Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-07-23


of my own | know no place where
would 50 willingly leave them.
Sewanee, July1S, '8l. ID. f. w.
QuiIibet among the Attractions
OF 'sThe Future Great"
EDITOR OF CHRONICLE From
among the many places of interest
in and about st. Louis I select three
Tower Grove Park, Shaw's Gar
den and the Geological Gardens.
/ The former is six miles from the
center Of the city, aud may be
reached by street ears for a nickel.
Cheap travelling this, and highly il
Illustrative Of modern enterprise. II
street car companies can profitably
scarrY at less than one cent per mile,
! why should not railroad cornpan-
les ait much lower rates than the
| present Should railroading be-
come thus cheap, what a nation of
travellers we would be. Stores of
knowledge, authropological, geolog-
Ical, geological land any other kind
of ''logicar' you may desire), would
be. gathered at first hand rather
than from books. But to return to
sDur subjects.
Tower Grove Park is a tract aof
three hundred acres odd, originally
owned by Henry Shaw, and donat-
ed by him to the city pro bono pub
.Iico. Large sums of money have
been spent in laying it off and
stocking it with trees, shrubs, flow
ers, etc. The carriage drives are
broad, hard and smooth, and ira
verse the grounds in ali directions.
Besides these, are the more modest,
and yet more pleasing, foot paths
for pedestrians, leading off into Sc
questered and heavily wooded parts
of the Park; or, perhaps, to some
quiet arbor or spring. One cannot
remain long in this noble Park, en-
! joying its grassy lawns, its beauti-
full shade, its pure air and its sooth-
ing quiet, without feeling the force
of Cowper's celebrated thought that
imam made the city while God
made the country"
Among the trees, including, it
would seem, every variety known
TO this latitude, became interested
most in the White Birch. Imagine
Il tree of the most perfect proper
ton, neither too tall nor too short
for comeliness; picture its trunk
and branches covered with chalk
white bark, relieved here and there
by dark knots; fancy, furthermore,
its heavy foliage, every leaf of
which is most delicately and elabo-
rately fashioned, and you will have
some idea Of this noted tree, out of
whose bark generations ago the In
dian made his birch canoe.
There are two remarkable statues
in this Park-the first, of "the great
est traveller of ancient or modem
times" the second, OF "the man
who lived for every age" Do you
ask their names Humboldt and
Shakespeare. AS one gazes on
these monuments of bronze and
feels that he communes with these
illustriOus minds, he turns from
them stimulated to make greater
exertions for his race.
Shaw's Garden is an enclosure of
forty-five acres, adjoining the Park,
owned by the gentleman whose
name it bears. At his death it goes
to the city. 1 suppose that it would
not be exaggerating to say that it
is the most complete collection of
botanical specimens in America;
moderately valued, il exceeds two
millions of dollars l am told. The
exceeding variety and richness of
nature are here marvelOusly dis
played; SO much SO, that am dis
couraged from making any effort to
tell its wonders. Here are collected
and are seen growing large varie-
ty of plants, shrubs and trees of
both temperate and torrid zones,
the skill of man being sufficient to
surround foreign plants with every
thing they need for their health
and vigor. Thus we have a
glimpse of the tropical world side
by side with our own; miniature
world upon few acres.
The Geological Gardens, however,
pleased me most, for interesting as
is botany, zoology is more SO. AT |
these gardens very large collec-
ton of animals are TO be seen. No |
half dozen of the largest shows COM
bined would probably have so
many. One is struck with their
remarkably healthy condition and
appearance. went on quietly adj
miring and studying these creatures,
presenting such varied forms and
habits, until l found myself before
the bears quarters. There / was
peculiarly impressed, for bear,
Mr.. Editor, is a happy, good-na-
tured, rollicking animal. Time,
with him, seems to be too precious
for him to lose a moment, conse-
quently he is always on the go.
Like a farmers boy, he has a
strange aptitude for mingling BUSH
ness. with fun. He can't thorough
ly enjoy his own dinner without
stealing from his neighbor.
The lions, tigers and hyenas are
gloomy and sullen, but the bear
takes his bondage kindly and you
do not think of him as a captive. |
found some of them performing
feats of "lofty and ground" tumbl-
ing. For the former purpose a
large tree, shorn of its smaller
branches, has been firmly planted
in the ground. These clumsy-look- |
ing fellows troll up, tumble up, any
4. NI,,Nv