The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-29
DILTMORE ABANDONED.
a Queer story of Lack of Water at
the Place.

the Place.
| The New York Journal of Sunday has a
sensational story-one of the important
if true" sort-respecung George Wander
bits departure to Europe and Asia to
hunt big game. and his palace in the
mountains of North Carolina. The story
alleges that Mr. Vanderbilt has "aban-
! doned' Bltmore. Why? The Journal
says: The answer is simple, but startling.
1t is because he spent 100000 on Bit
more, his North Carolina estate, and then
| couldn't get a drink of water when he
wanted ="
After an elaborate description of Bit
more, including the grounds, the house
and the neighborhood, the Journal goes on
with its very remarkable story of lack
of water in a section adjacent to the
| French Broad river, and where there are
bountiful rains every month in the year:
Adjoining Biltmore was a mountain
! known locally Busbeei George did not
| care for Busbee. 1t wasn't nearly as high
! as Pisgah and there was nothing about it
| that was in any way distinctive from the
mountains that he already owned. One
| day, however, he learned that on the top
| of Busbee was a spring of very fine water,
! SuCH as may De IOuHQ not lDlTeQuently III
! these mountains. But this particular spring
was so clear and so limpd and so sweet
| that George coveted its waters. He want
ed the spring and so he bought the noun
| tain.
| HE constructed reservoir put up the
most elaborate pumping machinery and
| laid five miles of pipe, reaching from
Mount Busbee TO Biltmore house. What
the cost was may be better imagined than
| told. When everything was done, George
| thought he would be supremely happy. He
! had alreay everything that he could think
/ of or that any of his hireings could think
| Of and now he was going to have Mount
Busbee water in Biltmore house. He did
| have it for a while and then he didn't but
/ when he didn't brings me TO the end of
my story and furnishes the immediate
cause for his going to India.
d; Therefore l will let that rest for a mo-
ment, and go back TO last summer, when
: George went to Europe and took with MIN
his cousin McNamee, who is the attorney
and general manager of the Bntmore es-
! tate. While they were off in the forests
| of Norway and Sweden looking for new
trees for Biltmore part of the foundation
! of Biltmore house sank until the walls
| sagged, and the fine marbles used in dec
| Grating were cracked. The man left in
charge of Biltmore house became alarm
ed and sent to New York for the contrac-
tor who erected the house TO come on and
see what was the matter The latter re-
! sponded post haste and made some rene
! dial improvements. But it is still a ques-
! ton as to whether it will be temporary or
! permanent. This was a sad blow to
| George. Ii began to look as though ev-
erything were going wrong al Biltmore.
| Whether it was for the purpose of con-
J sultation or merely for the purpose of a
social visit 1 am not prepared to assert
! but the fact is that about two months ago
! Mr.. Hamilton Mckay Twombly, the most
| astute of Vanderbilt brothers-in-law took
| a run down to Biltmore. He looked at
| the sunken foundation and the cracked
| marbles. He looked al the dairy farm
/ with it's costly equipment and its inconse-
] quential product. He looked at the truck
| farm and figured on the price of cucum-
| bers in the Asheville market and the cost
of raising them. He investigated the for
estry school. He visited the sawmill and
! looked over the great piles of lumber that
were heaped about the place, unsold and
| unstable. In short, he took a careful in
ventory of the whole place.
Now Mr.. Twombly isn't a bit theoret-
no use for anything that doesn't pay it's
way. Mr.. Twombly has. tried fancy
! farming himself. 1t was in New Jersey
and was very much easier than the same
! thing in Buncombe county, North Caro-
lima, but 1T didn't pay, and Mr. Twombly
! very promptly Sold out ana quit the game.
when he had examined the conditions
at Biltimore and had seen that the exper-
iment did not pay and never would pay,
that it did lose and would always lose, he
advised George Vanderbilt to give 1t up.
! George didn't like the advice. He still
loved his dream of baronial estate in the
beautiful Blue Ridge mountains. He had
made a paradise of a desert and he wished
to enjoy the fruit of his work. He didn't
| care for the money that it cost him. He
was rich and could stand it. He sent his
brother-in-law back to New York. He
stood in the door of Biltmore House and
looked out upon Pisgah and Busbee and
caught a glimpse of the Swananoa river
gliding smoothly to its junction with the
French Broad while on every hand were
his dear trees and shrubs and plants, and
so he turned and went back content to
remain at Biltmore even if it didn't pay.
But as he was consoling himself with
the fact that he had what he wished for
even if ii did cost him more than other
men, he became athirst, and called for a
servant to bring him a glass of water
water from the Busbee spring. The SER
want went but returned with an empty