Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-12-21
81 "a 80 n EsE ksANEAs6
fast, and If there had been I,


boarding-house on. the summit
there, they'd doubtless given up
housekeeping. Itmust have been.
rather laughabIe to see them
making bread, as they did once in
"a while (wonder whether twas
good washing dishes, S Weeping,
dusting, and performing all the
other duties Of skilfnl housewives.
Some Of the storms that passed
over the summit were fairly terri-'
fic. Just think of gale sweep
ing along at a hundred miles an
hour, bowling and numbering with
demoniac fury, crashing against
the building, with pieces of ice
and frost-work, and shaking planks
and timbers until all together
groaned and shrieked aud ratified
like Pandemonium set loose! At
every lull Of the winds, the walls,
strained 10 their utmost, rebound
ed with q noise like the report
of cannon, only louder and more
startling. Books and dishes fell
to. the floor, everything movable
stirred and ratified, the very room
seemed to sway and rock like the
cabin Of an ocean-steamer in the
midst of tempest. -S
The storm of the 4th and 5th
of February was accompanied
with the most intense cold expe-
rienced by the party during the
whole winter. The Thermometers
fell to fifty-nine degrees below ze-
70, and the air outside was like
the touch of hot iron, a full iG-
halatiOn of it making one.s.eough
violently Mr.. Nelson froze his
fingers while saving off a piece
of pork, though it only took him
five minutes, and a chisel and
hammer were required for cutting
butter. Gan the household sup
plies had been stored in an outer
room.) 1t is Mr., Huntington's
opinion that person would be-
come instantly insensible if ex.
posed to. such intense cold and
when the velocity of wind was so
great, about twice that of an or
dinary tornado below. 3f
But to compensate tor these dis
comforts were such cloud pictures
and dainty frost,work as are. ney,
er seen elsewhere than on imoun-
tain SUBMITS. For they were far
above the clouds, and could watch
them seethe and toss below like
ocean billows, or float in tranquil
beauty from peak to peak, now
touched with silverys brightness,
and anon lurid and sombre, con
tinually varying in form and as
pect. But what pen or pencil can
portray the grandeur of-the scene
when the clouds were "driyen by
fierce winds into boiling heaps of
Illuminated mist, furrowed by a
thousand. colossal rayiines. 30 or
dashed again st the juttiIg cliffs
and crags and thrown like spray
hundreds of feet into the air, to be
caught again by the wind 3and
hurled down ipto the seething
depths ?" a .,11.. f. ..,1 IL .llI2yhl
Many a glorious sunrise and
sunset they witnessed from Btheir
lofty elevation, and in one or two
instances saw their own shad.
ows on the clouds, lelicircled by
luminous corona that displayed
the prismatic colors. This phe-
nomenon is a rare one. however,
and resem bles somewhat the spec
tire on the Brockense Sometimes
opposing currents met, and fieeey
masses, like ghostly armies, drove
back each other, sending upE bits
of broken.spray, until .opewas con-
quered, and both moved on TO-
gether sometimes dark shadows
fell into depths of whirling mist,
whose borders glowed with amber
light; and again the sea of clouds
was like molten silver, with not
the faintest ripple stirring it's sur
laSyf ~ RggEg 'sa.Gay XYEyEI
The atmosphere was so clear
and transparent that hundreds Of
hills and lakes, and mountains,
and even the hazy line of the ocean
could be seen with the naked eye,
when the day was fair; and well
might these vast stretches of Wis:
ion, as some one has said, "serve
as material warnings against all
moral narrowness and bigotry.p = g
Another phenomenon peculiar
to high attitudes was the frost
work. It's white feathery masses
form toward the wind, attaching
themselves to every object build
ings, rocks, telegraph posts and
wires, and even the snow itself,
converting all into forms of pictu-
rescue beauty. These "frost trim
ges" are sometimes four and five
feet in length, very hard and solid,
but white as the purest snow
| throughout. When the wind is