The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-11-07
FROM VIRGINIA TO ARKANSAS
The "Fast Flying Virginian.

GRAND SCENES AND SPLENDID ACCOM-
MODATIoNS.
Especial correspondence to the VIRGINIAN.]
Three o'clock Thursday morning
''All aboard" shouts the conductor
hurried good-byes are said, parting hand
shakes are given, the whistle shrieks,
the bell clangs. and off we sweep south
ward bound on the "F T. y"-the most
commodious and elegant suite of rail
road cars ever constructed, sleeper draw
ing-room. dining car and day coach in
one continuous stretch, each entrance
all the seats cushioned with the most
luxurious and tasteful upholstery. The
motion of the cars is scarcely perceptible,
so swiftly and SO gently does this gigan-
tic mechanism glide forward. On and
on we whirl. leaving behind us I; great
world of darkness, until finally We
emerge into faint dawn which tips the
eastern hills just as we slow up at Cliff
ton Forge, that busy little railroad cen
tire, and also catch glimpse of Iron
Gate, the embryo mountain city. Mile
after mile we cover, meanwhile Aurora
mounts on high in her gilded chariot
and sows her golden arrows broadcast
over sea and sky. First she gathers the
tall-wreathed peaks into her rosy arms,
then laves her sunny hair in the blue
river, next leaves her trail of golden
light in the deep valley, where the
sparkle of her bright eyes warns the
dew -drenched bowers and makes glad
the heart of man. On through the sun
in sight of the healing waters of the
Warm Springs, Hot Springs, Sweet
Springs, until the tunnels which herald
the approach of the White Sulphur
Springs are reached. Their silent black
ness forms the most forcible contrast
possible to the dazzling scene which
meets the eye, when the farfamed re-
gions of the Greenbrier White Sulphur,
in all their beauty appear. The scene
is one of perpetual light and shadow,
for the grand mountains climb up into
the sunlight, and the quiet valleys nes-
tie down into the shade. and the blue
waters dance and dimple here and
there and everywhere. To these heal
ing waters fly by every train for aid, the
pleasure lover, the health-seeker, and
natures worshipper. and drawn hither
by an irresistible fascination, come old
and young, great and small, belle and
beau, in fact all who love health, beau
ty and jollity, will forever court the
White Sulphur. A few miles further on
we come upon Ronceverte, an important
logging station. Here also is the inn
mense st. Lawrence Boom and Manu-
featuring Co. Over 100000 logs daily fill
and manufactures rise up on every side
The Red Sulphur Springs next claim the
attention, and then comes Hinton, one
of the busiest towns along the railroad.
In 1873 the town was first settled, and
! now it has overrun its boundaries Here
| track after track stretches across wide
/ area, and heavily laden freight trains
run hourly both ways from Clifton Forge
to Kansas. Our attention was especially
called to a small house near the railroad,
! said to have been the third built there,
/ the owner being gentleman from Roam
oke. A brown stone quarry has recently
been discovered at Hinton, and is at
present worked by Northern eapitalits
who have constructed narrow gauge
railway threefourths of mile long, fol
the purpose of aiding transportation
IT'S here, too, that the clear, gentle wa
ters of the sunny Greenbrier mingle
and melt into the turbulent, muddy
waters of the New river and thus
welded they sweep on. forming a
ecene of singular beauty On the one
hand flows the quiet Greenbrier, on the
other rushes headlong the fitfnl, treach
erous New River, now deep, now shall
/ low, twisting here and there like the
sinuous, curving body of a dark reptile
flashing out deep and dark and trou
bled, then sinking back into AN appa
4 rently endless calm. This river is dis
tlnguished by several characteristics
which perhaps no other river in the
world possesses, viz: 1t is one of tht
three rivers in the world that flow:
north, the only one which crosses two
mountain ranges at right angles, never
leaving the mountains in so dong. L
has an entire bed of rock, is broader il
the middle than at its mouth, yet al
though sufficiently broad to carr,
steamers, the rocky bed is so shallow
as to render crossing it in canoe yer,
dangerous, for which reason perhap
more lives have been lost thereon thai
on any river in the United States, say,
the Mississippi.