National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-03-12
AN HISTORIC PLACE.
Where John BROWN Was CaPfured-A
Look Around the Town.

| Special Correspondence Of The Republican.
HARPER's FERRY, Va, March 11.-This
part of The country has been called the Switzerland
| of America As your correspondent has never
climbed the dizzy heights of the Alps and enjoyed
the magnificent views which repay one for the
danger ard fatigue incurred by such ascent, it is
impossible to say how good the comparison is +;
but the scenery around here is certainly very
beautiful, and in the spring time, when the trees
and hillSideS are clothed in living green, it must
be still more beautiful. The town is very quaint,
and is curiously built the side of hill. and it
seems almost possible to step from the roof of one
| house into window or door of the next one The
| streets are very narrow, and i'll some places are
| paved with flags placed there by Nature. Every
thing is forlorn and dilapidated, and is so shut
i'll by mountains and rivers the question arises
| why such place should have been selected for
| the site of town. What the people live on is a
mystery, for there seems to be no business of any
| Importance going on, there are no gardens at
| tached to the dwellings, and everything has an
air of decay.
| John Brown made the place historic. and 1t does
seem pity that lie could not have lived to see the
present day, when the whole land is free but then
we would have lost that inspiring song from the
national melodies about his soul marching on"
Many of the residents remember the time when he
made his gallant defense, and tell many interest
| ing stories about it.
| The Catholic graveyard IS situated ON the top of
high hill, the ascent to which is very winding
| and rugged, and it would seem almost impossible
for hearse to ascend it or bier to be carried up
to it, The suppositioR is that people go up there
| to die, and are quietly buried without ceremony
There are few old epitaphs TO be found, and the
! view from the hill is really grand, and is well
worth the trouble of going up to see it. On one
side is the Shenandoah Valley, one of the richest
| md in oiVio ND tho of
| which constant struggle was made during the
late war by both Federal and confederate troops.
In front Maryland and Loudoun flights rise in their
majesty, washed at their base with the waters of
/ the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, which
little way below the town mingle their waters and
| flow on in union to the sea.
Below the graveyard is that wonderful freak of
nature known as the Jefferson Rock and is so
called because it is said jefferson sat upon it when
| he wrote his "Notes on Virginia" A wonderful
desire seems to possess every to stand upon it.
but the thought that any moment it may topple
over and roll into the Shenandoah River generally
deters them from trying it.
| The ruins of two churches on the hillside are
very interesting. The woodwork is all gone, and
| the walls remain, marked with bullet-holes and
| forming home for the bats and spiders, and
memento of that sad time when our country was
| under the dark cloud of war, and brother bore
arms against brother, and the wall Of sorrow and
! suffering went up from every part oft
The recent flood, as well as many previous ones,
wrought devastation. in its track, and the little
| town has suffered great deal in this way.
| The inhabitants are very hOspitable, and well
come strangers with the old Virginia hospitality
What charm there Is about it, and how iInpossi-
BILE it is to initiate it. and the most reserved per-
sons constrained, in spite of themselves to
spOnd to the hearty greeting and the outstretched
hand extended to them. 1t is something hard to
| describe something not gained by culture, for
some of the most cultivated people do not possess
1t and yet 1t is often found in the lowly cabin and
the plainest farmhouse.
The hotels in this place are not as good as they
might be, and it seems grand opening for some
enterprising individual who will introduce little
Yankee neatness and thrift into them, and by so
doing make the place charming summer resort.
TRAVELLER.