Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-08-29

Snarlc1 trQ1kS Is Strlkl0S luueeu, a0u tucy lUoh
as il all nature was dead, and only these hide.
Gus bare monuments were lett 10 tell OF the final
ruin and decay oil the region. 1t was scene
put upon canvas, for even his wonderful imagl-
nation never conceived such weird picture,
dismally fantastic as this. As the top Of Bald
Knob is reached the soil gets more thin over
the rocks until it ceases even to support bushes,
and the summit for many acres around is bare
and denuled Of vegetation, and clear view can
be had all around The top Of the Knob is the
highest point Of the AlIeganies 1t is 4, AS
ect above The level, which is nearly mile in
the air. The height is so great that the rarl
fled sir makes respiration difficult You turn
AID look and the scene almost takes away your
breath. 1t is lnagntcentIy superb, it is beau
| llul beyond comparison, grand beyond concep.
ton, and sublime beyond words. Neither the
artist $ brush. the poets pen, nor the photo.
graphrr' camera all combined could convey he
very Aublimnily OF tho picture. The world
seems lying at yeur feet, aud tho Alleganlas
stretch away beneath you 10 the far distance,
looking like tho restless pillows Of the sea.
Mountains that seemed huge aud great at The
base OF the Knob now look like chi!drcn's mul
piles The largest plantation in the valley be-
low could b. covered by a pocket handkerchief
aud the roomlest mansion seemed az small as q
chhd's toy block house. AS your eye r0vcd
over lie anec: it seemed as if the vision could
| stretch over thousands of miles, aud in lmagi
nation you could behold at glance the whole
universe, with It's mountains, plains, valleys,
towns, streams and forests, all commingled aud
ndistuct from its immense distance.
| From the apex Of this mountain five States
are visible, the vision ranging for nearly one
! hundred mics, and the cliffs aud lofty peaks Of
thc five great CONFERENCE.-The of Virginia, West
Virginia, Kentucky Tennessee aud North Caro-
| liza can be seen. The sensation is one Of dread
The great hollowDesi Of the sky. alone, naked
| blue heavens above him. 1t is not the ntcxlca
ton Of lofty height it is the fearful dread aud
nameless horror Of an insecure suspension,
which you feel at any moment in your morbid
| fancy may give way and prcci plate you head,
| long to the globe beuealh the fall so great that
| the Imagination cannot trace and the eyes can
| not see.
With all the s0lcmnity Of oae'S thoughts he
can picture this as fitting spot for the last
judgment, the awful dies ral, the day of wrath.
On this pinnaClcd rock Jehovah sits and all the
nations oil the globe sit waiting for the end.
l do not believe that any Dei:t could witness
this unmOvcd. No WoId r. that even John Ran
dolph, of Roanoke, hsd his inldelity shaken By
this stupendous scene A. universe lay ut our
feet showing tho conception end Divine work.
The glory Of the sun ightancd tho morning. air,
and the cerulesn sky bounding all showed IN
il eaito harmony Of II Gow CreallOn, full OF sub.
limo Significance.
"Ard luminous beyond the golden mists
tomothing that looked to my eyes like Cod
| visited tho knob second timo to SEQ tho sum
sal. il Was iEd4scribably solemn to witness the
light dis on. OF the wcr.d-to see tho shadows
lenglhen and grow deeper and the mountains
merge in ono vast i,imiLabIe ocean, with no SAIL
no islaLd no port, no sound, nothing but the
vast eypsnse stretching from time u eternity;
willie on the west the dirk veil that settled over
the crags and hid tho valleys in aeecy sea,
WAS lighted up by the rays Of tho setting sun
until it looked AS if heavens gate, as seen by
tho poet WIS really ajsr anil open t. tbs Grant
spirit,
As the night grows on apaco and even the
beams Of the day gcd grow dim, you feel that
tho very globo itself has dissolved aud tho
mountains melted down like wax, and TINT Lu-
cifer tho once bright-eyed sou Of morning. sits
sullen and alone, broodng on the glory that he
has lost, thinking that though the Vast globe
itself dissoVes before lis eyes. yet that the curse
romans over him still. CHAsSEUR.
BRUTAL MURDER.-From q correspondent,
w
tho following facts in relation to ono Of the most
horrible crimes that it has ever been our duty
to record II occurred near Greenfield, in N el-
son county, before daylight on last Tuesday
morning, the DIST inst IAN old man named
james Gu Tor with one leg, and his sister, AL
old womGn, named Susan Harris, a widow. liv-
ed together on - small pieco of land owned by
them; young woman called "Mnggy Hender-
son, lived with, or WAS Staying with them 1t
seems that a few weeks ago, certain William
Fox, moi gh Dor. and his wife came neaT sopsrat
ing, ha beating her cruelty, on account Ct All
alleged intimacy b3twcon him and Miss Hend
erson, VINO had decarcd that he was tho father
of a child to which she expected soon to give
birth and ii seems that rs Harris had told the |
wife Of Fox oft.
''At thu above mentioned lime, Fox went TO |
tha house of Carter and killed. Mrs. Harris by |
boating her to death with q club or something |
OF the kind. Miss Henderson attempted to pro- |
vent him he then turned on her, and attompt- |
them all. Mr.. Carter, who was in al upper |
room, being aroused. came down, and Fox |
turned on him, knocking down and beating him !
almost to death. Fox surprising he had killed |
hun, thon turned on Miss Henderson who hsd
gotten into the yard, and in scuflle she escaped |
lis grasp and threw herself into an cid we'll in |
tho yard, which had been partly filled up. Fox |
appeared unwilling TO venture II there, and she |
thus escaped with her life though badly bosten.
I! is thought sho will recover. lilo thon set ire
To the house and it was consumed with ell the
furniture and clothing-except thoir night |
clothes which they had on.
"A near nelghbor reached the house before it |
was consumed and found two small children,
who had boon taken there, sitting on the floor.
screaming and trying 10 push the Goals and |
pieces Ct burug wood from them, not being able |
to get to the door through the flames. -,'SmuntOn
Spectator.
FAILURES IN CmCAG0.-A dispatch from
Chicago says the State Savings Institution made
an assignment this evening to Abncr Taylor.
This bank has been established some thirty
years: aad from the prestige Of its early rcpu.
talon I,as secured the patronage Of great ma
jority Of the poorer classes who deposit in the
savings institutions here. The officers Of the
bank give the liabilities at $2,9SS, 800. and as
sets -, 72l 900.
A large number Of business men here went
into bankruptcy yesterday. Among them were
the following :-Charles j.. Rice Il Co., the
Brown & Van Arslalo Manufacturing Co.. j.
MetZlcr e Bro, Cosscll Il Cross. II. X. Pavson |