Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-10-02
THE ANCIENT WHITE.
MODERN, As COMPARED WITH MIN
RODS ovERA CENTURY AGO.
New The Country Became Known -
0resnbsisr a. Efiicscy Of the First fIss-
solphas nash--Isddies and LssssR.
lconespcndsnce Of the Richmond pispssohl
Man THE On WHrrx,
GarxxBsxx COUNTY. w. Va,
Net,f>sntoe IN 14n4 =


NxsR THE On wmrx,)
GnrKSHRsER COUNTY, w. Va,
September 30. 1924
Your regular correspondent from thu
White has told your readers all sum
mer of the marvellous modernisms o.
tho day rs exhibited before her q?
eyes under the oaks OF under thu
electric lights. In ballroom and cot
taqe, through the season. The present
writer with his gray roose-quili" Is not
At to touch the hem of her epistoiar,
skirt. nay, 20 even wave an adieu to bel
graceful plume. shesang What shadows
We area what shadows we pursue" This
scribe Is old enough to chase down anc
grab the substance every time. Whal
moro could be expected Of man who i
only Mt Dickson'si H<I am not here you
ask SQUIRE jackson Guy or hollands Other
half, Mr.. Bob McCombe- or. II you choose
70 60 so far, Roanoke's merchant prince,
r. II. Stewart. But that doesn't matter,
Tor the news am going TO write Is SO stale
no one win dispute it.
ORIGIN or THE NAME.
They say that the way old Greenbricl
cot It's name was that Colonel John Lewis
father 10 the famous general OF that name
Vest while exploring in 1901, got into
such patch of, green briers on the. river
snd received such lndelible marks OF their
nffectionate regard that he uttered un-
mentionabie words, which we're so sand
wiched between green brier-green brier--
and so often repeated, that stream and
county have ever since bctne to the word
the tidings of his enlargement ana DIS
wrath.
Now. IL any one fancies from this Incl
dent there 10 naught but briers here, be
NAV be az once regarded az born IA some
beniebted region, where Payson Massey
school fund has not penetrated. The fact
IA schools were once better than now, and
the evidence Is. that one boy, at least,
long ago learned that when those intrepid
hunters (rather better. suspect. than me
GUYS and McCombers and Stewards, with
all the noble race of Dicksons thrown IN
for good measure. for turkeys got killed
In those days. am not afraid 10 write
thus plaipiy Of these modern NimrOds, be-
cause the last one Of them has gone on the
mountain and carried his gun with him,
aud before they see this 1 will be out OF
reach perchance). As was saying, when
those fearless. fnot neighborly. huntsmen,
Jacob Marlin and Steven sewell, stood
ons a high peak and gazed upon
the beautiful "levels Of Greenbrier"
rs they stretched toward the suD-setting;
exclaimed: " Savannah tine beautiful
prairie land" Aud here are the same
levels to-day, lying with their green
breasts 10 the sun, teaming with haryests.
The aforementioned correspondent from
the White called that little SPOT enclosed
with q white fence-lovely. tits true-an
"Elvsian field" Had she climbed up the
back and got upon the shoulders of the
mountain giant, as did Marlin and Seweil.
she would have seen that the true Elysian
fields lay away toward Locust Hill and be
yond to LewisburQ, and as far beyond
that as the eye can reach.
TOO THICK TO THRIVE.
Did you ever hear the story of those two
first settlers. how after tney came away
out here in the broad wilderness and built
n cabin they quarrelled and separated
TOO thick to thrive" was SewelPs motto,
and he left Marlin in possession of tho
mansion and took himself TO q hollow
tree. where bio was living when Andrew
Lewis found him. It IS said that each
morning as the lovely pair emerged from
their now separate and tranquil homes.
each saluted his neighbor Good morning,
Mr. Marlini Good-morning, Mr.. Sewell
And so they were at peace. Ere long
Sewoll "moved West " and gave his name
TO stream and mountain. During the late
war we read of Sewell's mountain. where
Floyd disputed with the " northern
horde" for possession OK the rich valley.
Mr.. Editor. have heard that you quill
drivers are always poor. Don't you wish
YOU had lived in those far-off days when
land on the beautiful Greenbner could be
had for the asking Only think that poor
editor. for instance, could then get 400 acres
for his settlement" claim, and a cool
Thousand more III he chose to accept it,"
Had You come then. the DISPATCH man
could now. percbance, be writing his own
letters from the White, or better, with q
tip of his hat TO the goddess Hygeia. whose
hleached monument still poses upon the
columned temple which still straddes the
great spring, he might drink his fill
without paving $3.50 day for it.
You see / am all the time leaving the
"Hilin and going back % the famous
resort, and who sit that can keep away
THE FIRST HOT BATH.
Do you recall what some writer tells of
the first hot sulphur bath given there2 1t
doesn't smack enough of "revelry and
mirth," maybe for your regular (never-
theless the patient must have had a" high
old time ", but 1t has passed into history,
and venture to repeat il. Que hundred
and twenty years ago Gust think how long
sulphur has been flowing out of the lower
regions to this neighborhood), so the story
goes, woman who had suffered many
things of many physicians aud was all the
worse tor it, came TO the Southern Sara
toga." There was no grand hotel with pa
latial trimmings. She built and lodged IN
a cabin made of bark. No luxurious baths
awaited languid nymphs wearied with
the reyelry and frivolity of the previous
night. tree was felled for our heroine.
and from its capacious trunk was hewn q
trough large enough for the enfeebied
bather. The water was heated by plunging
into il hot stones, and from this simple
pool, with its rustic surroundings. came
health TO the sufferer and fame for the
fountain.
Am making my letter too long with q
rehearsal of these ancient writs"? Then
! must close. but not until redeem my
story from dulness by recording the fact
that in my quiet retreat / have found not
amateur hunters alone. as you might con-
clude, but their delightful families. and
there are "laddies who have their las
sizes " as well.