The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-22
THE NATURAL BRIDGE.
The Present Appearance OF tho Scene OF n
school Reader Story.

THE
The Presert Appenrnnce OF tho Scene OF n
school Reader Story.
From, the atlanta Journal,
THAT Is where they let down tho rope to the
boy. He jumped from that little ledge you see
way up t%here-that bird just flew past it-and
caught tho rope AS it swung toward him."
We looked up. stretching our heads back until
our necks ached.
Is that story really true !"
THE old settlers around here say so. The
boy was n student from Washington-and-Lee.
which is not very far from here. OF course, the
account OF the feat, usually found in fifth read
ers. is a good deal exaggerated. There was no
crowd Watching while he climbed. as the story
says: only q few OF his friends were with him:
but it Is true that a boy really did climb nearly
to tho top of the bridge. You see that ledge up
there almost under the arch ? When he reached
that place he could climb no further on account
of the archinE over the bridge. Then they say
he looked back to see how TO climb down again.
You know It's q fact that you can climb up
much easier than down. There may be a
deeper significance to those words. | thought.
" When you look downward everything appears
to be smoother. So there the boy hung. nearly
900 feet from the ground, unable to move ono
way or tho other
We looked aga in up TO that tiny projection:
not much bigger than the bowl Of a spoon. It
seemed. from that great distance. 1t was awful.
later, when we went to me top OF the priase'
We were standing under the shadow of that
fearful monument of the Builder who knows no
limits. the bridge whose walls are mountains,
and whose buttresses arc peaks. The ravine is
so deep the sun shines in only about noon. And
thrown away on a mere wading stream! Its
fish no bigger than minnows; But the Builders
quarry, likewise, knows no limits.
The approach to the bridge is by a narrow;
tortuous. rapidly, descending path. A small
stream tGmbles r down 18th the td %oun's az t beside drs US
keeps us hidden from a view Of The bridge, until
II sharp turn to the right suddenly brings us up
But the first sight perhaps. is a little disap-
pointing. The mind has to take time to adjust
approach it. at length stand just under the
bridge itself. and look upward. perhaps even
denly we are startled by a fa:nt-crying flock of
swallows flying under the bridge: then we begin
The approach is not 50 impressive as the oppo-
site view on account of the dipping OF the arch
on that side. TO walk 100 feet further on.
it, one catches the curves of Its enormous con-
vexity and the lift of It's span. On this side also
rapidly rise for some distance further on: conse-
auentiy the ravine walls are much higher: AL
the bride very impressive.
Cathedral Wall. nearly 300 feet high. straight
lowers up on one side, Across the ravipe from
It,, overhanging the abyss below. is a little
ledge of rock not ten feet square. Pulpit Rock.
Hero one one may stand and look elow-i he
can.-and try to realize the horror of that boy
when he caught the faint echoes Of the people
rope" In an old Virginia history there is a
statement that when the boy was drawn up his
Nothing grows down the sides of this ravinc.
II is all rock. solid and ghostly. II one we're to
until he struck the ground. There is scarcely
place for a bird to alieht. How did the boy
climoit? The story goes that he had u knife
md Hfif fnnshn1.g he saR he rock rims
And it is narrow. that little silver running
ravine. Just room enough for its brook, and a
the shadow of these eternal ranparts. When
birds fly down into it they merely drop: there is
out TO break the fall. and drop down like leaves.
liza Niagara were spiliing over one OF Its sides
Above nature has SO coyly softened the edge
of the hideous precipice. so hidden it with bios
somtng trees and messy turf that a dreamer
feel a sharp slip OF his feet. would catch ont ata
tree, a bit Of grass the sudden tiashliGht ola
yawning abyss death: One comes shouting
and laughing down the steps toward Pulpit
Rock-suddeniy stops himself aehast. quivering
In lI70a great mass OF rock was split off
from the arch by tho freezing of the water in
Uttered over, with, bits of rock, with hero and
i there hangs h T"1' on the e"i left s OF the arch IN as IN" one sap ap.
proRchcs another mass just ready to fall: a wide
crack extends from the top of the Hill almost
column of earth and ~friGhtful rocks half as big
a. freight cars stand up there in the air. held
back by a Few clnds, a slender stone, a root or
two. When 1t falls one power exists that may
clear Il awayumthe river.
&c; w" There II is: his own autograph
Washington's. II is ono OF the great prize
boxes" OF tho bridge. 1t is cut deep into the
rock about 30 feet above the ground. Several
other names are cut above this. but they were
not putthcrc by climbers: some engineers placed
1adasrs T 1sHiH;t 4 Ne T 10 aka and 10 b 5sp pso TT e ssea, the
The old settler vouches for this fact also. The
Is quite plain, bat the III" is somewha
Other points OF interest are Lost River. an un.
foreground stream whose running can be heard
hv stopping down close to u hole in tho side of
the mountain. Saltpetcr Cave, q new crevice
inder u large ledge OF rock. which furnished
Bridge perfect profile of a very old man near
the arch ofthc bridge. y GLIMPSE OF tie rush
.ng waters OF Lost River can be seen through the
as pure rs il it had been filtered. over the
hole, cut into the stone, by whom no ono knows.
Is the legend. lie who drinks hero shall re-
turn our party felt douOly sure of returning, |
for We drank OF the water III wittingly. and saw
the words only aflerwaId.
What caused tho bridge? We cannot fail to
ask 1t as We gaze mp AZ the tremendous mass.
II Is unreasonable 10 suppose that it is today
n the same form that II had in the begin
ling." Was the entire ravine once n long and
Along beside us throughout the ages. stretching
80 far back that we cannot even comprehend
m down and down. painfully drilling tho eye.
mil it Is the frightful thing We see it now
Was IL once II mountain lake, checked by IL
great stunr-cnpped dam thai one dav. while
and ieyiathan disported themselves
u its waters. long before the angels ever
Dreamed of man. one awful day. suddenly burst
hat, roaring and Missing, grinding and Shrek
ng, plOnghei. its horrible furrow between two f-
gaping mountains?