Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-08-18
From he Lynehburg virgi"icn,

From The Lynchburg Virgintnn,
PERlLOuS ADVENTURE!-As,EN OF
THE NATURAL BRIDGE, THE SECOND TiME.-lt
Will be rccollccted that, many years ago. the
Natural Bridge was assembled by Col. James
IL. flpcr, then a student at Washington col
i'ge, ant now a member of the State Senate.
A graphic account of this hazardous exploit.
from the pen OF DIR. Caruthcrs. has been long
before the world. Nevertheless. many per
o n who have visited the bridge. have regard
Ell the story as fabulous, dceming the achieve
ment absolutely impossible. Ii will be seen.
however. by the following brief narrative.
with which we have been kindly furnished
from an authentic source, that the ascent has
bcen a second time successfully achieved
Certainly he must have been of steady nerves
and indomitable self reliance who put life
and limb in such imminent peril:
REMARKABLE FEAT.--On Saturday.
the 18th OF July. there being, besides myself.
several guests at the ia ;em of Mr.. Luster at
tn Natural Bridge, we concluded to walk I'M
and view that s%tupendous prodigy of nature,
with which thought made by human hand,
can vie and, accordingly, several of us re-.
paired thi'her, and after being lost in enchant
msnt Tor some considerable time i'm gazing
upon the iar-iamCd attractions. we returned To
n small house on the road side. between the
bridge ana the tavern, where we were favored
with AN old paper containing am account of
the ascension of the bridge by MIR. Piper. ma
ny years ago, from the pen of DIR. Caruthers.
While some of us, entirely incredulous. Were
warmly discussing its title to credibility, we
Were sud irnly interrupted by the cry. "some
one Is climbing the bridge |" With the avid
ity OF men anxious to maintain their opinion.
until convinced of its falsity nv occular dem
onstrdtlon, we Immediately rushed. en- mass,.
to the top of the bridge. still inwardly doubt
ing the possibility of what soon met our
astonlslIed s~lght--the ascension of the bridge !
when we arrived there, we found two gentle
men on the bridge, who pointed us 10 Mr..
Shaver, the hero of the occasion. s,andinu NJ
the distance of 40 feet from the ground. ON a
bench las 1t Is termed) apparently too narrow
10 stand upon even without motion. From
the testimony of the gentlemen present. we
learned that Mr.. Shaver, passing by there i'm
Inc morning, concluded To attempt the ascen-
sion, merely Il suppose) to CRAFTY his own Gu
rloslty or that OF Others. Without anv prepa-
ration, he Immediately commenced climbing
directly under the well-known cedar stump-
ABOUT ten or fifteen PAGES higher up the stream
than the place from whence Mr.. Piper is said
to have started, and wi,hal a much more diff
cult place to ascend, as any one NAV ascertain
by examination. After gong perpendicular
about 81 icet, he came tn a clunp of bushes
where he rested a little, and proceeded ON to
ahother ledge protruding a little from the main
oooy oil rock; thence directly up the steep and
rugged ridge lying between the deep myincs
oneach side OF the cedar stunp, until he came
10 the bench, where i first saw him. While
upon That bench, which is about forty feet
from the top, Mr.. Shaver inscribed his name
III very leSlbie characters, which NAV be- seen
by any one from the top of the bridge. He
then advanced up the stream, along the very
edge OF the awful precipice that overhanas the
rdNIne. until he came around on the opposite
side oil the stump from where he started lie
N'eh came TO the last ascent Of any danger,
ana u was truly awful TO see a man attempt
ing to climb an overhanging cliff at the dis
lance of $50 feet from the bottom of the dread-
iul abyss that yawncd beneath him, while in
ascending his back was i'm some measure
downward, and he had moreover frequently tn
remove loose stones, in order to secure a hold
Tor ms hand. In making the first effort. eth
or ms strength or resolution failed him and ha
returned to the bench and rested. Nv feel.
llgs at tins moment were truly indescribable
10 see a fellow being poised, as il were. be
tween heaven and earth, with barely a posi-
DlIily OF ascent or descent, %clinging to the
precarlous shrubbery on the side of a LOFTY
precipice, at the base of which | expected ey-
cry moment to see him dashed to atams. nro.
duced a sensation | cannot describe. Some or
the more cautious and prudent OF the company
proposed sending Tor ropes by which to draw
INN up; which was hardly possible under the
circumstances, as perhaps none of us had corr
age suiilclent to venture down the yayine Ga,
enough TO see him on the side where he then
was. We were fearful even to speak 10 him,
Nevertheless, after divesting himself of his
pOoia, and swinging them around the neck
WIN d handkerchief he made the second ef-
Tort, IN which he happily succeeded. annie our
happiest congratulations. He vas very pale
ana IN a perfect tremor when he arrived at the
Top from which he had not entirely recovered
before J took my leave.
.Ihe gentlemen present were Mcssrs. Benia-
MN "A. Holmes, JAMES Campbell, John G.
Jefferson, Capt. James G.. Gibson. Cantain
Joel Lakeland, Claudius Thompkins lain
Luster, Albert III. Lustcr, S. IL. Luster. and
D II. Carter--any one Of whom will corrobo-
rate the statement | have mad, if applied 10.
AN EYEWITNESS.
AGRICULTURAL ANBCDOTE.-Furius