The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-08-31
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TYPICAL
SOUTHERN HEALTH RESORT.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TYPICAL
SOUTHERN HEALTH RESORT.
Its Characteristics in Former Times
Situation of the Springs-The
Hotel and Cottages.
Charles Dudley Warner gives in Har-
per's Magazine, the following entertain
ing description of the White Sulphur
Springs, the well-known Virginia health
resort:
The White Sulphur has been for the
better part of q century, as everybody
knows, the typical Southern resort, the
rendezvous of all that was most char
acteristic in the society of the whole
South, the meeting-place of it's politi-
clans, the haunt of its bellies. the arena
of gayety, intrigue and fashion. If
tradition is to be believed, here in years
gone by were eoncocted tho measures
that were subsequently deployed for the
Government Of the country at Washing
ton, here historic matches were made,
here beauty had triumphs that were the
talk of a generation, here hearts were
broken Mt a ball and mended in Lovers
Walk, ana here fortunes were nightly
| lost and won. It must nave been in its
material conditions a primitive place in
the days of its greatest fame. Visitors.
came to it in their carriages and unwieldy'
four-horse chariots, attended by troops
of servants, making slow but most en-
joyable pilgrimages over the mountain
roads, journeys hat lasted a week or 8.
fortnight, and were every day enlivened.
by jovIal adventure. They came for the
season. Thep were all of one social order,
n needed no introduction; those from
Virginia were all related to each other,
and though life there was somewhat
in the nature of a picnic, it had it's
very we'll defined and ce~remonious code
Of etiquette. In the memory of it's old
habituc; !. was at once the freest and
the most aristoc. ATTIC assembly in the
world. The h tel was small and its ar
r~angcmcn:s primitive; a good many of
the visitors ia | their own cottages, and
the rows of those cheap structures took
their names iron their occupants. The
Southern Presidents. the Senators and
statesmen, the rich planters, lived in cot
tagcs which still havc Il historic interest
in their memory. But cottage life WAS
never the exclusive affair that it is else
where; the society WIS one body, and the
ho:el was the center.
Time has greatly changed the White
Sulphur; doubtless in its physical aspect
it never was SO beautiful and attractive
as it is to-day, but all the modern i'm
provements have not destroyed the char
acter Of the resort, which possesses u
great many of its primitive and old-time
pecnliavities.
Briefly, the White is in an elevated and
charming mountain region. so cool, in
fact, especially at night. that the
''season" is practically limited to July
and August, although I am not sure but
q quiet person, who likes ~invigorasing
air, and has nc daughters to marry off,
would find it equally attractive in Sep
TENDER and October, when the autumn
ing interval. planted with noble trees
and fankcd by moderate hills, stands the
vast white caravansary, having wide gal
leries and big pillars running round three
sides. The front and two sides are ele-
waited, the galleries being reached by
flights Of steps, and affording room un-
de-neath for the large billiard and
bar rooms. From the hotel the
ground slopes down to the
spring, which is surmounted by q
round canopy on white columns, and be-
low is an opening across the stream to
the race-track, the servants quarters, and
a fine view of rsceding hills. Three sides
of this charming park are enclosed by the
cottages and cabins, which back against
the hills, and are more or less empowered
in trees. Most of these cottages are built
in blocks and rows. some single rooms,
Others large enough to accommodate q
family, but all reached by flights of steps,
all with verandas, and most of them con-
nected by galleries. Occasionally the
forest trees have been left, and the gal
leries built around them. Included in
the premises are two churches, a gam
playhouse, a couple of country stores,
and a postothce. There are none of the
shops common at watering places for the
sale of fancy articles, and, strange to say,
flowers are not systematically cultiva-
ted, and very few are ever to be had. The
hotel has a vast dining-room, besides the
minor eating-rooms for children and
nurses. a large ballroom, and a drawing:
room of imposing dimensions. Hotel
and cottages together, it is said, can lodge
fifteen hundred guestf. The natural
beauty of the Lace il very great. and
fortunately there is not much smart and
fantastic architecture to interfere with 1t.
Treatment Of Sunstrokc
In the management of cases of sun.
stroke it is important to remember that
patients suffering from severe attacks
sink very rapidly; therefore, no time