The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1892-10-06
BEAUTIFUL LINVILLE.
A Road that Rivals Those of the
Swiss Alps.

There was once a person unambi-
tious of that highest need of praise
that belongs to the man who "makeS
two blades of wheat grow where but
one grew before This person loved
best to see Nature untortured and
free; he liked the mountain meadow
better than he did the lawn; the wild
flower ledge was to him more beauti-
full than the conservatory shelf, and
he was wont to eXclaim at the sight
of shining beach or rocky precipiece,
'sThank Heaven, here is spot that
never, never can be plowed ~
This person would have reJOlced IN
Linville, in the mountains of North
Carolina, and in all the surroundings
of the pretty new Eseeola Inn. Not.
alas that it can never be plowed, for
the soil is fertile, but that it has ney-
er been, that the mountaintop and
gorges are still unspoiled, and ''open-
ed" only just enough to welcome the
ardent lover of fresh, vigorous, rich,
and beautiful scenes.
The waves of ocean have their limit
in height, and fill space monotonous-
ly. There is no monOtOny in the bill
lowing peaks of western North Caroli-
ma. Around Linville score of the
loftiest mountains east of the Rockies
rise from a SubStratum of spurs and
ranges tangled in mountain knot.
Where their SUBMITS are not bald and
rocky, SUBMITS and slopes are clothed
with forest such as few have seen,-
not the secondary forests of old set
Elements, but a primeval growth,
gigantic in stature and Of massive
foliage. The COZ tinuOuS murmur OF
leaves deepens into the roar of the
waterfalls unseen in sunless gOrgeS,
and is accented by the joyous notes of
the mocking bird.
A writer has recently deplored the
vanishing of old tree-forms, and that
| there is no longer variety in our few
remaining forests. Civilization is
more destructive than savagery. In
the vicinity of Linville, however. on
| ly tWenty-four hours from New York,
| these ''old ssttlers" of the forest still
| hold leyee,-the sturdy oaks and pines,
| the chestnuts and the hemlocks, the
| beecheS and the naples. The stately
| varieties of magnolia are here bearing
| roofs of green above their pillared
aisles, while underneath blossoms a
wilderness of towering shrubs,-the
| dogwoods, laurelS, rhododendrons anc
azaleas of mountain growth; still low.
er the moss carpet is embroidered
| with ericaS and partridge berry
vine.
The company which created Lin
vile, appreciating the universal thirst
for new scenes, has bought a large do
| main, thousands of acres in extent
and has freely expended capital il
| constructing roads. Professor w
James, of Harvard, in referring tt
these roads in the New York Evening
Post, says that they are the only one
in America that rival the great Swis
roads. Without spelling one featur,
| oft 1ln in1,
made a tally-ho excursion up tn
slopes of a mountain six thousant
feet high pleasant and practicable
There are thirty miles of these fin
roads, and construction is still gOin,
on. From the summit of Grand
Grandfather Mountain the horizon en-
closes an area of one hundred an
fifty miles.
This year Eseeola Inn opened it
doors for trial season." as its man
ager put it. The success of the eXpel
ment has been such that the pictul
esque Inn, with capacity for one huI
dred and twenty-five guests, has bee
compelled to turn away those whowoul
tarry beneath its roof. There seem
to be no alternatiye,-eithe large
inn must be built OF the presen
structure added to until it shall hay
become large enough for it's constan
! ly increasing household" The In
is managed by Mr.. James T. Skile
formerly the manager of Luray I'm
: and at present the proprietor of th
| Florida House, st. Augustine.
Inyalids, whose physicians have o
) dered mountain air, should come her
} The water, drainage, and all cthe
3 sanitary matters, have been looked a
| | ter by experts. Eseeola Inn has tel
!. graph communication, and parlor ca
: are attached to throung trains.
HOWARD HERN