The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-05-13

OF X STATES RENDBZso FOR
NoRTHERN HEALTH->ETk Frs.
The DAVIS Hotel, it, Management and
ITS >Patrons--Other Enterprises in and
About kIttTeIl.


hITrKELI. \. G.. Nav : s-Tweuty i've
years '.go when the then famous kittreIl
Springs was considered a pauacea for all
alls, and when an evening spent among
the gay visitors at the Springs Hotel was
+ equally effective in aggravated cure. Of
! blues and despondency, the pleasure seek
I crS and health seekers throughout the
/ state came here for rest, health and pleas
/ ure. few years later the hitherto health
! laden breeZes heard rumors Of war. clouds
! Of conflict gathered over the picturesque
| grounds jars of sectional strife closed the
/ doors of the famous hotel and kittrell
! Springs, like many other Southern resorts.
/ began to waste Brars and brambles
/ Sprang up about the beautiful lawns.
/ hinges gave way and roofs decayed. Con
! tlnuous rams washed the sands from the
! adjoining hills down into the little
! spring valley until through high sand
! banks the water had to ooze before il
reached the surface. After the war the
! grasses sprung up as usual, the yineclad
arbors donned their summer green, the
mlStletoe cung about the oaks as before
! but klttrell was never itself again. A few
! feeble efforts call efforts then were feeble)
! were made To revive it but without avail
In 1866 Col. Washington F Davis, at
| that time proprietor of the Winthrop
| House, Boston, Mass, came to kittrel
with his dogs and gun to spend few days
in hunting for quail deer and other game
that was then so plentiful. The mild eli
mate, the beautiful situation, the pictur-
esque surroundings attracted him. After
few weeks sOlourn he had not only bagged
| considerable game, but he had recuperated
in health and felt almost like new man
If this place does all this for me- Col
| Davis said to himself, it will do the same
| for others, and there are thousands of
broken down men up in the bleak blizzard
I North who, whether they come or not,
ought to come here to spend the winter
| | will stop here myself and invite them to
come down and be healed. He bought IA
sight near the railroad station, on which
was a house with thirteen rooms He re-
furnished it, made it home-like ard com
Portable. The following winter every room
was occupied and many remained away
| for lack of accommodation. Since then
Col. Davis has added improvement after
| improvement to his hotel until he has
| made one of the most unique and attrac-
tive resorts to be found anywhere in the
South. His hotel is a model of beauty,
| cheerfulness and convenient arrangement.
A wide piazza 800 feet long enclosed in
glass, stretches around the hotel i'll which
| there is conservatory. Flowers bloom
vines twne themselves about and form
green arches, under which promenade the
enchanted guests. The hotel now has 60
large well furnished and well ventilated
rooms. In each of them during the win
ter in a large open fireplace cheerful
wood fire blazes. The Office, the parlors,
the dining hall and a beautiful little thea
trlcal hall all open into each other, and
when winter winds are whispering outside
from dozen visible fireplaces present
picture that is enchanting, especially to
those who never see the fire but get whiffs
of heat through registers and unsightly
| heaters The country about kittrellS has
achieved a wide reputation as a hunting
ground and many sporting men come
hither with dogs and guns to engage in
this fascinating pleasure. Thousands Of
quail each year wing their last flight as
they rise up in front of the alert hunter.
| Many turkeys, squirrels, rabbits and other
game also share the fate of the quail.
Davis excels. His guests comprise class
of people who want the best Of everything
and who are not only willing but able to
pay for it. He has an established scale of
prices regulated according to the room
selected, and whether man stays day,
a week month or a whole year he pays
the same per day. The proprietor has
never found it necessary to advertise
every man that comes here when he goes
away becomes a walking advertisement
for the place. Many of the very best peo-
Pile of Boston and other Northern cities
come every Winter, and when they come
again Gas they always do) they bring their
friends or as many of them as Col Davis
can accommodate. They are z. nerally
people of considerable means ladies and
gentlemen of high social standing, liberal
in their expenditures, chaste and refined
in their manners, aesthetic (many of them
in their tastes and enthusiastic admirers
of the picturesque hills, the majestic pines
and the winding little streams to be seen
in every direction from the hotel They
| become acquainted with the people of the
town, spend evenings with them and dur
ing the season make the little village gay
and Joyous. Many of them have ideas
that are, if not amusing, at least interest
ing to the villagers
When early Spring carpets the lawns
: with pretty green and bids roses and hon
} eysuckles bloom on hill and valley, many
of them spend day after day sketchin9
nature and drawing landscapes to take
back with them to their icy homes Low
ers of science are among them who study
the habits of birds and insects the bud
: ding of trees and the blooming of roses
from scientific standpoints. one studio;
, the feathered warblers as with sprigs il
their mouths they coo with each other anC
fit from limb to limb and sing Tit will
low, tit willow, tit willow" He sketche!
them as they build their nests and enrol:
: their names on bird roster.
+; Others make bugology a study. The TIM
1 est insect does not escape their scientific
f scrutiny and very amusing incidents some
! times happens. y few days ago, for in
Z stance, a gentleman spied a wounded wasl
. making his way across the lawn Curlos
. ity and sympathy at once lit up the coun
. tenance of the gentleman who reached
e down and gently took up and began t.
: fondle and study his waspship. The rec
o winged hot footed native of the brie
patch at first seemed to appreciate the III
; terest manifested, but he wasn't inclined
y to submit to IA very close scientific investi
x CATION, and within just about three sec
: onds the half dozen spectators near b
J. were moved to roaring laughter by tn
: elasticity with which the bugologist turne
Y loose the wasp, and the nimbleness of hi
v fingers and hand for the next few moments
One amateur artist has been, for til
past two months, sketching a single pine
= Every day with his pencil and placque an
b;S fo1J,ro chair he froaS ont nd ~