The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-19

The place is a net work of underground
passage ways. The reason for so many
subterranean alley-ways cannot be stat
ed. because those engaged on the building
refuse to furnish any information.
The state apartments are IN the prlncl-
pal front, at each end of which rise the
towers five stories high. There are per
start at one end of the building and try
/ to reach the other end you will get lost.
AT any rate that was my experience.
Chief Apartments of the Mansion.
1t is not easy to describe the principal
| rooms in detail, as they are in an III,
or ball room is one of the finest in the
! United States. 1t must be sixty feet high
| and eighty feet in length. There are three
| immense open fire places at one end. The
ceiling is now being decorated, while all
around the sides are the most elaborate
carvings and the finest marbles and
onyx. An organ costing $4,000 win De
! placed in a suitable place made for it.
Many of the smaller rooms in the great
house are practically finished. They give
| some idea of the magnifcence and luxury
which the completed house will present
! Even without the hangingS and furnish
| 1ngS the rooms are superb. Think what
! they VIII be when adorned with beautltul
! paintings, fine Statuary and rare armor
| and bric-a-brac.
1t is to be regretted that Mr.. Wander
| bilt has not seen fit to allow pictures to
I Oc ldheil VI the mansion. our UlUSlId-
| tons show the southeast front of the
! structure, and will give the reader some
idea of the massive walls and the style
of architecture Mr.. McName tells me
that hundreds of views have been taken
for the benefit of the owner, and for the
eye of the architect and landscape gard
ener. From these pictures they can tell
or see what is going on day by day.
week by week, without taking the time
and trouble of visiting the place.
Vast Gardens and Nurseries.
All about the house, in the grounds
there is ample proof of costly and taste
ful work. The flower gardens are eSpeci-
ally fine. Many of these are sunk below
the general level and, when the sun is
out bright and strong, the blaze of color
is like reflections from many-hued mir
rors. The total area covered by the gar
dens, greenhouses and nurseries cannot
be far from seventy-five acres. They are
not at all finished and the owner intends
to keep enlarging them as his collection
of plants and trees and shrubs grows
larger and larger. Already the cOnserva-
tories are filled with rare and beautiful
plants, including especially rare roses and
orchids.
The nursery is said to contain more
kinds of trees and shrubs than there are
in the botanical gardens at Kew, near
London. North Carolina is rich in the
number of native trees and the climate
is well suited to the growth of a large
variety of trees and shrubs as of that in
any state in the union.
In order to have fine gardens and
grounds it was necessary to have the
strongest and best soil. Immense Quanti-
ties of rich soil were brought from the
valleys and river bottoms miles away.
Carload after carload was dumped on the
grounds and made into garden spots.
One man employed on the estate told me
that the amount of dirt brought over the
railroad would make another mountain.
The Stables, Roads and Forests.
The stables are now about finished, and
are as fine as any in the country Mr..
nd ic Of hIn06a6 stock q nd
no doubt the stalls and barns will delight
the lover of long pedigrees and blue
blood. Then, there are the deer park of
5000 acres and the well-stocked trout
streams. The forest will afford shelter
for game, and the partridge shooting,
now good, will be better as the years
go by.
Ali the drives about Biltmore park are
varied and picturesque. The ''Arboretum
drive" when completed, will be as fine
as any in Central Park; This road, five
miles in length, runs through the most
cultivated and charming portions of the
estate. On either side for 100 feet it will
be lined by shrubs and plants
No account of the Biltmore estate
would be complete without some refer
ence to the forestry operations. The
Biitmore forest is the first piece of wood |
land in the United States to be subjected
to a scientific scheme of management. !
The effect of this treatment is very
estate without noticing the fine condi- |
ton of the trees everywhere.
In a recent conversation Clifford Pin |
chot, the consulting forester said:
From pecuniary point of view, the i'm |
provements have paid for themselves. |
The entire expense of clearing, thinning
and improving the Biltmore forest has |
been more thar met by the money re- |
ceived from the sale of the wood for fuel. |
for lumber, etc. Many improvements re- |
main to be carried out before it is on a |
not less than ten at the lowest estimate. |
Thus, there is now more than 1,5OO acres |
lying waste. This land situated mostly |
on the top of hills, must be planted with |
sentable.'
Under Mr.. Pinchots direction the Bit
partments'' of about fortytwo acres
each. There are ninety-two compart
ments, and these are united into blocks.
There are four blocks, and each block is
treated by itself, as though it were
separate forest.
The House That Vanderbilt Cannot
A little old house that is of almost as
much interest to visitors as the big
mansion itself is. the house that Van
derbilt cant nuy Sst ~ f5 ~ o acra nac If
land. 1t is, perhaps, less than one mile
from the mansion, and on one of the
main roads to the place.
The owner of this property has obsti-
nately refused to sell to Vanderbilt.
What makes the matter worse he is a
cOlOred person. L call MIN NanUerDliI 5
bette noir 1t is said that the old darkey
has been offered as high as $1,000 per acre
for nine acres. There is no way of
shutting him in, as he has the right of
way over the road.
on my way back I stopped to see this
colored man. As l drew up
to the small white house at the end Of
the road, and called out, black woman
appeared in the doorway, while two ac-
tive pickinninies bobbed up from behind.
Does Josh Moore I've here?" l in
luired.
Spouse to another question, she went to
the rear of the house, and in short
time josh appeared. We soon fell into
and l found him friendly
and ready to talk.
When I said to him. "Of course Mr.
Vanderbilt objects to you as a neighbour
he replied with a broad grin, well, I
ioan't ject to Mistah Vanderbilt as a
naybor.'
'iWhy don't you sell?'' I inquired.
81 reckon Use will, sab, wen l git NAH
price, sahr' AT just what price he would
sell Josh shrewdIy refused to say.
L. ]. VANCE