The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-09-19
Aszrsfp DO sssy er's Cave.
by i coxrKDRRArE GENERAL.
fFor the dispatch

and LHt1nlEeSlU SO Ibs9Uili tueau e UCu1.t I
| OF course you must go, but beware OF snip.
ping up and falling dewB, and dom allow
your curiosity to induce you to hold your
dripping dips above your head, for the tal.
| low will fall II your eyes and TO be without
eyes IN Weyer's Cave is as sad as ';l being oeal
at Niagara. .=,.l,
/ went to Weyet's Cave, and, what Is bet
ter. I came back. II reminds one OF dooa,s
description Of 8 ball: Isi s
| 1.,,, !. One OF the pleasures Of hayisg rout
Il the pleasure of having 1t OVER 3 - IL
| Pray don't misunderstood the facesions
poet and suppose he meant by !" napiag. IL
loyer" to repeat-the same, for ne surely al
lluded to having reached the happy teffaiaa'
| ton. i 44i4 80 AZ
children say, and to accomplish tnls emu
Twill have to take you back TO- Tue noun
Itains, where cluster those attractive resorts
between MILFORD and CoringtoD." Les, We
Istarted to Weyer's Cave from the warm
lSprings. We wanted to get a good start anu
La long race before running to; eafth'H 90
we began at the Warm and doubled over Tue
railroad to, Jordan Alum, and Dack 10 10
shen, and thence to Staunton "a statlon GU
1.-THE Chesapeake and Ohio railroad), Wnefe we
Itried to rest one night, but failed IN this
lcommendable effort, as there was noisy
lball-noisyH the ezuberanee OF happl.
mess, and loud in their joyous appreciation OF
tine dance. tAs nv room opened on the front
porch. / learned that some did not arhaspe1'
all they felt, and they seemed to JeeI good
| deal. .z,.a -
We epjoyed that ball, for we had devoted
the summer at the White Sulphurto the task
of comprising the" Boston," and there we
saw it danced with rural variations, which
we propose to embody In the dance next
summer.
We do not approve of ireverentalusions,
but we felt that the heads Of some OF the
dancers would have looked better drought
In on charger"
Next morning we took the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad, for Weyer's Cave station,
which we reached safely, only to lind that
the hackman had not returned from that ball.
However, nothing daunted, an enterprlslng
member Of our party impressed driver ana
horses las be used to do during the war;, and
getting into our hack of we went. la
turn OF the road, as Ground We went" we
came near giving force to the continuation OF
the quotation of "doWn we Went" Dut
kind Providence and good breaks saved US.
| The drive from the station to tbe Cave IS
through portion of the valley between Mid
die and South rivers, and the views OF tne
Blue Ridge before us and the Allegheny De-
hind, were we'll worth the trouble ana DAN
ger of The ride. Our driver, who was
farmer in the neighborhood, kept
me entertained by accounts OF his
experiences with gentleman ~ who visited
that country during the war. He had large
party with him, and illuminated, not the
Cave, but the whole Valley. This farmer
contributed his barn full of provisions) to
assist in this illumination. AS this was the
largest torch.light procession in the world, l
have no doubt you remember the enter
prising organizer of the expedition. He was
the same gentleman who afterwards added
to his fame by the heroic destruction OF Pe-
gian Indians, including the helpless women
and children.
Arrived at Mr.. Mothers, we prepared for
our departure to
THE CAVE,
which lisa few hundred yards from the house.
At the entrance is a room, in which we sat
until the gentlemanly "guide, philosopher,
and friend" handed each of lis lighted
candle. We were eighteen in all so the
beauties of the Cave were we'll shown by the
geography Of the Cave get map. l remem.
Der only some OF the most attractive ana
beautiful scenes.
What do you think Of moon-riSe in WeY-
er's Cave? Well, we had that at 2 O'Clock in
the day, and twas just as good as the genu.
Inc. The ballroom was lit gorgeously and
presented an eXpectane appearance where
the guests never came.
The Natural Bridge looked natural-no ar
chitect would claim it. The stalactites and
stalagmites Il don't know which are whicb)
were really beautiful, and the glitter from
the arching and elevated ceilings g not built
of hands" was glorious beyond description.
cit certainly was lovely" said one lady.
Eyes" answered another, sit is mighty
pretty" One rock was pointed out as shield,
and it looked "as big and as round as Nor
vaps shield"
We had music-such as the Chinese make
when they 60 to war, hoping to brighten
their adversaries. It was very solemn and
weird, such as might accompany the noise
less tread of shadowy armies.
sWashington Crossing the Delaware" was
a grand conception of the Imagination, and
we thought we could hear the treacherous
ice eating its way into the shallow shell of
the boat that held such rare and valuable
freight.
ssCasar Crossing the Alps" required some
classical knowledge to enable the spectators
to appreciate the excellence Of this spectacu-
lar resemblance. knew that ''omnia Gal
liza diuisa est" &C., but had never seen
the three parts until l went into Weyers
Cave.
Lady Washington (wife of the late Lord
Washington was room in that Cave, where
49, =, rod 70 o6r 70
ture of her bed-curtains and called on to
grow enthusiastic over her toilet-table.
We went dom Jacobs ladder, which does
not lead to heaven. Inever did "feel farther
off from heaven"
/ wonder if Dante ever went to Weyer's
Cave. He ought to be buried there. 1t
would be an appropriate resting place for the
author of " Inferno"
Among other curious likenesses was
"Casar Crossing the Rubicon." 1t looked
just like the picture of that wonderful &C.
compishment whichsI remember in my
MitchelPs geography.
Our guide rehearsed the Black Crook for
our edfcation, and the weird effects of his
sudden appearance over our heads and be-
meath our feet were grander than before the
footlights of "Niblo's."
We had the pleasure OF witnessing the
''trausit of Venus" or an imitation of that
rare occurrence which equalled the famous
eclipse of 1869. We saw, too, Niagara in
Winter" but it was frape so small that we
mistook it for young Niagara that :" was
nipped in the bud " by an early frost.
I regret that my position in the rear pre-
vented my hearing the names of more won.
ders and beauties, but do recall with plea.
sure the brilliant Shell-Room" that was
Illuminated with various.colored lights. The