The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1873-07-23
FOR TIE HERALD.
CLOVER }IoLL0". July. 1873.

lIR. EDlIuE: Twenty mile, west Of Chris !
Va. is beautiful little yalcyS
situated between two lofty mountains, andE
the en,runce to which is by narrow Jefie !
in the mountains. Here live in perfect peaces
and quiet about 40 individuals, all told,
Secluded thus from the busy hustle of the.
world, and hemmed in on all sides by the:
everlasting hills, how could they be other-ss
wise than happy We propose to give you a.
short sketch Of these people and our sojourni
among them. We were here from the 27thi
to the 30th OF June. We give dates, in Or;
der that you may see the difference in climate,
crops, fruit, &c. 1t perhaps would be well );
too, to give you sketch of how we got intoI
this charming little vineyard, and what CON-
'pany We had, US one of the party may not be;
IAN entire stranger to many Of your readers;
On the 9th Of June. we left Salem, on the s
10. m. train for Christiansburgh, distant 90
miles, in company with Rev. Prof S. A. E.
;aud Rev. J. D. S., Of S. c., to attend the
injecting of the Eastern Conference OF the
iSoulh Western Virginia Synod. At the
depot, we met good brother who had come
20 miles across the mountains in a wagon TO-
inject US, and announced that if we would
j" all jump in wagon we should have ride y
HE stated that we had trough road to-
travel" and assure you that before got To-
:CIover Hollow, thought it one of the longest,
9crookedeSt, hl!iest, rockyiest, toughest and
most roundabout roads ever tried to travel,
however, We enjoyed it, but DON. think we
would be safe in saying the same for Others
5of the party. At noon we bivouaced by the
roadside beneath the spreading shade Of a
slarge oak, and near one Of the finest springs
Simaginable. Here we partook Of oar lunch
land enjoyed few good jokes. We took the
sine Of travel, and reached our destination
about sun-dowu, tired and ready for supper,
(which was soon ready. 1t was supper long
sto be remembered. We for one, did justice.
Ito all that We could, but there wus such an
abundance and profusion that we had to give
sup before getting around. Just here it will
scomc in into say that these people are ;hl
abest liyers in the land: they truly live on the
4 fat of the land" and IN o land "flowin.
with milk and honey" you. Mr.. Editor,
scoud only rusticate am2ng these people one
month, and live upon their good fare, il
would take about three columns and half,
! or little better of the "HERALD" to tell
shoW much you enjoyed your trip.
This valley is about four miles long, is not
4 very wide, but they cultivate the mountain
{ sides. It is wonderful to see what whea:
and clover grows on the sides or these noun
tains. The valley gets its name from the
] suSuriant growth of clover that reaches such
perfection here. 1t is the finest grazing lane
We ever saw, and there are plenty Of int
:attle roaming over hill and dale ready fol
the market. Everybody from three years ole
Z up has horse, and knows how to use it. anG
Farmers ure turning their attention to stock
raising entirely. 1t requires large amour
sof capital to successfully enter the stock
business, and these people being impov-
serished by the war have to 20 int
sbusincss by degrees. Land is worth from;
$50 to 500 per acre, and it requires larg
amount of money to get enough land to rails
stock largely. One gentleman told US, "I
came here in 1870 with $40 in cash and :;
specc of land worth $1,000. sold my lane
] md bought this place for 81 900. soon after
wards bought more land and gave $4,OOt
ator it. have been stock raising and work.
ling the farm and now have it nearly all paic
4 tor" so you see they can make money il
sClover Hollow. The Land is very fhrtile
and produces well. Wheat was just begin
ning to turn ripe. Corn was looking re-
3narkably we'll 1t is great fruit country.
showevcr, they bad no fruit at this time
iCherries were just getting ripe but no
Enough to eat.
There is something singular about the
water of this valley. Not the taste, for it l.,
l"clear as crystal and cold as ice, =" to use e.
lcommon expression, but in the mysterious
manner in which it disappears. AS we en-
tered the Hollow, we remarked to the gen
tleman driving us, that it must be pretty dry
;up the Hollow if that was all the water that
flowed from it. He said that was all, bu'
the water sinks. We could not comprehend
what he meant, until we saw for ourselves
The water comes rushing down from tht
mountains in beautiful rills until it reache.
the valley when it mysteriously disappears
I'VE saw several little branches that diSap
peared in this way, and were told that there
was o large creek known as Sinking Creek
lin an adjoining valley that disappeared ir
1.-The same way. Another strange circum-
stance connected with the water of this
valley is, that it all flows Westward, and from.
the Western slope Of the mountain, none
looming from the mountains facing Eastward.
It would do us good to give you the names
of all the good people living in this delight.
ful little valley, and tell you Of what large
and interesting families they all have, how
actiye and energetic these farmers are, how
happy they live, how pious and devoted to
the cause of Christ, and what abundance they
have Of all the neceSsaries Of life. Here
they are free from the contention Of political
parties. Here they are free from the uncoutl
fashions of The 18th Century, and here they
ar. free from the "sable sons of Africa"
We will briefly notice the sessions of Con.
ference and close our article. On Saturday
and Monday they held business meetings
and transacted great deal of interestin.
business. The reports showed favorable;
state of thugs, and most encouraging sue
cess seemed to crowL the efforts that were
being made to spread the Gospel. On SUM-
day there was large congregation out, and!
from the number that surrounded thu
,acramental table, we think these arc truly Il
God-loyiDg and God-fear:ng people. Lou.
may they live in the quietude they now Gu:
Joy and in the full enjoyment of that reigioni
they so much love.