Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-09-15
wALHALLA SOUTH CAROLINA raI1Ay SEPTEMBER Is, 1871

us Uncle Jimmy, rode over fifty miles to at
tend company muster at Milestone The
lday was cold, rainy and generally gloomy
mo one came out, general nash--not even
the customary jug of whiskey, in the bush
SThc candidates loitcred, talked to each other
sand fnally started Oh their winding way back
no Pendlcton. In long line stretched out,
hhey were in melancholy mood, doing the
;&rttcfcd passes Of Stump House Mountain
a. - .ta3I ;mDy was ohead--he stopped, aud
tsaiied his next neighbor- Warren" says
hfhe. edo you ever read the Biblc?" No res.
ponse. "WelI, it is narrated in some book,
u thought you knew, having been to Congress-
THAT Absaom was the first man who ever
fkissed the people for their favors, L. c., votes,
aSsand hope he is in h--ll for it now At ali
fevcnts, Warren, it is the last time I'll ever
jlrde over these ID roads for Milestone
Iyotcs.' And it was. He was elected and
Iscrvcd that term, but he never was candi-
date again
+ sBut let us leave this pretty valley, aud go
fon. The roads fork, one by Earle's ford,
and the other by new wire rope ferry lately
sroad you take, you will wish you had taken
/ the same time, we chose the lower route, by
rthe ferry aud Dicks Greek tunnel And af
ter travcrshg the magniicently tmbcrcd
( tract Of land above described, down the Whet-
stone with its falls aud water power enough
to drive many spindlrs, we arrived ut the
| clear and li,nped waters Of the Chutuga, aud
found safe and pleasant transit over
| Tho Chatuya at this crossing is about 100
! feet wide, n bold rushing stream, with extcn.
slvc water power for muchinery, above aud
below. Indeed very short distance below
occurs what is know here as the Narr0ws, the
stream being compressed in a space Of 10 feet,
with lofty prccipiccs OH each side, and the cur.
rent drawn through with such power and
speed as to dash to pieces the RATS and tcm.
| bor in times Of frcShcts. Deer have been
known to plunge in when hard pressed by
dogs, but were never seen more. On both
S!dcs OF the stream iron ore abounds aud lust
ln s!s,i is granite quarry, with tram road
leading to the site of the railroad bridge,
half mile above. After ascending quite u
.,,>cy ,t,uu.ui.,,u,r I>:.t-,- ~,
reached, which you follow up for two or three
miles to the eastern portal of Dicks Creek
tunncl all ulung in full view of the road,
hands, carts and cars are busily engaged in
cutting through the hills and lcveling the
hoilows for the track of the railroad We
would like for the oldest inhabitant to tell US
who this Dick was after whom was called
th, creek, and another to be spoken Of here.
after, each presenting formidable obstacles in
the way of railroads, or any kind Of road
Ascending still, we pass by the house and CO.
pacous stables and stalls Of Mr.. Steers, con
tractor, with wagons and carts, and implc-
mcnts, generally, strewn around and approach
the summit. y large number Of operators
are at work in the western portal, and have
advanced half way through the tunnel, the
whole length being about one half mile. The
rumbIing sound of the blasts, in the bowels
of the earth, tho constant passing in and out
of the cars, on wooden rails, the tumbling off
of the rocks on an embankmcnt near by, oil
denoted life, and activity, and this tunnel is
no longer in the way of completing tho whole
road in two years. a short distance from
this point We come upon spring of the very
codest and purcst water, gushing out from
the side Of the mountain; and were so m.
pressed with its quality, that we forthwith
opened bottle OF Geo. Symmers' 1885, and
drank to his, and the owner of the springs
health Turning from the spring we were
surprised at the beautiful view Of mountain
and valley, and discovered that some pioneer
''"u o>'o'o wafer
and charming scenery, for near by was the
remains of a human habitation, and worn
fields, with a fe" old apple and peach trees,
on their last legs. Being little curious, We
asked passcr by who was the owner of &c
many acres, such water and this lovely land
scapc. Hc replied, that he did not know the
owners name, but he lived down at Anderson
and he heard that he was so engrosscd with
making tiles, and raising imported hogs,
that b. could not take time to improve this
|ivauable property. Another instance Of the
baieful influence of absenteeism.
4 short distance brought us to the IRE.
lprcssibe War Woman, a creek Of consdera.
BILE size, which tumbes and dashes and zig.
zags about for miles, until with one fearful
leap it loses itself in the Chatuga. Some Of
its crossings bear euphonious names, given
by luckcss travellers and wagoncrs, such as
smash wagon, break-axlo turn.o over, go. 1t
Is, however, one OF the most picturesque and
romantic streams in all these mountains-its
waters fiIled with fish, and the high hills
around with decr and other game. The namo,
too, is significant of legend Of dreadful oap-
tivity. murder and blood, but we will leave
this for the Applctons and Ha,pcrs, when
they como for Photographic views to adorn
their journals.
fastening up this tortuous stream to its
source, wo cross where was to be the War
Woman tunnel, strike the head springs of
Steccoa creek, aud down its banks to the
town Of Clayton, Rabun county, Georgia. -
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