Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1883-09-01
ON THE WING.
Special Correspondence Independent.


w. VA, August &c, 1883. You
would hardly expectyour Bunker
Hill letter to come fromth noun
tains OF southwestern Virginia,
but such is the fact. that sudden
freak of nature, has picked me up,
as Ii were, and borne me from the
home of my childhood, and cast
me upon the rugged hills of Grant
County, from which place | am
glad that the opportunity presents
itselfto commune with yonr wide
spread columns. /. in company
with Capt. Geo. w. Lamon, left
Bunker Hillo Tuesday 2lst inst,
to roam the fields of speculation,
and to acquaintl ourselves with
the manner aud customs of our
neighbors, as well as to see a coun-
try to which we were perfect
strangers. Our first days drive
elected nothing OF special interest.
The country over which we passed
in comeing from our homes to Ca
capon Bridge, along the north
western road is too we'll known by
the majority of your readers to
need any de.crip,ion, but IN this
day Of speedy travel by railroad.
The rest of our journey would fur.
nish material for volum =. If | on
" felt in a good hunor for enlarg-
ing upon the many funny thugs
which has attracted my attention.
TIE object of our trip Is merely a
business one, which does not In
the least interfere with one indul-
geBce i'm feasting our eyes ard
gratifying our curiosity, az we pass
along From Cacapon Bridgs we
struck up the river by that name
10 WardensviIle, in Hardy Coun-
ty, aud, although WAS born and
raised beneath the shadow Of
mountains, l never enjoyed the
romantic pleasures Of mountain
scenery until now. Whilst we
were shaded by towering hills on
he one side we were famed by
the balmy breezes from the limpid
stream on the other; aud altho ugh
the distance was % miles il was
seemingly a short and pleasant
ride. The sand, which Ia the nat
ural soil of the region, was deep,
and bore somewhat the rcsem D.
lance of snow, was sIavish for a
horse, but no sitting dust. which
arises from our clay grounds, in
terfered with US. When we arri-
we'd at Wardensville we found a
campmeeting in progress under
the auspices Of the M. l.. Church
South; but am glad to say where
no north,no south was known; sew
eral ministers of the northern fac
tomb eing present and officiating ;
among whom / found Rev. w.
Anderson who administered SO
faithfully to the people Of Bunker
Hillsome 10 years ago. Our meet
ing was mutually pleasant. and
my regrets are sincere when | say
that | was sorry thatou business
compelled us to move on, Early
on the morning of the 23td we
struck up Sandy Ridge and cross
ed over to the Lost River valley.
Ga this side our attention was at
tracted by fine bridge spanning
a dry creek, and upon inquiring
ascertained we were at Lost River
aud at the very place where it
loses itself. Hundreds of your
readers | dare say are entirely ig-
norant of the history of this won
derfu freak of nature. This
stream chooses to hide itself be-
meath that massive mountain, San
dy Ridge found aiongits banks
near the bed of the stream innum-
cradle holes similar in comparison
to strainer in which the water en-
tiers at the base of the mountain and
finds its way to the eastern side Ia
distance of two miles) where it a.
gain energies in sparkling ripples
and forms what is called Great Ca
capon. There is very little farm
ing done in this section, in fact, the
the land is in such a shape that
they cant do tiff it was all spread
out they would have plenty of
land. Occasionally we would
come to a little level when we
would see few cattle, but could
very seldom get glimpse OF a
sheep ; the very thing we were
looking for. We could hear of