=Mount McGregor=, where General Grant died, associates the Saratoga of the Revolution with the story of our Civil War. Near the monument to the old heroes at Schuylerville, where Burgoyne surrendered, a monument to the Boys in Blue was dedicated in 1904. It was the privilege of the writer to be the poet of the occasion, and in his lines "The Flag They Bore," to bind the noble memorials of those who made and those who saved the Republic. Two monuments in triumph stand To catch with joy the morning sun, One chorus joins them hand in hand-- Heroes of Grant and Washington. And wider yet the chorus leaps! Two famous hills the song unites, As Mount MacGregor's anthem sweeps Across the plains to Bemis Heights. In Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester's book, entitled "Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness," we learn that the earliest date in which the word Saratoga appears in history is 1684, and was then the name of an old hunting ground on both sides of the Hudson. Its interpretations have been various. Some say "The Hillside Country of the Great River;" others, the place of swift waters, while Morgan, in his "League of the Iroquois," says the signification of Saratoga is lost. Whatever the origin of the name whether from the old High Rock spring or a "reach of the river," one thing is sure: Saratoga is the most attractive point in the country as a gathering place for conventions and large meetings, and, in response to the growing demand for adequate facilities, a splendid convention hall, with a seating capacity for five thousand people, has been erected by the town authorities. It is a striking architectural addition to Saratoga's attractions. In 1907 over fifty thousand "Knights" gathered here and were hospitably entertained. * * * And such were Saratoga's victors--such The yeoman-brave, whose deeds and death have given A glory to her skies, A music to her name. _Fitz-Greene Halleck._ * * * =Saratoga to the Adirondacks.= The _Adirondack Railway_ division of the _Delaware and Hudson_ furnishes one of the pleasantest excursions to the north woods. The traveler passes along the romantic and picturesque valley of the upper Hudson--through King's, South Corinth, Jessup's Landing to Hadley (the railroad station for Luzerne, a charming village at the junction of the Hudson and the Sacandaga); then through Stony Creek, Thurman, thirty-six miles from Saratoga Springs, at the junction of the Schroon and the Hudson; the Glen, forty-four miles; Riverside, fifty miles (for Schroon Lake), pleasurable throughout, to North Creek, where "Concord coaches" and patent-covered spring buck-boards are in waiting for Blue Mountain Lake--distance about thirty miles, through a beautiful romantic country.