Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1875-07-13
Communicated
FROM THE GREAT WEST,
All About Arkansas, and q
Peep into Texas.

LAAA hDO"O al ASlISAS, Enu
Peep into Texas.
LOGANSPORT, INDIANA, !
July 9TH, 1870. !
liT.. Editor:
Some ten days ago, we left Ho
Springs for flying trip through tn,
West, after few hours travel in th,
stage coach" a relic of past civil
FZatiOn, we reached the r. r. Afte
we took the cars at Malvern, we trav
eled some time before we quilted tht
confines of
ARKANSAS
a rich and growing State. While Ou
travel was wearisOm by reason of tn,
dust and heat, and more so from tht
effects of that romantic stage coach
we could not resist the temptation t
view the country through which We
were passing, Much of our route lay
through marshes and swampy ground:
luXuriant IN underbrush and tall slen
der pine, yet much is over a fertile sec
ton Of country, smiling with waving
fields, and dotted by elegant and coy
residences. lnnumerable rivers wine
their meandering courses through the
State. giving to it all abundant source
Of undevelOped power, and which a
no distant day to be utilized in giving
fertility to the adjacent soil Some O.
the lands on which [ look, is rich anG
productive, into which the husband
man need only to thrust his plOw-
scaterer broadcast the seed, to insure q
harvest, the abundant fairness of which
viii satisfy his cravings. Her
MOUNTAINS,
towering and grand, grOan with theil
varied and valuable deposits. Rich
quarries of marble that rival the cele-
brated quarries of TALLY, are to b.
found in abundance, and on their sur
face may he gathered pieces of the
ARKANSAS DIAMOND,
which for sparkling brilliancy and
lustre, are unsurpassed by the purest
gems Of South America, while their
cas- c are.uothinE, as compared to the
real stone that shines from the BE- S.
ON of royalty and weaIth-they pcs
sess the more important qualities
which give to many persons mania
to possess the real.
1hCNA AZ IShNNiI "A ~
terantula and centipede pedlers are Pc
culiar to these Western States. Every
oportunity is seized on by these In
dustriOu5 prof s,iOnals, to supply
where there is no demand-uow and
then a sale is forced. In the towns,
you may see on every corner. EoXes,
upon which are spread crystal points,
preserved bugs and terantulas, load
stone, whitestOne, and our old sand.
stone and limestone, with their nom
euclatureS entirely changed, while
along every bye-way, you are met by
men and boys, with baskets contain
ing the same variety of curiosities.-
On every piece of loadstone, feebly
clings piece of an old rusty nail, to
Danish any doubt that might arise in
the suspicious mind of a modern trav-
eler as to the genuiGencss ofthe article,
A CERTAIN LECTURE
delivered in Bristol, steeled me
against persuasiOns on all questions Of
"PhiIosity," especially loadstone, so
did not purchase. have often heard
Of being in town with a pocket full of
rocks, but regarded it more as the
wild fancy of some cross roads celebri
ty than reality. but travel, that
greatest of all Instructors, has attested
its truth. / am still incredulOus
enough however, to question the au
thOrs ever having witnessed it. One Of
the greatest terrorS TO your writer, and
which spoiled much Of his proposed
pleasure, was these "venomOus var
mints" that infester the woods and
fields. l always loved TO wander over
mountain and glade, and snuff the
rich OdOrs that the breeZes gather from
flowers that grow silently and unseen,
especially in this the most bewitching
season of the year. But who can en-
JOY u ramble in the wildwood or tame
either, when his sOul is agitated with
fear, and his imagination is so wrought
up, that he behOlds in every tiny in
sect, that wantOn'S in the sun, a pen
daut all devouriug terantula or cent?
pede. or who feels in every twig that
brushes his legs, their advancing steps
to the citidel of life UnmClested,
they would multiply to such an eX-
tent, that they would be enabled to
eXpell the Government preemptOrs of
the soil. Hence the bold and fearless
organization of the
TERANTULA RANGERS,
whose business it is to capture and de-
populate these venOmous inhabitants.
The terantula is a long legged black
animal, presenting a very unsightly
appearance. The RANGERS when in
terviewed as to their relation and pO-
sition on DarWiu's descending scale of
life, were not communicative, wheth-
er from ignorance or State policy, we
were unable to learn. There seems to
be no question however. that wheTev-
er located, they have a pregnant pO-
tency to elevation. They are said not
to be very gregari0Hs, you seldom ever
find more than one in a gang. This
keeps them from being very formida-
ble TO the diciplined rangers. Their
stratagem very often enables them to
swing beyond the entertainments of
their antagonists and renew their at
tack when least pectted. We had the
pleasure of behOlding the Chief of the
Rangers, Terantuia Jim-tal and
portly, with the grim look of a fear
less warrior fixed GpOn his face. One
stands in his august presence with no
little trepidation. Our feelings under
went somewhat of change, when we
ueheld this mighty Nimrud whose vic
tories are to he numbered only by his
conflicts, Keeling under the influence
of liquor, thai great destroyer of the
hopes and aspirations Of earths' great
and Titles ones. a las that one who is
the terror of the woods should thus
surrender TO the arch enemy of man
kind. But of such material unfOrtu-
nately for the worse, are most of our
great ones composed.
4 THOUSAND VARIETIES OF Bugs.
inhabit this country, and make in
harmonious. the night. with their
confused cummings. We have al
most acquired the habit of perpetual
motion. You must acquire IT, or sub
NIT to an ignominious death. Such
noise we never heard before, as some
of these nightly marauders make
Now and then you catch the familiar
sound of the honest old church bug, as
he flaps with heavy wings laZily
along the walls, and suddenly de.
scends buzzing to the floor. Then
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