Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1890-05-31


and feet, and for sixty miles down
the gorge the eye reaches, over yawn-
ing chasms, across fertile valleys, be-
yOnd the SUBMITS of lesser mountain
heights, till clouds and mountains
mingle in white and blue haze at
the horizon. This section is locally
termed "the land of the sky" and
"the Switzerland of America" And
one who stands in the midst of so
much grandeur and sublimity could
not help but reverence the great Crea-
tor of it all, and feel how insignifi-
cant are mans works compared with
His.
And yet mans work, around
and through, and over and under
these mountains is not insignificant.
The railroad over which l passed is
pronounced one of the finest pieces of
engineering in the United States. In
its serpentine windings down the
mountain the track crosses or loops
itself once, and it takes ten miles of
track to cover a distance a crow could
make in less than three miles. Round
Knob hotel is surrounded by a va
riety of fine mineral springs, and in
about two hundred yards of the hotel
there is fountain throwing a stream
of water, on calm day, two hun
dred and sixty-five feet high. The
water falls back, of course, in spray,
and the sunlight falling through
this produces a beautiful rainbow.
The source Of the fountain is a spring
two miles up in the mountains, and
the water is conveyed through a five
inch pipe, the nozzle being a little
less than two inches. 1t is claimed
to be the highest fountain in the
world.
Water runs from both ends of
one of the tunnels mentioned above;
from one end it flows to the At
lantic ocean, while from the other it
finds its way into the Gulf of Mexico.
There are many beautiful and varied
views of mountain scenery all along
the line from Asheville to the eastern
base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, as
well as along the line westward
through the Allegheneys to Morris
town, and over the route southeast
ward to Spartenburg, S. G. Two or
three other lines Of railroad are now
projected to Asheville, with favor
able outlook for early completion.
The beauty and attractiveness Of
Asheville lies more in the surround
ings than in the place itself. Taken
as whole Asheville proper is not a
pretty place, but it is rapidly improv.
ing in this particular. The city gov.
ernment is pushing the work of street
building with commendable zeal, and
the people are identifying theil
homes on every hand. There are
many beautiful drives around thu
place, through the valleys of tht
French Broad and SwannanOa rivers
and over the surrounding mountains
and along all of these roads for dis
lance Of five miles or more out from
= Asheville, are to be seen many at
} tractive homes, exhibiting a lavisl
c display of wealth on buildings ant
2 grounds.
f Not only Asheville, but all tn
: surrounding country as well, is bless
: ed with hog and COW law, or rattle
: a no fence law. No stock whateve
t is allowed to run at large. Peopl
a are only required to fence their ow
e stock in, and are not burdened wit
:. the expense of fencing the stock {
o everybody else out. If such a La
r could be had in Tennessee it woul
O save the farmers of this State mi
Y lions of dollars every year in me-
IS fences and repairs.
n There is one very striking contra'
Il between these mountains and II
It Cumberland range. There is I
e limestone rock around Asheville, an
h the mountain sides and SUBMITS al
t, remarkably free from stone of an
2, kind on the surface, and the majorit
v of them apparently are tillable fro
l. base to summit.
a Most of the rock formation of tn
A. section, have been told, is a rotte
granite, and the water which perc
lates through it may be good enou&
Is when one gets used to it, but 1 hay
found it not pleasant to the taste al
unsatisfying of thirst. Many of Il
natives, both male and female, a