Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-08-02
THE GREAT NATURAL BRIDGE.
Description OF Recent Visit by
Charles Dudley Warner


dull waste of our old school geography
the interest in it being heightened by
its association with Washington and
Jefferson, and the wonderful climb
ing-exploit narrated by Elihu Burritt
was of the National bridge The
writer is glad to be able to report for
himself, that visit to it did not dispel
a simple boyish illusion, and to CON
fess that pictures utterly fail to give
any adequate idea of the noble beauty
of the region, of which it is only one
of the attractions. We left the rail
way at way-statiOn, one sparkling
exhilarating morning, and mounted
the top of a coach for the drive of
three and half miles. The road, ris-
ing and descending, follows a small
stream through cultivated hills, up a
gradual ascent that at length brought
us to an elevation of about /, 900 feet
above tide-water Here in a slight
depression among the hills, but com
handing on extensive view, are the
clustered buildings or the old and
now hotel, capable of accommodating
three hundred guests. Above the
hotel on one side is the splendidly
wooded Mount Lincoln, ank on the
other the open summit of Mount JEFF
ferson, from both of which the pros
poets is very extensive. A road cross
ing the stream before the hotel as
cends a slight hill and passes over the
bridge, which is not visible from this
point. The roadway IS ninety feet
wide, and protected by low bushes
and evergreens on each side, so that
the travellers could pass over it with
out seeing it, though the chasm is
visible on either side.
The bridge is, in fact, thrown over
a narrow, deep chasm, something like
mile in length We descended to it
by steep path III the forest, passing
on our way a very pretty cascade,
and two of probably the largest arbol-
vitae trees in the world. Both are
superb veterans, futed and twisted,
with branches broken and beaten in
the storms Of centuries and the larger
has a circumference of eighteen feet.
Their age IS estimated at fifteen hun
bred years Reaching the bottom of
the ravine, we came to the rocky bed
Of another stream, clear and shallow,
and turning to the right the gagantic
arch burst upon our sight, giving us a
genuine shock of surprise 1t is SO
massive, SO high, so shapely, the abut-
ments rise SO solidly and spring into
the noble arch with such grace and
power! We were not prepared for it's
majesty The impression deepens as
we advanced and stand under it.
Through the arch is the blue sky, over
the top is the blue sky, great trees try
IN vain to reach up to it, bushes and
vines drape and soften its outlines, but
do not conceal its rugged massiyeness.
1t IS still III the ravine, save for the
gentle flow Of the stream, and the
bridge seems as much an emblem of
silence and eternity as the pyramids.
4 description says that it is wide
enough to span. Broadway and high
enough to throw shadow over the
spire of Trinity church Its span is,
| believe, about sixty feet, and its
height, including the thickness of the
arch, is 215l The arch is quite regu-
lar, and both arch and abutments are
smooth as if cut with a chisel On
one side, about twenty-five feet above
the stream, are natural tablets or
smooth surfaces, upon which are cut
and scratched with sharp instruments
hundreds of names. Among them is
that Of George Washington. To as
cend to this place seems a perilous and
almost impossible feat. To reach it
up the smooth rock from below is inn
possible. 1t was gained by working
along by the side, where certain inc
ious holding. I confess that this ex-
plot gave me a new feeling about the
father of his country, as [ saw him in
imagination, IN his stocking feet,
clinging by his fngernails and eye
lids, working along that perpendicu-
lar ledge, risking his life to carve in
an inaccessible place his immortal
name. But then he was not the faith
er of his country when he did it. On
the opposite face are names also. and
very high up is the very slight ledge
which Henry Piper, the student Bur
rift has immortalized, attained in 1918
and from which he rescued himself
by an almost incredible feat of climb
ing
The rock of the bridge and of the
jutting above is a superb study of
color, scarcely equalled in any rock
color [ know for variety and beauty
of tone. But one singular freak de
serves special mention.
Exactly over head, ON the highest
spring Of the arch is a gigantic spread
eagle 1t is the eagle of our coat of
arms. The head, the spread wings,
the claws with the arrows are all per
feet. 1t seems to be formed by dis
coloration of the rock rather than by
llchen. However it is made-an1 it
could not be more striking if it were
painted-it is ancient The French
engineers who made a survey and
measurement of the bridge during the
Revolutionary war, and noticed it with
wonder, and in their printed report
they drew from it a happy augury of
the success of the Americans in the
struggle. What makes the figure it
self more remarkable, is that discol-
ored patch under it is a very fair rep
resentation Of a crouching lion-Let-