The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-05
Travels of Ego and, Alter.

! TS-A NIGHT on THE HE1GHTS-TWo NV EMS
,vp THREE TEs-RETRosPECTIYE AND
! proSrECTIve-TuE GREAT THoRoUGHFARE-
AN OLD PLACE WITH NEW FACE. .>
NART1SsBUEG. W. VA, August 2, 1879.
Dear DISPATCH: Although Alter has wrl'-
ten so recently. | must write again Whlse
what nave to say is fresh, and II we seem
to be crowding you, remember you nave
had long rest. -. t-..s 49,
NV ycompanion-in-arms, or rather legs, as
some one has suggested, was pleased 10 IN
dulcc in some PERSONAL observations, but l
will spare the public the infliction OF re-
joinder. And especially the atrociouS Is,
crime Of having Il pretty cousin :" VIII
neither attempt to palliate nor deny
| Alter has conducted us in his last letter
to Harper's Ferry. Here we pause aw1i,e.
Nature, the Federal Government and the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company have
done great deal to make Harper's Ferry
beautiful aud prosperous. War, flood, and
fire have done great deal to iDiure and de-
stroy it. The result Is remarkable combl-
naLion OF sublimity and dirt, magnifcence
and ruin. II there were nothing else to in
tercst a tourist, the historic associations
would attract him. Here, on the rock which
| hears his name, Thomas Jefferson sat when
he w1ote that part Of his "Notes on pir-
! oinia,, which relates TO the surrounding
country, Here, as every one knows, was
the scene OF JOHN Browns raid-that spark
which set a nation afire. Here, too. on
MARYLAND Heights, jackson made one OF MS
brilliant exploits, capturing eighteen thou.
sand men. Here are the extensive RUNS OF
the old United States ArmOry property, on
which over million was spent, ana Which
furnished employment to hundreds OF
hands. No sound Of busy wheels is heard
now among those ruined arches, 1or the
giant water-power that turned them now
runs idly through its stone channel.
Here, too, is one OF the most remafkaole
railroad bridges in the countly-remarka-
ble for the fact that it has fork, the Val
lev Branch OF the Baltimore and Ohio, ac-
tnally beginning in the middle OF the Po-
tomac. The place would be interesting,
thouch, il man had never been there. For
here two great rivers, draining country
which acknowledges no superior in beauty
and fertility, unite their forces, pierce the
solid mountain, and then wend their way
to meet the tides OF ocean. -...
Before the war Harpcr's Ferry was q
thriving, busy place Of three thousand in
habitants, and while the armory furnished
employment to the people the officers and
their families furnished delightful society.
But now all is changed. No manufacture Is
carried on except by one large fouring-mlll.
a few OF the old inhabitants remain. but
they live mostly on the, heights above the
town towards the village OF Bolivar. For
mery many people had sweet homes on Flr-
gina island, in the Shenandoah; but the
majority of them were swept away IN Inc
great flood OF 1870, and, very wisely, they
! have never been rebuilt. In short, events
have worked about the result that nearly
all the town seen by those passing by
rail is miserable. dirty, and rninous,
Many of the houses, too, are perched on
such pl ecipices that it has been truly re-
marked that they have to climb ladder to
! get into the cellar. We viewed all these
Scenes in the pleasant company OF Rev
William G.. Campbell, 4 classmate OF mine at
| college, who is now the pastor OF the Pres
byterian church there.
| Wednesday afternoon we walked half
mile up the Potomac to Byrnc's island, Il
beautiful spot, which the enterprise OF the
Baltimore aud Ohio railroad, exercised in
small things as well as. great, has fitted up
with ncing.paylionS, music stands,
swings, and everything to make it attractive
as pic mic ground. 49,. ,..'r.... . % q.
About sunset the same evening, provided
with blankets, we assembled Maryland
Heights, determined OH spending the night
there. 1t was pretty steep climbing, but
we knew we would be ompensated By the
beautiful view from the summit. At length
we reached the ridge and the foundation
OF an old building, which we took to be q
part of the old fort. But, bitter was our
disappointment to find that the trees sur.
rounded the spot so that the view was only
or e1 on one side, that looking down the
Potomac. We thought there must be some
Imistake. hut determined to spend the night
there and make the best OF the view We
had. And IL alone was worth the trip. II
was beautiful as we first saw it under the
waning light OF day, beautiful under thu
soft light OF the moon, beautiful as tbe
gray dawn crept over it until the
golden sunlight lit mountain, vale, and
river. When we started to prepare our bee
for the night we soon found that our Ole
enemies, the mosquitoes, were there before
US, We fixed sort Of canopy over the up
per parts of our bodies with branches o1
lockwood, but in spite OF that the mosqui'
toes annoyed us considerably. Waking ur
e1rly in The morning we went to our point
| OF observation to see the sun rise. There
were a few streaks OF gold, few rosy
| clouds, but it was rather 4 failure. on ac'
count Of a heavy bank OF clouds Just oVel
the eastern horizon. After this we
each climbed a tree, and from our respec.
tive .perches gained very wide and beau.
! tiiul views. Alter is not musical, but il
moved him to sing. His repertoire not be:
ing very. extensive, the most, appropriate
thing he could think ofwas "The Last Rose
or Summer" with which he made the
mountains vocal. But from our trees we
saw something better than uncomfortahle
snatches OF fine view; we saw that though
on the ridge. we were not on the highest
point. We gathered up our traps and
walked halt mile along the ridge, which
brought us to thereal fort. In a wide, open
field were the extensive ruins Of stone
iortiications. We climbed to the highest
part OF the wall, and then the real
view that twe had heard OF met our
gaze. There are few finer in. the Blue
Ridge. Those from the Peaks OF Otterand
Humpback are more eXtensiye,s but the
rivers add a charm TO this Ian dscape that
the others do not possess. The circle OF the
horizon was complete. Three sovereign
States spread their beauties before u.s.; Let
us start with our faces turned up the ridge.
Here we see right along the broad back oil
the range. Turning siowly.,to the right;
the fair and fertile fields OF Maryland lie be.
fore us, the rich. cultivation, carried to the
very summit OF many hills, speaking! oi
wealth and prosperity AS we continue I'd
turn we seeatbe Potomac viz dug through
49,, err fbn nonsi pnS paiIroad MI nu