Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1871-09-12
We unfortunately failed to receive the N. O.
PIcayune, containing letter No IV.-Ed]
LIFE IN A TRUNK.
NUMBER v.
STRIBLINa SpRINas Ano 1917

| from this place We drove westward along tn
Warm Spring Turnpike, on either side of which
In May, 1862, Gen. Jackson's army lay en-
camped, Its right resting in the woods up thi
pike, Its lett at Strlbling Springs. They sti
preserve at the hotel the cup from which Stone
wall Jackson drank of the mineral waters dur
ing his brief stay there. Our drive was love
ly one, the road being in fine order, and shade,
on either side by well timbered hills, in who's
shadowy depths the clear ring of the wood
mans ak, the dreamy cav Of the crow, and tn
whisper of countless leaves made summer
morn music Suddenly, upon our left, Just a
the junction of the Warm Spring Turnpike anC
the Staunton road, commanding for some dis
tance the highway on three sides, rose the once
fortified hill Its breastWorks have crumbleC
now. and those that remain are almost bidder
in the thick growth of underbrush, which also
eonceals the abattis work at the foot of the hill
Nature has been very busy here, effacng the
dlshguring marks Of war so skilifully that it il
only with an effort that the passer-by discovers
that they ever existed, Does she not teach us
a noble lesson? Here, where she yielded ur
her grand trees, many of them the growth OF
centuries, to the Ak Of the spoiler; here, where
her fair and delicate flowers, the passion-noems
of her heart, fell crushed under the grinding
wheel OF the artillery wagon, where the sap of
her forests ran waste and her soil was robbed
of its increase, what does she do? Does she
lie in her sackcloth and ashes and mourn p
Does she expend her remaining strength 10 idle
threats OF vengeance yet to Gomez Does she
cuddle her own weakness in impotent re-
grets and vain hatred? And, because conquer
ed, does she continue humbly to bite the dust
beneath the heel of the conqueror? Nav |
She remembers there is yet strength in her own
might; she rebuilds, she reblooms, and while
the rattle of musketry and the thunder of can
non seem yet echoing among her hills she spon-
ges away the blood from her plains, she con-
ceals the scars of the axe upon her forests, and
though the wound in her great heart be not
healed she bears it so proudly and smiles above
1t so grandy that they who smote her dare not
breathe taunt
Turning abruptly off to the left around the
base of the height, we entered Jennings Gan
and drove down the Staunton road on the south
side OF the same mouatain, which, my friend
Mr.. Kinney stated, was fortified by the force
under Major Howard, Gen, A, P. Hills engi-
neer. The next object OF interest was low
one story house, once a very ordinary wayside
inn for the accommodation of travellers in the
stage coaches on this route, but now converted
by time into an artistic ruin. its roof thickly
overgrown with moss, its windows shattered
and its timbers crumhling Even the road had
taken new course, and instead of passing at
the front, now ran by the back door, so that it
seemed as if the old house, 10 its age and ruin
and neglect, turned its back upon the world
and hid its face Peaceful farms lay on either
side of US. and in one door a woman stood
spinning, the hum Of her wheel blending sweetly
with the gurgle of brooks and the song of birds.
Through the open door OF another cottage a
quitting party sat at work the rosy cheek coun-
try iasses looking out at US as We passed. while
the more sober danes, 10 dign6ed indifference
snapped the chalk line or continued to ply the
gllttering needle. Still further on threshipg
machine was buzzlng in the field, the sweet
odored grain scentiDg the air as it cast of its
cloak of chaf and fell In marketable heaps
upon the barn foor-all making it hard to real
ize that grim visaged war; had ever trod
these sunny wales.
We passed the residence of Bishop Gloss
brenner. pretty spot, commanding an exten-
sive and beautiful view, and then lofty house
upon lofty hill, which hes its own romantic
history, too long for these pages. Then
Churchville, pretty little hamlet which has
three churches already, and is about to build
another-''a new departure, from which fact
might we not infer that sacred societies have
their dissentions and divisions in about the
same ratio as profane ones? Turning down the
stony village street, past the parsonages and the
store, and the churches, and the house from
whose widows three lovely young girlish faces
peeped out at US, we reached stream, which
we forded, after watering our horses therein,
and then we reached Loeb Willow. Isn't that
a pretty name? The bank of stream, which
at certain seasons swells to lake, are fringed
with pollard willows, aud the glancing water,
the old mill, the quaint houses of the hamlet,
form charming rural picture. The dwellings
all over the country have their chimneys OF
stone or brick built on the outside of the hou-
ses. 1t would seem as if the people were hos
pitable to all except their own chimneys, which
they persistently turn out of doors. In ruin
GUS buildings [ think the effect is quaint and
pretty but in the new ones it is simply abom-
inable
After leaving Loch Willow, we could dis
tiDctly see Elliots Knob, said to be the highes
peak in the Alleghanies, even exceeding ir
height the Peaks of Otter, which may be higher
mountains in direct ascent from the plain
but are not so high above the level of the sea
Passing over hill we stopped to gather som,
scarlet creepers, which were clarifying farm
house by the roadside, shaking their flaming
bells from the peaks of the gable. hiding De
hind the old stone chimney, capering over tn
roof and dropping pendulous below the moss,
caves. 1t was the first vine of the kind [ hat
! the old proverb that "a prophet is best know
| out Of his own country" for | had seen tn
! Virginia creeper in nearly every part of tn
| Union except Virginia. A large brick hous
little further on attracted my attention fror
its air of distinction, its size and modern styl
of architecture It had formerly belonged t
Mr. Cochran, name we'll known in all thi
part of the country 1t was sold during tn
war-'the house and all the lands pertainin
thereto for about $4,000 Confederate cui
rency The purchaser had never occupied il
and thus left to the wind and weather, to th
dampness and mildew, the whole of one sid
of the building had fallen out. as if the lionel
ness and desolatIoD So long imprisoned ther
had broken Jail, and fed forever away. W
could look from our carriage into what SCENE
to have been an elegant drawing-room, with i
oaken doors which nobody opened, its siler
floors which nobody crossed it's spacious vol
where nobody spoke.
AS Jennings Gap fell back in the distanct
we drove slowly over the intervening hills unit
we once more struck our homeward path, an
upon descending into ''Mofett's Gap,"
which Stribling Springs are located, the a
which had been almost oppressively warm, SUI
denly became cool, and a strong draft becan
apparent, as if we were driving through fu
mel, popularity common to these mounta
passes. Now, as we are assured that
"a little nonsense now and then,
Is relished by the wisest men,,
suppose | give you conundrum Why a
these Virginia mountains like sick chicken!
Because they have ''the gap(e)s."
We reached home just in time for Dime
having driven about fifteen miles, and toul
our scarlet creepers instantly seized upon by
fair one with golden locks, who met us smilii
on the threshold. Sincerely
XARIFFA