The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-03-17


through the opposing mountains that
now tower up in rugged strength and
granduer, above them, as monuments
OF their power, and attractions for
those who admire natures grand
scenic effects, with the massive and
picturesque combination of rock and
river, forest and field, that distin-
guishes so many of the Ominpotent
Artists masterpieces. Here the
spirit Of the past and the genius of
the present meet and mingle, where
the quaint little village--that seems
to have been transplanted from
Europe nestles amid it's giant hills,
and listens to, the shrill shrek Of the
locomotive. the rush Of steam, and
all those but familiar sounds of this
nineteenth century; the river raging
and chanting it's grand anthem eter-
nally among it's obstructive rocks
and boulders, while crags and peaks
take up the deep voiced chorus and
sport with it's flying echoes. Old,
Weatherworn, Anticipated houses greet
the eye on every hand; perched on
rocky sleeps, and rising in terraces
one above the other so that men can
look down upon their next neighbours
house-roof even from their own eel
lar doors, while many Christian near
by, lives nearer the heaven he seeks
than the spire of the church next
at which he WOrships.
Standing upon the highest point of
the Bolivar Heights the scene is
simply magnificent; and the man who
can survey the picture here presented
without admiration, must be soulless
as mole and hOpelessly unimpression-
able. Below, and almost at his feet,
the rows of houses wind around the
base of the precipitous cliffs, or cling
like martins nests to their steep and
rocky sides. Just beyond-upon the
level at the river side--the armory
grounds, and the skelentoniZed ruins
OF the old armory buildings come
prominently into view; while the B. &
Q. 4. r. winds like a serpent along
their outer edge, and near by. but be-
You'd, the POtamac river sparkles in
the sunshine, and dashes impetuously
over or around the thousands of huge
rocks and massive boulders that
obstruct it's channel, it's loud and
angry vOicings softened by the
elevation and distance into q musical
murmur. Rising from its centre is to
be seen that little island made men,
Orable by the desperate defense OF
five insurgents at the time of the John
Brown raid; and farther up the
river the emerald expense of Island
Park, where art has combined with
nature to beautify it's broad acres until
it has become a veritable gem, dotted
with pavilions, pagodas. and winding
walks that weave their wildwood ways
in mysterious but attractive patterns
among the trees and clustering vines
that weight the giant water elms with
their wealth of leafy treasure.
Just to our right is the plain little
engine house on which is painted in
large letters, ''John Browns Fort
Across the watery way in Maryland
heights rise up and up into the skies
even to their lofty sum-
mits-and looking down from cloud
capped elevations upon the river and
town below, along it's broad base
the canal winds it's broad ribbon of
silver in the sun rays; while the over
hanging cliffs catch the soft notes of
the boatman's bugle, to repeat them
again and again ere they die family
in the distance.
Upon the other side of the rocky
peninsula upon which the town is
built, the Loudoun heights frown
darkly at their neighbors across the
immense gorge, while white or gray
rocks stand out in rugged relief from
trim
clothe them like a garment. Every
where huge buttresses Of gray stone
project toward the river. immense
brackets, gray and grand. reach out at
strange angles into the air, or irregular
plnnacles tower upward into the skies
at dizzy elevations of from seven to
nine hundred feet above. White
washed cottages nestle in the shadows
at their bases, and the roadway-wind-
ing and white-creeps by gentle
stages toward their SUBMITS. Every
where are ferns and MOSES and cling
ing plants and vines; some of the
castellated rocks being completely
hidden by the clustering masses of the
beautiful Virginia creeper and it's
kindred plants; while rhododendrons
cover acres of surface, and rock plants
wave their graceful plumes from
every crack and crevice.
Seen in the springtime, when the
laurels cover them with bloom and
beauty, or in October, when the pencil
Of the autumn elves have moulded
them into magic, these heights are
beautiful beyond description, and
seem more like an artists dream than
a solid and very substantial reality.
Here the blue Shenandoah answers
the murmurs of the Potomac as it
tumbles recklessly over innumerable
little cascades, and rushes with glad
cries into the eager arms of the
greater river, where they widen into
a broad stream and surge together
toward the great ocean not far away.
Along this river, too, the railroad
winds, and crosses no less than seven
bridges ere it vanishes around the
bend about two miles above.
Down the Potomac the view is still