The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-12-15

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mountain side, will be covered ultimate
f ly with dense forest, intersected by
: drives, with deer park and shooting pre-
serves. But leaving the men at their
work, horse and rider continued on the
same road until a lumber road was
struck on the right, which led abruptly
up the steep mountain passing severa
quarries which had been uncovered with
out any farther prosecution of the work
The celebrated lone pine was left behind
on the left with its bare branches, stand
ing like an evil demon warning the intru
der not to pry into Vanderbilts secrets
Regardless of its silent admonition, We
skirted around to the right and over the
brow of the mountain. There burst upon
us scene of life and activity which was
perfectly marvellous in this seemingly
barren and deserted wilderness. Fifty
teams were at work hauling away the
earth, and men were industriously dig
ging away the top soil from eight acres
OF land and loading it into the carts,
which carried it to a large dump on the
hillside above Here the rich ground
which had been removed. formed a mound
200 feet long and from 20 to 10 feet
deep. Several acres of clay had been laid
bare, which were as hard as a road from
the constant passing and rcpassing OF
the teams. Trees had been cut down
and the Stumps were being taken out.
All the clay will be removed to a depth
of twenty feet and a plateau will be
formed, with a gradual slope to the low
lands below. Then the top soil will be
replaced and the grounds about the
house laid out according to the taste OF
the landscape gardener. The house with
a length of 300 feet, will face the French
| Broad, with the hill at its back, covered
with large trees. To the right, as YOU
face the river, can be seen Ashcvile deln-
Gated as if by the pen of draughtsman,
while in front and to the left the French
| Broad winds in and out, now in a broad
expanse of water, then disappearing
only to reappcar again until it stretches
out in the distance like small white
thread. The surrounding mountains
form a vast circle of which Vanderbilt's s
palace will be the centre, and it seems as
If one was i'll the centre of a huge crater,
whose jagged edges cut the horizon in
every direction.
To the left and foot of the prominence,
on which the house is located, bride
path ran through ravine to an old farm
house, which is used as a stable for the
various teams employed 1t sweeps past
this along the bottom of the ravine, and
threads its way in and out of the trees
until it ends on the edge of small pond,
in the centre Of which the surveyors have
erected large pole surmounted with a
flag.
Here an artificial lake will be made,
about two hundred yards or more dis
tant from the house. The water will be
obtained from the springs which lie near
by, and the brooks will contribute their
quota towards the formation of beau
tiful sheet of water, with its waves lap
ping the bounding slopes on both sides
of the ravine. When nature is thus fore
stalled, no prettier sight could be imag-
ined than this little, hidden, new born crys-
tallake will present, when viewed from the
house, as it sparklcs and CLEANS through
the interlacing foliage of the surrounding
trees.
Along the crests of the encircling hills
are herds of cattle, guarded by a small
boy on Texas pony, which Vanderbilt
has grazing on his land, in accordance
with an arrangement, by which he is Sc
curing cattle to pasture on the impover-
iShed soil of his property
The amount Of money expended on i'm
proving the grounds and building the
mansion will be from $4,000, 900 to So
600, 900 and that part in the vicinity OF
the house will be finished in year, while
the entire work will take from four to
five years. The uuskilled labor will be
taken from Asheville, while the skilled
mechanics and artisans will be secured
in the North and brought here. Machin
cry will be used as much as possible, and
IN the construction of the roads, etc,
steam drills, rollers, Crushcrs, etc, will
be employed. Vanderbilt proposes to
erect plant soon for the manufacture
Of his own brick, which is now being
supplied to him by Mr.. L. A. Farinholt,
the real estate man, whose brick works
are conveniently located at the Junction.
On the return home as we rode slowly
along, looking at those acres and acres
of uncultiYatcd farm land, with houses
standing untcnanted save here and there
where a faint blue curl of smoke BETRAYED
workmen, a feeling of loneliness stole
over us and both horse and rider would
have been cheercd by the sound OF even a
dog barking or black picaninny running
after us asking for penny. But all was
silent and lonely, a deserted village, which
will years hence be covered by the forest,
which the white man won years ago
from the Indian, and clearing off the tim
Der, converted into good arabic farm
land after many years of hard toll and
labor. 1t was with a sense of relief that
we left the oppressive stiffness behind,
and while the wind in wild gusts seemed
to be chanting a soft, sad requiem. we