Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-08-30
.~ALLEeHANY SPRINGS. VA.
The Past andtbe PrsseHt.-Ths Old and tie
ksw-.Eagnifeeat Scsnery and health
b lasplrlaa Acknowledgment and
others whS are EaIS,luu BGth: :
From an occasional Correspondent Of the

VtheFs Whe are EaI0llng butn. raF :
LEnlmoH -
From an occasional Correspondent Of the
APPEAL.l TEH
ALLEaHANY SPRINGS,
Montgomery Co., Va, August Is.
Editors APpedE-I have been spending
some few weeks up here in the noun
tains, and give you a kind of desnltofy
account of my route. Spending a few
weeks at the old G~reenbrfar White Sui
phur Springs, the Saratoga Of the South,
/ was struck by the marked change In the
character OF the visitors there now, from
that OF the frequenters there before the
war. There is more of the and
conventionality Of the city there now
than there used 70 be; it is not as sociable
and agreeable as when most of the visi-
tors were planters and their families from
the Southern States, who generally knew
each other well, meeting there from year
TO year, enjoying together in sociable re-
union the bracing atmoshsre and fine
water of this vigorous climate. The long
haired, fast Southern boy OF yore, who
thought nothing of ordering his hundred
dollar supper for a few friends, has shed
his long locks, and his purse too. The
rich old Louisiana sugar platter, who sat
up to the "tiger" nightly, to the tune of
win or lose i've or ten thousand dol
lars, or occasionally went a negro, fellow
''blind," has left his pocket-book at home.
The gay, dashing belle, who used to pride
herself that during her ~sojourn at the
springs she was never seen the second
time in the same elegant dress, Loo not
overload the porters with such heavy
baggage now. / do not mean by this
there are no signs of wealth there now,
but you cannot fail to notice tbs great
change from the old ~ante-bellum days.
On the occasion of the late grand masque
ball, given for the benefit OF the railroad
sufferers at Jeres Run, near the White
Sulphur, there was indeed a most mag
nificent display of elegant toiIettes.
From the White Sulphur to Charlottes-
vile, Va, the Chesapeake and Ohio rail-
road passes through the most mountain
Gus district through which 1 have ever
passed. 1t was here, L suppose, where,
according to the ccoun of Governor
Wise, when God sent the devil out to SOW
mountain seed, his apron string "bustedp
and split all the seed. The view from the
east side of the Blue Ridge, this side the
long tunnel, is simply sublime in its
grandeur and beauty, and cannot be sur
passed. Think of looking down from a
dizzy mountain hight at a cloud resting
its graceful drapery on q mountain
below you, which msjesticalIy supports
it, and seeing the sun shining brightly
from above on the top Of the cloud,
while you see the rain descending under
meath on the valley below, and heavens
rain bow of promise Spanning the sky''
in the distance, and you have one sub
lime scene it was my pleasure and won
der to witness from mountain top" near
the long tunnel.
AT Stanton, a beautiful town in the
valley of Virginia, OF about four thou
sand inhabitants, supporting three large
female academies, an institution tor
blind, dear and dumb, and another for the
insane, l stopped to visit "Weyer's Cave
and the "CaYe of the Fountains" sit
uated seventeen miles northeast of Stan
ton. Fortunately for US, the proprietor
of the ''Csve of the Fountains" had it. il
Illuminated the very day of u visit, and
it was visited by a large number Of pso-
pie. 1t was only lately discovered; is
very much like Weyer's, but nothing like
so grand and beautiful in its formation;
but Monumental Hail. as seen here IL
Illuminated and crowded with visitors, was
one of the most sublime spectacles L ever
beheld, always excepting Niagara.
Visiting Weyer's Gave with a small par
ty of friends, each n carrying a reflec-
tor, you are at first struck at the super
natural stiffness of the grottO; for here
silence reigns supreme. The music of the
spheres does not enter here. Like Selkirk
on his lonely isle, you start at the sound
of your own voice." Objects of wonder
meet the eye at every turn. Language Is
Inadequate to describe the weird gran
deur and sublimity OF the scene. As you
wind along, now through a labarynth of
winding passages, and then pass through
a grand hall, on every side huge pillars,
lony towers, the long colonnade, the TIL
umphal arch, the sacred altar, the crystal
vsulted dome, dripping with a tasselated
49, - A-1lTa.F aFaIaaFffoa -s-o1s--
in brightness and purity the icicles drip
ping from the ave of Diana's temple,
you are filed with constant wonder at The
shifting scenes of natures d |
ma. OBJECTS of every imaginable kind of
geologic formation rise on every hand,
and givethe widest play to the fancy. Here
q huge stalagmite, the tower of Babel, the
of Hercules, the golden fleece, the
armada, statues, monuments, |
anon the floating penous of some huge
of the pre-Adamic ages, or the
huge wing Of some giant angel, as the
may determine. Spiral pipes of
some gigantic organ, the white tents of
or grand columns of soldiers,
ghosts and COLLINS, all, as seen by the
dim, religious light" afforded by the
candles borne by u little party,
weird, grand, sublime, excite the mind
admiration, wonder and majestic
awe. 1t seems you are in another world.
How sensibly are you impressed with the
character of man, While in the
outer world man, the monarch, "spring-
9Th up as q flower, and is cut down." to
Here you are impressed with an idea
yrasping at eternity; for every object on
the eye rests in wonder is heavy
the crust of centuries. From Staun-
on l went to Charlottesville. Here is the
University of Virginia, my venerable
alma mater. With what erowding memo
lies my mind was filled OF youthful
and pleasures, while visiting that
: schOol-bOy spot we ne'er forget, though
here we are forgot"
Alas, how many of those brave friends
IF my youth have filed the patriot sol
grave, and are now resting in the
'acred soil of Virginia-the old land we
I'll love so well.
The Allegheny Springs, where I am at
present sojourning, are situated in Mont
yomery county, about four miles from the
It is a very quiet and pleasant
place, numbering at present about three
hundred visitors, all Southerners. It has
,een well patroniZed this summer by
Several of them are still
lere, among them Colonel Leech and
and the beautiful and accom-
Misses Elder and Wright, T. B.
dicou, DIR. Rice and family, Revs. Kerr
nd WitherspOon, Captain Folk, ct al;
lso, Captain Stokes, of fernando, and
Irby, of Pamela, Miss. General Beau
egard, and General Hardee and family,
re spending the summer here. Cover
Ior Walker, the present Governor of Vir-
inis, came over yesterday. He is a fine
pecimen of noble manhood IN appear
nee, and it is enough to say the Virgin
ans are all proud Of him. Au revoir.
0RI0LA.