Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-06-11
FRENCH GREEK FALLS.
An Excursion Party Visits the
Picturesque Plnce-Its Mines of
Wealth.

An Excursion Party Visits the
Picturesque Place-Its Mines of
Wealth.
The excursion given Tuesday by the
| Wilmington d Northern Railroad COM
pany to the Falls of French Creek was
enjoyed by about $50 people, including
number from this city and delegations
from West Chester. Coatesville and
| Waynesburg, Pa. The train of four pas
senRer coaches started from the p, W. a.
| B. railroad station at 7.30 o'clock, and
ran with but few stops to take up ex-
cursionists, to its destination in about
| two hours and a-half.
The Falls of French Creek are reached
by branch line of rails diverging from
the main track of the Wilmington a.
| Northern railroad at Springfield and
making northeasterly course of six
miles to the bnse of a spur of the Welsh
| Mountains, series of ambitious hills
which have gained some prominence be-
cause of the safe hiding from the officers
| they offered Abe Buzzard, the notorious
outlaw. Through heavily wooded valley
the French creek, typical Pennsylvania
| mountain stream, leaps and dances among
the rocks and crags, ut places beating
itself into foam, and again forming into
deep, placid pools, showing variety of
bright pebbles, through the cold, color
less liquid. The falls themselves, which
| give the name to the place, are in the
| midst of the wood, and are formed by the
stream rushing its way among mass of
| granite boulders with much force and
velocity. II is a decidedly picturesque
| spot-a gem of natural cenery-bringing
its features of wildness and weirdness
into exquisite harmony.
About the falls the scenery is very at
tractive. On the upper bank of the ravine
kreat blocks of grey granite lay upon the
grounds, or are stacked in piles up its
precipitous sides. A violent convulsion
of nature in the remote past seems to
have lifted the boulders and left them in
the most unlikely positions. Great blocks
of the stone weighing hundreds of tons
lie seemingly loose and finely balanced
upon smaller block, at u sharp declining
angle, and seem as il q strong gust of air
would send them laundering down the
steep hill side, but they have rested for
ages in their positions and probably will
not be dislodged until the drill splits
| them into slabs. The weirdness and
wildness of the scenery is quite
enchanting, and standing amid the great
group of rocks it almost seems as if they
took strange shapes, and one can quite
lead himself into the delusion that he is
in the presence of great aggregation of
mastodons, gigantic bears, mammoth
seals; nearly every geological specimen in
an exaggerated form. Vegetation is by
no means impeded among the vast beds
of granite, and the whole surface is COW
cred with growth of strong forest trees.
| lao Ia
directly through the boulders, seemingly
to stealthily force their way through the
smallest creviGe, and then develop into
large trunks. Nature has performed this
work SO artistically in many instances that
il is almost impossible to detect where the
| tree roots gain an earth hold for their
sustenance. On the face of the rocks
many tourists have inscribed their names
with drill or paint, and many of the
boulders bear resemblance to an auto
graphic collection. Among the hero
| glyphics painted on stone can be dis
ciphered 'Irinity Choir of Wilmington,
| Delaware" and close by ON o block OF
granite, washed on all sides by the cold
spring wuter of French creek, can be
read &C. b. Rhoads, Wilmington, Del"
One of the excursionists was anxious TO
place "Mayor" before the name, but til
want of chalk prevented the prefix from
being made.
| There is u comfortable and well kept
hotel near at the Falls, looking directly
upon the mountain of granite. It is
stated that the hotel has only an eating
house license which does not allow the
| sale of spirituous liquors. whether this be
correct or not it is u significant fact that
all the names ON rocks, &C., have been
done in white, painting the rocks red,
evidently not being inspired by the
draughts furnished at the Excursion
House. ..5.. .=.....
The value of the great boulders has
never been appreciated until this year
when Yankee stone cutter hewed into
one of the rocks and discovered that it
was very fine quality of grey granite,
and the hills which were hitherto regarded
Ms IL rocky waste, promise to develop into
mines of great wealth. The stone has all
the desirable qualities of granite, will split
smooth und square in any direction and
is susceptible of high polish, and as Il
building stone it bids fair to become i'll
great demand. II can be quarried at small
expense and track being laid by
the Wilmington Il Northern Railroad
Company right into the breast of the
quarry will reduce the cost of trapsporta-
ton to II comparative small figure. The
stone is being worked into building and
Belgian blocks by party of Philadelphia
capitalists. What is regarded MS II phe-
nomenon is that no other stone of the same
kind as the granite has been found any
where i'll the neighborhood. In the stone
itself is n clever exemplificatiOn of the
scriptual injunction upon the point of
casting pearls before swine. "A few years ago
when the Excursion House was in building
its owner hauled stones six miles to put
up its walls. The ones used for the pur-
pose were coarse, and gave the building
such rough look that it was plastered to
improve it. All around the hotel is
enough granite to build a city, but this
was not appreciated, and while it was
necessary TO remove some of it out of the
way the builder did not think TO use any
of it in the construction of his house.
Since the discovery of the granite the
hotel proprietor shows himself as seldom
rs possible in the neighborhood, and it is
surmised that he spends his leisure in
mentally threshing himself.
After II pleasant day on the grounds and
visiting the iron ore mines and other
points of interest in the neighborhood,
the party returned home ut o'clock.
General Passenger Agent l.. A. Bower
and Superintendent A. G. McCauslnnd
accompanied the excursion and con.
tributed greatly to the pleasure and com.
fort of the trip.
THE NET FORCE.
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