river navigation, erects it at or near Williamsport, within sight of the canal. During the winter, aided by the snow, he gets out his logs, and as soon as the usual spring freshet occurs, boldly launches them into the swollen and rushing stream. Under the guidance of the hardy red-shirt drivers, they are floated down the little creeks, until they reach the broad river, and then, log tied to log, they are drifted on until they come within the grasp of the Boom.

With the expectation that the Boom would accomplish all the ends contemplated by its projectors, a number of large and very expensive steam saw-mills have been erected in the immediate vicinity of Williamsport; and many more mills, equally as large and expensive, will be built the ensuing season. It may be inferred from all this, that great confidence was reposed in the successful operation of the Boom; and that, unless such confidence was well supported, immense pecuniary loss would follow. But the strength and capacity of the Boom were tested to the fullest extent during the last spring. The experiment was made with the direct view of ascertaining whether lumber could be manufactured at a profit, in the immediate neighborhood of Williamsport, and whether timber lands of distant regions could be made as available as what was lately regarded more favorable localities. The experiment, we are gratified to announce, was more successful than the most sanguine of its friends looked for. Instead of catching fifteen or twenty thousand logs, the Williamsport Boom Company caught and retained, within ten days, from fifty to eighty thousand logs, and demonstrated to the entire satisfaction of the community that, were the West Branch dotted with saw-mills, from the mouth of Lycoming Creek to that of the Layalsock, there would be no difficulty in procuring, by its aid, a sufficient amount of stock.

The company will be able to catch and retain upwards of two hundred thousand logs, or about four hundred thousand logs, during

the ensuing fall and spring freshets. Saw-logs, when manufactured into boards, will average three hundred feet per log; consequently, the manufactured product of four hundred thousand logs, would be one hundred and twenty million feet of boards, which, at $16 per thousand, in the Philadelphia market, would amount to $1,920,000, or very nearly two million of dollars! There is now in the vicinity ten large steam saw mills, with a capacity sufficient to manufacture 40,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. If our figures are correct— and we are sure they are-it will require some thirty large water or steam saw-mills, in the neighborhood of Williamsport, to manufacture all the logs which can, and eventually will be delivered by the Boom Company. The manufacture of lumber, directly on the West Branch river, is now in its infancy. It must rapidly increase from month to month, and from year to year-adding millions to the wealth, and thousands to the population of the Susquehanna region. The promising start which Williamsport, Jersey Shore, Lock Haven, and Montoursville have taken, is solely to be attributed to this great trade. Williamsport, from its location, and large investment of capital, is now, and must continue to be, the principal theatre of the West Branch Lumber Trade. Under these circumstances, it is more than probable that the present population of that borough will be doubled within the next eight years.

The Williamsport and Elmira railroad was commenced several years ago. It was intended to extend all the way to Elmira, in New York, situate on the Tioga river, and near the Pennsylvania line. Having been finished as far as Ralston, some twenty-six miles from Williamsport, the balance of the road was in a measure superseded by the railroad from Blossburg, in Tioga county, to Corning, on the Tioga river, in New York. This road forms a connection with the New York and Erie railroad, as well as all the roads radiating from it to the interior of New York, as the Buffalo and Coshocton, the Chemung, (connecting Tioga river with Seneca Lake,) the Cayuga and Susquehanna, and the Syracuse and Binghamton railroads, all of which form connections with the Erie railroad. (The Elmira railroad, we learn, is now being completed throughout.) While all these roads do a large business in the shipment of lumber and produce, a growing trade is springing up in the transportation of bituminous coal, which is found in extraordinary abundance in all these counties. Iron ore is deposited in many places, and great facilities are afforded