The National tribune., 1893-01-05


were those OF tho
" Bobbin Boy" 30
| years before, as my propeiliug force was in
/ front and not 70 the To say that / en-
| joyed the ride down this beautiful valley IS
| putting ID mildly. 10 is indeed a picturesque
section and in its pastoral and agricultural ss-
| poets veritable Araby the BEST. The train
was Of the accommodation order ia the most
generous sense; but this pleased me, as I was in
| no hurry. / bad hoped on passing through
| Charlestown 70 have caught n glimpse of the
| Jail whore John Brown and his six confeder-
| ates were imprisoned and hanged but the
/ building was not in sight from the station
| have already alluded in this correspondence
( to the ruins of mills. destroyed by Sheridan on
| ending his campaign in the Valley, which oc-
| casOnaliy meet the eye. On nearing the Ferry
! am profoundly impressed by the magnifcent
| water power which the Shenandoah River here
affords, and anon reach the ruins of the old rife
/ factory. Other buildings, used perhaps az
tenements or boarding houses for the workmen
/ in the factory, stand gbostly specters Of the
/ past lettering to their fall.
| In the river can, in fancy pick out the rock
| on which four Of the FIVE followers of Brown
stood after their defense of and escape from the
! rife works. And there can seem 10 see those
| four heroic men making their desperate fight
| to the finish with 200 Virginians who lined the
| shores till the last survivor OF the four sur
rendered. Right here is where the Army OF
| the Potomac crossed on q poutoon after Gettys-
/ burg and wound around over the nose Of
| Loudouu Nights into Loudoun Valley. These
| observations are made as the train moves
slowly forward to the station on the banks of
/ the Potomac 1t is not far from 7 o'clock in
| the evening, and as | propose to remain over
night at the Ferry / seek a hotel. 1t Is my
second visit here since the war. Ny first Baz
in 1869, when found fairly good one kept
by an enterprisiug Yankee. Now there are
Il krrr, -. e.
kind, mostly rum shops; but / learned that
negro kept an excellent hotel on the Nights,
| and that 1t was now crowded with Summer
| boarders.
/ Harper's Ferry seemed to be gone to seed
when rambled through il in $50, having here
and there an inhabitant wandering aimlessIy
about, as if asking himself what he was here
for or where he was at. Away from the station
it has the same appearance now. When the
National Government established its shops here
on the brink OF these two rivers the hundreds
Of workmen employed seeking house-stes con-
Venient TO their work attached their cottages
in cluster on the slope above the arsenal, some
OF them being kept in place BY boiling 10 the
rocks on which they rested others seeming to
hold their place by very preearious tenure.
But that was So 70 de wa in the haleyon days
OF the town. The place has never recovered,
aud has fewer houses than ever before and of
course, much smaller population.
WINE wandering ABOUT the stony, Struggling,
and narrow highways on the historic slope not
far from the Catholic Church. whose spire is a
conspicuous object in the landscape, accosted
stranger, gentleman, who readily engaged in
conversation He was man of great intelli-
gence, and had lived here many years. He
was tho great grandson Of Mai. BENJAMIN
| Moore, thu Massachusetts, man who invented
the Harpers Ferry or Springfield musket. Maj.
Moore died before the war. His wife's maiden
name was Cooley. and was connection of John
| Adams.
The street on which we were standing was
| paved by nature with a continuous ledge OF
clay slate, and steep was the grade that it
was assembled and descended by means of a
succession Of steps cut in the rocks intended
only for footpadS, of course; yet my informant
| told me that an Irishman Of the town when in
bis cups was at one time wont TO ride up and
down them With he utmost recklessnesS, a sorS
of Mad Anthony Wayne. As I babe the
stranger adieu and began TO descend, thought
of Byron and the Isle of Malta century
and more ago every approach TO Vslette. the
Capital of Malta, from the waters edge was up
series OF steps cut in the rock which formed
nearly the whole extent Of this island, by the
Knights of ST. John. Byron evidently was not
altogether charmed with this sea girt rock asa
place of Summer resort as the following lines
testify:
Adieu, ye joys of La Yalette
Adieu, siroeco. sun and sweat
Adieu ye cursed streets of stairs
Sure everyone who mounts you swears.
On reaching the lower town I spend some
time King about over the sight of the arse
nal and other Government buildings. The
Government has recently sold all its rights
here on both rivers for a mere sOng-as re-
member, about 50. 600-and one new mill has
been erected. The near future will, / think,
see change for the better in the fortunes Of
Harper's Ferry The historic engine-house.
I'm PROV xn'S had oEa i1bt To-
before my arrival. yet bricks enough purp0rt-
ing to have been part Of this renowned struct-
ure were on sale by enterprising youth to have
erected several such engine houses. There is
little now save the massive stone gatepOss
which guarded the entrance to the yard to
mark the plant once existing here.
have only words of the severest condemns
tion for the mercantile spirit which uproots
and tears from its surroundings Cleopatra's
Needle, Libby Prison, or q John Browns
Fort, and sets them out amid environments
which rob them completely of their historic
meaning and value. In the case of the engine
house, however, it is to be said that its fate
had already been sealed, as the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad corporation had bought the land
on which it stood. and are now at work, both, =
sides of the Potomac extending their facilities.
OF the war memories of the Ferry ! will not
now write. large number of old soldiers
are interested in the spot, beginning with Pat
IeTsOn , uleu III 1cOls tuc iguOoie Miles tOUo
in 1852; "Old Winkey" French's 500 in 1868;
Hunters and Sheridsn's armies in 1864; not
to mention the legion of single regiments or
battalions picketing or scouting through the
town during the entire war. All the survivors
of these bodies have their "reminiscences of the
place and the neighborhood which they will
never forget. Here at some time came the
leading Generals of both armies Here Lee,
Joe Johnston and Jackson had all appeared.
Here Grant cams 40 least twice in 1864. Here
/ saw Fighting joe Hooker riding up Mary
land Nights the last of june '63; and as I
have already stated, the whole Army Of the
Potomac with Meade at its head crossed here
after Gettysburg. 1t was familiar enough to
Sheridan and his Generals; and. in brief, Isl
most enchanting and inspiring spot to those
who know aught of its history. / believe the
grandeur of the scenery and its agreeable cli-
mate will ere long make it populous and
popular resort. JOHN ID. BILLINGS.
What Charm Means.
EdsioHdL ReriesV.