Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-23
A City of Dazzling Lights and
Sombre Shades.
THE RESTING PLACE OF HEROES
A visit to tho Graves OF Those Whose
Blood Bought the Victories of
Chicamauga and Mis-.
sionary Ridge.
In rennessce's Metropolis.

drops you down into tho dark aud gloomy
valley OF vice and crime. Chattanooga is
lighted entirely with electricity. Arc lights
suspended from the crossar OF tall poles
planted promiscuously over the whole city
involuntarilv recall to my mind tho story
related in the bible when the Egyptians were
enveloped in darkness so dense that IT could
be cut into slices, while Moses and the He
brew children were ENJOYING the br yht rays
OF tropical sunlight The effect Of this sys-
TEN of lighting is to diffuse intense light and
dense darkness alternately in gre 1t patches.
From the high ridge back of the business
center the view of Chattanooga and the sur
rounding country is simply superb. The
Tennessee river, winding like silver ribbon
in serpeutine folds through the valley The
crags and cliffs on Lookout mount tain tower
ing two thousand feet above the river, IL
Illuminated by lamps that swing above the
LOOKOUT point hotel. The church steepes
and the turrets and towers on prominent
buildings, all combine to make this one of the
most picturesque views that can possibly be
imagined. Add to this a background of ter
raced lawns and battlements surrounding
eastellated residences tnat have been built
on the ridge by the nabobs of Chattanooga,
and the picture has very fitting frame.
Descend from this eminence down into
the busy marts of what is here called the
'Plucky City" of the south. and the scene
shifts from the sublime to the disgusting
The streets are illlcd with a motley crowd,
largely composed of oolored men, who are
everywhere in the south streaming into the
Cities which afford them abundant scope for
ndulgl ng in dissipation, The doors of the
dives and dens are wide open. Above the
din, shout, and bolsterous laughter is heard
the stunning of the banjo and the rattle of
the dice and poker chips. Gambling and
carousing appears to be going on everywhere,
undlsturbed by the police who are patrolling
the streets.
In less than one hour passed from forty
to fifty of these dens of vice and crime,
where negroes, packed like sardinos, were
tndnlging in their orgies. Many of these
places were dance houses, in which both
sexes were engaged in a round Of debasing
iollity. Scattered here and there between
these resorts were laundries, where John
Chinaman, undis turbed and undismayed
kept on squirting water on the
''biled" shirt front, which was being
made ready for tho fastldious white man.
Chattanooga has grown from mere village
Of 5000, when mad last seen her, to a city
of over 10000 population, and her gr owth
has only just begun. The principal business
streets, broad, well paved and compacty
built will compare favorably with those of
any western city of equal population. There
are at least half dozen six-story blocks
with stone brick, iron and plate glass fronts
There are several first class hotels, one of
them at least larger than any in Omaha
a q a nr1r O Oru fanf in,
promoting the rapid growth of the city.
Industry is the chief source of wealth and
expanso n. There are glass factories, iron
foundrles, tanneries, furniture factories and
quite number of industrial concerns that
employ large numbers of workmen
Early in the morning I took the street car
for the most conspicuous Of all places around
Chattanooga mountain. In twenty
of the incline railway. My ascent of Look
out mountain in 1860 was made on foot
There was tedious carriage ride by which
tourists were taken up at 81 per trip, over
very precipitous and tortuous road Now
found there were two different modes of
conveyance to the top the broad
guage railroad, which winds around
the mountains from its base in nigh grade
which runs straight up the mountain on a
double cable distance of one and one-quar-
ter miles. This inclined road, planned and
built under the immediate supervision of
Colonel W. II. King, of the regular army, is
a marvellous piece of engineering. The aver
age grade of tins cable railway is $50 feet to
the mile and the sharpest grade thirty three
feet to the hundred. The car is very much
like IN old fashinn at al cd = io Il
up the passenger looking down finds himself
rising above preciplces and crags that make
him dizzy. Midway between the base and
the summit is the meeting point for the de-
scending car. In few minutes we reached
the upper terminus OF the line adjoining the
verandah of Lookout Point hotel. This
hotel stands within seventy-fve feet of the
summit of the mountain. From its balconies
the grandest OF bird's-eye views extend into
six states besides Tennessee, viz, Georgia,
Alabama, North and South Carolina, Vlr-
ginia and Kentucky. Just below is the
ground on which gallant Joe Hooker fought
the famous battle above the clouds. A little
beyond the Tennessee flows around the
famous Moccasin bend. The head
quarters Of General Grant, the BATTLE
fields Of Missionary Ridge and Chicamaugua,
Bragg's headquarters on the ridge, Browns
ferry, Rossvllle Gap, Fort Wood Fort Neg
ley, the National cemetery, Stone fort aud
the city of Chattanooga are IN sight always
providing that the sun shines clear and un-
obscured in the horizon. On this particular
morning there were clouds between the
mountain and the city, and very dense
mist above the Tennessee river Now L
could realize fully how it was possible TO
fight battle above the clouds. Being very
familiar with the topography of the river and
the mountaiu. / always have been dazed at
the idea OF scaling the rocks and cliffs that
rise perpendIcuarly several hundred feet on
the side OF the river in the face of an oppos-
ing army. This afternoon met veteran
who was there with Hooker aud he explained
how the first foothold on the top was gained
with the aid Of rope ladders. II is also ap,
parent that the confeds must heve been
taken by surprise at the sudden appearance
of union troops in a position as impregnable
almost as the British forts at Quebec and
Gibralter.
by 10 o'clock | was back at Chattanooga
and mounting one OF the electric motor cars,
l started for Mission Ridge in sight and
about four miles distant. The electric rail-
way that leads TO Mission Ridge has just
been Completed and runs over very nigh
grades as easily as cable car. The grades