Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1880-07-31
n JEFFERSON COUNTY, w VA, SATURDAY JULY 81, $780,

nine miles to get TO the same point that can
be reached ON the stage road in three miles.
| was fortunate enough 10 secure seat IN
an observation car and had good view At
one point the road makes q circle of about
mile-comes back and passes over itelf on
a t-estle about ninety feet high. You can
see the road in all directions, winding in
and out among the mountains, but defy
any one to tell which part of /. has been
passed over At one point we come to the
mud cut"-;o-callcd from the quantity OF
mud that slides into il from the mountain
side. You can see the whole side of the hill
hanging loose above You, and to say you
feel good after getting through is putting 1t
mildly. The conductor OF our train says
that sometimes he has passed through in the
evening, and in the morning foaad fifteen
feet of md in the cut. When the engine
strikes the end OF il the ties can be seen 10
sink six or eight inches Ii is about four or
FIVE hundred yards long, and the fact that
from iiftv 20 seventy-hve convicts have been
ken. at constant work there for four years.
affords sonic idea of the labor required 10
keep il in condition at all passable. Bat
when YOU get through and get TO the top of
the mountain, the magnificent view present
cd more than pays foT The danger past. lou
are then ut an elevation Of over 2,Oo0 feet,
on a trcstle about 20 feet high below yoa
can see the road winding in and out among
the mountains, and looking like a huge
sngke You car see the track in three pla-
ces almost directly below You. In the dis
tancc stretches mountain range beyond
mountain covered 10 their SUBMITS with
ycrtlurc and bright W IA chestnut and lau-
rel bloom and r.lrc ani beautiful wild-ilow-
crs. moses and lichens Near enough 10 be
plainly visible is the Black mountain, with
its central dome Mt. Nj .choll, on the top OF
which is Mitche!l's grave. This is the high
est peIk East of the Rocky Mountains-bc-
ing Is 200 feet above the level of the sea. As
far ~ the eve can reach are deep woods, tam
gled thickeis, wild glens, and great noun
tain ranges, with deep gorges whose sllllncss
is rarely broken by human football. Look
ing South YOU have n lovely view, only bro
ken and relieved by the isolated peak of
Kings Mountain, where our fOrciathcrs
fought and blcd and died, and where the
militia of North Carolina whipped the Brit
ish regulars on the 18th Of October, 1880, and
the centennial OF which il is proposed to cell
citrate this year with boniiros, speeches, &c.
After going through the tunnel we begin tho
descent through the Swannanoa Gap and
Valley romantic glen through which The
river of thesamc name plungcs wildly down
the mountain side, amid scenery rs wllda and
grand rs nature could group along It's banks
Swannanoa is an Indian name and signifies
"beauteous river" and il certainly is not a
misnomer u emptes into the French
Broad below Asheyillc; and the French
Broad into the Tennessee below Knoxville
On down the valley we went and finally
landed mt Ashcyille, which Is located in Il
beautiful plateau, surrounded by mountains,
the most prominent Of which are NJ. Piz-
gah and the Balsam-the last deriving It's
name from the balsam fir trees which cover
it, and from which great deal of liquid bal
sam is taken for medicinal purposes Ashc-
vile has become quite popular ~ resort
for neutrality-suspicious. those with pnlmo-
nary troubles, and also ~ a Summer resort
for tired and worn-out humanity; and the
crowd Il visitors gives il quite city look
When we leave the sand end heat of the
low country and come up here in the pure,
cool air, we feel, indeed, n rest and relaxa-
ton, and as if we could say with Bryant
" Here mid the song OF bird and sound Of run
ming stream,
I've come, awhile, to wander and 10 dreani'
Tonight take the train for the Palmetto
S,atc-will be in Atlanta, Georgia Mt the
Kimball House, August lst. Well, good
bye. May you publish the FREE PEEs a
thousand years, and may have the plcaa-
urc Of reading your last issue.
Yours,
w. g. r., JG