Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-08-10
LIFE AMONG THE CLOUDS.

THE SEASON AT ROAM NouNTAIN-wBAr rs TO
BE SEEN AND DONE THERE WASHINGTON
VISITORS, ETC, ETC.
Specaai correspondence Of THE EVENING STAR.
Roam MOUNTAIN, NC. Aug. S, 1881.
we nave found at last a place where IL is
never warm. The papers tell us of the thermo-
meter at 102 degrees in Washington; but here
we think it warm when ii reaches 20 degrees,
and 20 degrees is the highest that the thermo-
meter has yet marked. Roam mountain. on the
western border Of North Carolina. is the most
northern of the high mountains for which this
region is noted. Our hotel the ''Cloudland" is
about hundred and twenty feet below the top
OF the mountain: We therefore live Just a few
feet lower than the top of Mount Washington,
which is generally looked upon as the ne plus
ultra of the Appalachian system.
1t would hardly be proper to speak of Cloud
land as fashionable resort; in fact. we glory
here in our independence. The ladies wear short
walking dresses of cambria bingham or flannel.
and the gentlemen luXuriate in hunting cos
tunes. The hotel. with an adjoining cottage
accommodates about forty guests, and is nearly
always we'll filled with visitors gathered from all
parts of the country, from Louisiana to Con-
necticut. The air is delightful.
At this height, 391 feet-we are above all
impurities of the atmosphere The view is con-
sidered one of the three finest in western North
Carolina, and the most extensive of all. Seven
naked eye. which covers radius of 80 miles.
We can see the storms below us and around us;
and the clouds are sometimes piled above. some
times drifting by our very faces. sometimes
spread out like billowy lake of spOtless white
over the valleys below us. The mountain is like
a smooth park; it's top embraces thousand
acres. covered partly by rich grass. studded i'm
the spring time by countless forget me nOts and
partly by rhOdOdendron and alder bushes The
former bloom in June with the greatest profu-
sion, the huge punches of deep pink flowers
covering the mountain then with q wealth of
color never to be forgotten.
The Roam is good center for a variety Of eX-
curslOns to surrounding points, all of great in
terest, and all, until within a few years. almost
entirely unknown to the outer world The
mica mines near Bakersville, the largest in the
country, thirteen miles from Roam Mountain
are well worthy of visit This valuable mineral
Is carried in wagons over thirty miles to the
railroad for shipment. The Black Mountains.
where Mitchell the highest point of land east of
the Rockies, lifts its head to the height of g. TOT
feet, are but thirty-twO miles away; the Grand
father Mountain, noted as the source of rivers
flowing to all four points of the compass, is dis
tant tWenty-seven miles; and, grandest of all
the Linville Falls, Canon and Towers. all dis
play their wonders together, twenty-five miles
from the Roam.
The journey from Washington to this noun
tain occupies two days: the first. by rail to
johnson City, East Tenn, and the second by
stage, tmrty-tWO miles, to the hotel on top. A
number of WashingtOnians have visited the
Roam this season. Prof. John B. HOtchkiss, of
Kendall Green, is spending his third summer
here. Mrs. Major J. w. Powell and daughter,
Mrs. Charles King and daughter, Messrs. Arthur
D. Bryant the artist, Frank NJ. Boteler, Perry
X. Solger, G. W. Gray and VIM. B. King all of
Washington, are now here. Profs. Weatherby
and Eddy. of the University of Cincinnati, with
party of young biologists. have spent some
time in examining the geology and mineralOgy of
the mountain and surrounding country, and
have found it of the greatest interest Pill
grims from all sections are visiting this ''Land
of the Sky" which, within few years, when its
glOries become known, is destined to be one of
the greatest summer health resorts of the United
States. PARATUS.