The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1874-11-20
Ma TIRE AS AN ARTIST.

vi 4 m dN AhL1SI
Coral and roses, We are told, have
furnished the coloring which appears
in some of the beautiful variegated mar
BILE that comes from Tennessee. Ac-
cording to some statements concerning
the geology of the State, which appear
in the Nashville Reporter, East Tennes-
see, which is now a mountainous II
try, was once an arm of the ocean dotted
with coral islands. This ancient arm of
the ocean, they say, dating far earlier
than the mountains, must have existed
in the time of the ~silurian period, long
before the carboniferous era, that gave
rise to the coal beds, and before the
tremendous commissions along the Allie
ghanies that crumbled up all East Ten
nessee into long wavy folds, and at the
same time formed the Unaka chain of
mountains west of the Blue Ridge.
Then it was these beautiful little islands
dotted the surface of this salt water in
let, that extended northeast and south
west, from Hawkins county down 200
miles to Red Clay, on the line of Geor-
gia. Like the islands in Caribbean Sea,
they must have been built up perpen-
d~icularly for many hundred feet by the
coral polypus. Besides these charming
red coral formations there were in the
same sea vast areas or beds of the " sea
~rose," or crenoid flowers, that surpassed
our garden roses, for they combined the
beauties of both vegetable and animal
forms, being indeed animated roses, al
though fixed to the rocks, that digested
their food, which was sought for and
collected from the surrounding waters
by mean of very long, hollow tentacula
or ~feelers, that waved in every direction
for some distance around. Neverthe-
less, they had the appearance of huge,
red roses Just at the point between the
bulb n full bloom, with a warm
pulsating heart in the center. The de-
bris of these early beauties, cemented
into solid marble 10y silica, alone remain
to tell the tale that they INC had been;
and this weatheriDg and crumbllng to
dust leaves these hills rich, arabic land,
even to their very SUBMITS. Near the
northern extremity of this coral sea in
Hawkins county, the debris of the red
coral, with that of buttons of crenoids
petrifed, is now being extensively quar-
ried for architectural purposes, and it
produces the finest specimens Of varie-
gated marble perhaps to be found any
where in the world-surpassing the IA
nous Parian marble of Italy in its pleas
ing effects to the eye. 1t enters into
the most ornamental portions of the
State and National Capitols, where it is
universally admired.
WONDERS OF TIE THAMES.
Eleven bridges cross the famous River
Thames, and over them go more people
in a year than across any bridges in the
world. They are fine specimens of
architecture, made either of stone or
iron, and some of them cost huge sums
of money. Beneath all these bridges is
a constant stream of boats plying upon
the water. They go and come, up and
down stream, and across in every direc-
| ton, and in such numbers and confusion
| that the stranger cannot see how they
escape running into and over one an
other. And such a noise as the steam
whistles and the oarsmen and those
connected with the boats keep up. 1t
is positively deafening. In addition to
all these bridges and boats, there is an
other mode of crossing the Thames. 1t
is the tunnel, two miles below London
bridge. This stupendous work extends
beneath the bed of the river, and con-
meets Mapping on the left bank with
Redriff on the right. 1t consists of two
arched passages, one thousand two hun
dred feet long, fourteen feet wide, and
sixteen feet high, all below the bed of
the river. Whoever walks or rides
through the tunnel goes under the River
Thames, with ships and fishes swimming
over his head.
LARGE ESTATES.
The number of landowners in En-
gland is growing clearly less year after