Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-02
A FACE IN THE ROCK.
The Old Man of the Mountain Pictured
by the Pen OF Julia Dorr.
HOW HE FROWNs AND SMILES.
Delights Of Sojourn at the Humsm Tho
Franconia MountainA
MANAGING A BOAT AND A HAMMOCK
fooznnsrospxxc. or THE prsrATon.a

CORRESPONDENTS or THE DrsHkToH1
FRANcoNIA MoUNTAns, n. B., JGfy
2s.-The Old Man of the Mountain has had
whole volumes written about and around
him by famous authors, including Haw-
thorne. No tourist of the White Mountains
deems his trip complete unless he has come
to this Franconia side range and gazed up
at the big, grim profile Of mans face that
appears in the rocky edge of Cannon Noun
tain. The first wonder Of the spectator Ii
that the stone visage is 20 impressively
clear and strong. You have believed that
enthusiastic writers and picture makers
have mixed fancy with fact, and that you
will need to use your imagination - well as
your eyos in discerning the famous visage
Therefore, when you see him at first glance,
away up there 200 feet shove you and
across q lake, tho sight Is absolutely thrill
ing.
ri don't believe he csme BY ehanoef n
apt 10 be the gist Of your first exclamation
But nature did carve that face just as It Is
now. 1t is phenomenal sculpture only. A
party of men made the ascent recently to
find out whether something preservattve
couldn't be done, but they decided not TO
meddle.
HE CANNOT LIVE FOREVER
The granite is softening slowly, and .
fssure threatens the destruction Of the
profile. The idea was to support the
crumbling stone by means of iron rods, but
this was not found feasible. So one OF
these days the break will occur, though
hardly for the reason which I found carved
in the bark of birch tree:
Like Adam, I'm tempted oft to fAll
And should were 1 only human;
] fear even yet 1t may be my nate
To come with a crash and broken pate
To the feet of some fair woman.
Now, here's chance for the professional
prescrvers and beautifers of faces. Who
ever supplies a lotion that will keep the
Old Mans visage as it is will reap for
tune, surely.
''But I'd be glad if his nose would drop
off," said pretty maiden an hour ago.
"There's no use trying to be frisky with
that horribly cross face up there. Come,
Ned, let's row up the lake"
Ned piled the oars with lazy obedience.
As the boat f1oated over the deep, clear
water of Profile Lake the Old Mans face
changed from severity to benignity, and
then withdrew itself from the young couple
altogether, leaving them to their friskiness
unawed.
THE FACE CHANGES ExPREssIoNA
From only a small area Of the lake and
shore is the celebrated profile visible, for it
is formed of three vertically separated pro-
tuberances of rock, and the necessary COM
bination of outlines is lost by any far de-
parture from the best point of observation.
The old man of the mountain has no full
face, nor even a three-quarter one. To the
maiden in the moving boat he showed first a
fierce and melancholy silhouette, gazing
loftilv off toward Blaine at Bar Harbor or
thereabouts; then, as her sweetheart rowed
the boat hundred yards or SO, the Inca
ments relaxed into almost womanish weak
ness; and finally, of ud!en, the face had
vanished, and in its place was to be seen
only masses of granite in rugged precl-
pice.
However. the two in boat were not left
in solitude. Other folks were afoat, and
some of them were fishing for trout Catch
ing them, too. Profile Lake is the water
pride of the mountains Echo Lake is a
rival less than a mile away, and its echo re-
peats your words half dozen times dis
tinctlv. But Profile is the more beautiful,
with its snug environment of mountains,
with stream as picturesque as its title,
Pemmigewassett, tumbling out at one end,
with the OLD Man overlooking the scene,
and with real trout shipping eagerly at the
bogus flies of the anglers. There must be
conditions of birth and food in Profile Lake
very favorable to trout, for the sport keeps
,ooJ