Daily Republican., 1881-06-10
FIFTH edition
AT FRENCH CREEK FAIIs
An Excursion From WiImir.,
a Wet Day-What the Falis =.

IoiuPy Ihol HlnS anu loOk TIE Snao,
train in waiting at the p. w, &, p Pppccia
road depot for French Creek Fa,I, iSlI y,
most of the eXcursionists came in,o Iae
city on the big excursion cars I,S of y, lAe
city railway, but others gatherej y, tle
stations between this city and Cba5Mae T%' Me
Ford and We're taken on, Thonau
clouds were low and threatenino ~ Ae
body was in the best of snir1it,.' i1, every
seemed determined not to let o anu
clouds interfere with their anticir1,,TS ,eT
pleasure. ''"'tu
One Of the greatest disappoirtmsr,,
of the day was in missing the ice r'rrens nronl
which had been left at Chadd,s MY Ste"4
cording TO order but through soma "lG u; as, ;
of misunderstanding it was nT nnt A,na tnl
a"olra' IN consequence of such peplec,
the day had to be put in without '{cs ;cs
cream. iV'
The delightful scenery of the Br,ndr
wine was enjoyed as long AZ thn ", ro.I y,
followed the tortuous windings Of thDt "
creek, and when they parted comna 'i". nu
the Welsh mountains in the diut"nts
broke the monotony OF the land scon" o'"''cc
The peanut candy and hannapa w.,
ders kept the company well snnnl;ii in,
with those articles almost indi,nGnrsifiiJJu'
ut excursion aud piCuics. Sprtngfa,IT
reached, the train was switched ~ ,i" W"
the French Creek branch road orJ Gu Gu
six miles the train passed down tbrnr,., ,Ji
n wild romantic section, bcautimj oS IL
lay amongst the rocks and clo,heJ T.,
the green freshness of spring. Abont
1880 o'clock the train stoppgd at % t%o
terminus of the road in the Ipilst of 'i' "
number Of ore mines.
After leaving the cars Il short tortr.
rous road, very muddy yesterday, led
down the famous French Creek nast
forge which had just stopped operatiors
for the day, to the excursion grounds
These were located on little island a
little Larger than the pavilion covered
formed by the waters Of the creek mart.
ing and coming together again. Tlere
were rocks every where and the wafer
Seethed and rOared and bubbledamopcSt
the rocks as if they would wash them
out of the way, but having stood Che
washing and laShing for thousands Of
years, they still stood unmoyabe
though holes and tiSSures had been
made in many Of them by the constant
wear AMI tear of the rushing wafer,
This is magnificent place for excur.
SionS. Romance and beauty are com.
bined in remarkable degree and the
native shade trees of spruce, pine, oak,
hickory and beech form a bower through
which the suns Lot rays cannot pene.
trate, though few glimpSeS of sun.
shine would not have been objectionable,
The pavilion a large one is constructed
OF rude rustic logs with the bark peeled
off, and a tight shinglc roof is proof
again, t ran.
Over across from the little island ex.
cursion ground rise hills on either side
On which rocks are piled upon rocks,
making numerous caves and openings
which in the past must have been ia
nous lairs for wild beasts. Some Of
the larger of the rocks look as if they
had Teen hOisted with a giant .jaCkscrew
and loose stones put underneath them
to keep them in place. One of tie
great delights of the eXcurSioniSts on a
good day is TO explore these caves and
by the aid Of twigs and Saplings 70
climb over the tops OF the monsters
Owing to the rain which commenced to
fall about T. O'Clock, and which not
only continued but increased in volume
all the afternoon, there was very little
rock exploring done, except by Thomas
Mitchell and a representative OF the
REPUBLICAN who took peep at all
that was to be seen.
After an hour and half spent at the
pavilion Just time enough to allow the
company 10 dine the increasing ram III
duCed the rXcUrsiOniStS to seek the cars
as the most secure place, where they re-
mained until / 4o'clock, the starting time
hOmeward.
A number who had umbrellas pad
visits to the ore mines in close prcXliA'
ty and watched the process OF bringing
crude raw ore up a shaft three hllh1ru
feet deep to the top, where it was
weighed and dumped into cars.
The ore obtained here is called mag
netic ore and is very valuable. In Que
of the establishments we visited tn'
Shaft was about 200 it. deep with ataE
mel reaching out from 200 to 800 Tel
more. At that depth the ore is in Clt
huge solid mass, there being no eXtFEt
neOuS matter whatever 1t is 50 sold .
that every particle of it has to be ba|
ed.
In auNAer mine on top of an al jaCelt
hill, the shaft ran down nearly 3yy teet
not including outOranching tunnels.
About 50 men were ut that depth with
picks and slcdgeS aud drills and fuses
the oIe and sending up a huge
bucket tull Of about 800 pounds every
five minutes. Some Of the blasts can
be heard and trembling sensation tet
ut the surface, though they are let off JVV
teet beneath.
There is strong admiXture of copper
ore aJ this mine which makes II heceS'
Sary to sort the ore when it reaches thc
top and when the copper ore acculhu-
lateS it is sent Oft to PhUuiNgilIe wheEe
il is sme.ted into copper. The WORKS Dt,
long TO the Brooks, iron manufactures
at BirdsbUro, and TO the PhWnix Com
pauy at Pho niXvillc.
a third shaft is being sunk but as
yet it is merely Of IN experiments
character. The forge near the eXcus
siOu ground, is operated by knaIF
Warner. Nj. kuaur is one Of the IraG
ing men Of the ucighbOrhood anu u
n large hotel close by tNe ~
mantle excursion grounds when VI" VI,
be open for visitors in abont four WeehSS
When this hotel is finished there VIZ
be 10 better, healthier or more rollan
tic place in which to spend a few Ga,'
tWay from the busy cares and peTPTTss
tiles Of life than at French Greek l"un I.ir
at tour o'clock the excursion .l%n l'n,
et'r, and through pelting rain ,s,Tar s,Tr
1t sped down the Brandywine san% ps.
without accident and reached W lipas ",
ton about T12 o'clock where tleos az,
,arS were in waiting to convey tD5d% .5dsr.
10 their homes. COnSJSS ,.Sar
ng the disagreeableness of the W'a'n''
Ill euiOyel n DlpaSant time