The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-05-17

4
ing through the foliage, and his rays
laying in golden bands upon the emerald
carpet of grass.
The silence and simplicity Of country
| life refreshes you. 1t is impossible TO
shut out the influences of spring when
she meets you in such quiet hooks, The
meadows are now gemmed with dande.
hons; the Winter wheat is already
waving with the advanced grsces Of
Summer, and showing deep rich green
between plowed fields; the blackberry
vines have crowned the walls with
wreathS of crisp and crimpled leaves;
the lilacs hold up their little cones of
buds almost ready to flower, and the
sweetbrier, with exquisite fragrance lures
you to seat under the edge OF the woods.
The forest hiss just changed its co!oring
o. gray to the olive tint Of bursting buds;
| the willows across the field are soft
clouds OF green; he naples have lost
their little tufts of coral flowers among
their olive leaves; the buckeye is spread
ing its palms above you; the larches are
dropping with their soft green tassels
studded here and there with crimson
cone; cherry trees are clouds OF
white blossoms; the apple trees
have returned from their shsdowy and
spiritual trance and are in full bloom.
GO TO THE COUNTRY.
To one revelling in sll these natural
beauties it is hard to imagine how any
one else can be reconciled 10 being shut
up IN the confines of hot, dusty and
soot-begrimmed city during the Spring
and Summer months. 1t Is true that
great many city people seek rest and re-
creation by travelling during the Sum.
mer. But it seems to me that If rest
health or recreation is what they seek, u
great mistake is made in visiting popu-
lar watering places, or taking European
excursions. At the former you are re-
stricted and constrained by the tyrsnt-
Fashion. A rsmble through Europe
may be pleasant, but you are only going
a long ways TO see less attractive objects
than you can find at home. Numbers
will visit the Paris Exposition during
the coming summer. 1t will prove to be
only an exchange from the cares of bus-
ness in your own city home TO 8 hustle
among strangers in larger city. Rest,
health and recrestion will not be found.
Do you desire heslth2 The pure oxy-
gen and invigor9Ling waters of our
West Virginia mountains are worth
more to restore broken constl!u-
ton than all the medicines Of
the world. Do you seek for rest2
Then an hours sunbsth in the morning,
or a rsmble through the woods on
bright day will have q more soothing
effect on the disorganIzed nerves than all
the narcotic drugs that were ever COM
pounded. Do you want to delight the
eye with beautiful scenery Why then
you find it right here among our own
mountains. do not know that l could
suggest a more pleasant Summer eIcur-
sion than ramble through West Vir-
ginia.
The European tourist is prone to re-
gard the scenery on the Rhine as the
most beautiful in the world, when in fact
its only superiority over American seen
cry is In the historic interest with which
1t is invested. 1t is pictured to the eye
by the most picturesque monuments; it Is
the land of Goethe and Beethoven, where
Roman fountains, Gothic csthedrals and
crumbling castles are hoary with age and
mellowed in the golden twilight Of ro-
nance.
But West Virginia excels the Rhine
or Switzerland In variety and grandeur
of scenery. Here the scenery is besuti-
full in every detail and harmonious with
the greatest variety OF natural features
PLAN, forest, shady glen, cascade and
snow-cspped, cloud. bearing mountains
carry the eye from mouth to source
through wonderful panorama.
Certainly the views here are
quite Sufficient for the most exacting. Our
rolling hills, towering heavenwsrd, and
the majesty of our waters make it region
of remarkable beauty and grandeur 1t is
true that our State is lacking in legends
The few PLAIN figures of our border history
have not yet lost their matter OF fact out
lines in the mist of tradition; still less
have they been revived in the rich,
shsdowy colors of romance. We have
the materials for some future writer, more
valuable msterials than Washington
Irving had for those rare pictures that
will always delight the lover of man and
nature, and enriched the Hudson with
souvenirs as charming as the birds, the
brooks and groves Of Sunnyside and
Sleepy Hollow.
f. however, superiority is to be grsnt-
ed TO the Rhine or even the Hudson In
legends and antiquities, yet must claim
superiority for West Virginia in one par
tlculsr. 1t is extrsvsgantly furnished
with the rains of taste. The majority OF
farm houses in this State bear testimony
to this fact. For nowhere is the aver
age rum of taste so fully embodied
as in our common farm house. A
paradox can be made of their age
and appearance for most of these ruins
are comparatively new. But IN this
thew resemble all our American lnstlLu-
tions and monuments Lacking the
mellowness only acquired by sge, they
miss tho veneration due them, For
usually the owner is the only man who
prizes them, probably because the ruin
concerns himself most nearly as an ex-
preston OF his aesthetic culture. In
General terms house of this kind usually
resembles huge dry goods csse, painted
white and pierced with rectangular holes
for doors and windows. The staring
front of windows without copIngs looks
like eyes without lsshes; its staring gable
without caves looks like head without
hat or hair; straight strip Of pIszza
looks like standing collar, and the
whole structure is sll shiney, hard snd
bald headed. The rail fence which often
encloses the yard is so much better than
the pickets; for then you can SIT on the
ton with your elbows On your knees and
epioy the scenery. Still the charms OF
artistic cultivation are not needed to
make more impressive the elements OF
wild and romantic scenery with which
the State abounds. A rsmble through
the West Virginia mountains is the most
pleasant aud entertaining excursion you
can map out.
THE CHARITABLE MAN.
There are those in the city, and they
Constitute the majority, who have not
the means TO travel, and who cannot