Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-06-07
4 Nice Conscience Fund and n Charns
ing Mountain Eymph-Ete.

KNOXVILLE, June 4, ls74-Lake the
Parthenon above Athens, so the bril-
liantly white marble custOmhOGse
should have lowered above palmer
structures in Knoxville. Unhappily,
good men, devoted TO two churches,
were commissioners TO select the site for
the stately pile, and prOperty-h0lders
ai-ng Gay street demanded eEoTbitsnt
sums for their preferred lots, aud thus
the great custOmhOuse, the pride OF East
I Tennessee and beauty of kuoxyille,
stands beside and dwarfs two pretty
churches and itself is hidden behind
crest massive brick storehOuses. Its
beauties ard faultless proportions and
admirable outhLeg are wholly invisible
until one stands bebgsth the very
shadows of the magnificent structure.
/ Its cost is hardly less than half million
dollars, each marble block costing an
average OF twenfy-foUr dollars. General
Holman, the builder and supervising
architect, has expended lesS Unsn the
sum appropriated for the building proper,
aud returns several thousand dollars to
the United States treasury. He will
probably take charge of the customhouse
at Memphis, going thither in the fell
when this one 81 Knoxville will be
fnally perfected.
THE QUARRY.
The quarry whence this white marble
is drawn is at the confluence and be-
tween the French-Broad and HolstOn
(Tennessee) rivers. Side 10y side are
great marble bOulders; some white IS
Parian stone, and others variegsted like
that Of which pillars ia the State capitol
at Nashville are made. The stone can
not be split by using nitrO-glycerine OF
gun-cotton, and is Fiven from its place
by auger-holes into which wedges
are driven. Blocks weighing TWEEN
ty tons are lifted about by ma
chinery, sawed into slabs, con-
verted into table and bureau tops at
st. Louis, and sent hither and to Men,
phis for sale. Shipments 10 st. Louis
amount TO twenty thousand dollars per
month. Mr. Mullett, United States |
architect, asserts this to be the most |
beautiful and desirable building mate /
rial in the United States, and yet East /
Tennessee was not suffered 10 furnish /
headst0nes for the graves OF Federal 4
soldiers. Thieves now in Office at Wash
ington think the end at hand, and /
nothing passes through their clutches
that does not pay enormous tolls. 1t is
A CHARMING SPOT,
whence this white stone is drawn to
rear these temples of law and man.
nom. East Of this place, mountains in
parallel ranges rise higher
aud higher, and are heaped upon one
another until the loftiest peaks of the
Alleghenies ere lost in the clouds.
French-Broad and HOlston rivers are
clear, bright and beautiful, abounding in
trout, aud fishermen everywhere ply 1
their vocation in these sultry days, be-
meath dense willow-tops that fringe the 1
banks and bend down to lave their deep 1
green branches in the sparkling streams. |
/ had ascended the kreneh-Broad some |
above the quarry, ana was |
among great stones, shaoed |
by cedars as old az those OF Mount |
Lebanon, when j was startled by the |
sudden appearance before my very face |
OF charming girl. She was tall,
slender, plainly attired, wearing short
calico dress. She bore q sun-bOnnet In
her hand, and her long, golden hair, as
she came leaping from one to another
stone, down the steep declivity, was up
lifted by the winds, and through the
long bright treBses the sunshine trickled
down upon her white neck and shoul-
deTs. Her eyes flashed and her face was
sglow with physical excitement and
a halo OF light encircled it such
as we have often seen in cbild's
book pictures Of cur Savior.
She came suddenly in my presence, and
stood for q moment transtXed with as
constituent, little expecting stranger
al such an hour and in such spot, and
then she fed from sight, TO hide her
bushes among the eedars, As rapidly as
she came into my presence. General
Holman and your correspondent an
hour later, were seated in the pretty par
Ior Of a farmhouse not far away, and
there came a beautiful girl fashionably
attifed. She greeted the general most
Rpd with that easy sdooir
fare that distinguishes educated wo-
men, she bent her bead when my
name WAS pronouncedi anu 3 slght
blush that swept over her sweet lace
discovered that our neeOgnitlon was tnn-
tuRl. What transformation she hhd /
undergone. The wild girl OF the noun |
tain and valley, and OF the stone quarry |
which she oWns-tfe most valuable IN /
the State, if not on the coBtinent-noW |
stood before me, arrayed in the dress |
and manners and all the paraphernalia |
Of the deyOtees Of fashion. Not many 1
months ago she was graduated by an |
eastern young ladies' institute. When
visiting KHOxville don't fail 10 see the /
wonderful marble quarry and the mole |
wonderful owner-the sweet Alice" 4"
who "sleeps OpeT "the stone"
OF the fearful excitement pervading |
East Tennessee-such rs was never 1
known before among the bills and hoi-
lows of this classic land-beoause Of the |
possible enactment OF the civil rights
bill I'll tell tomorrow. D.