Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-02-11
AY. FEBRUARY II. 1897.
From TarheelIana.
AsHEvILLE, n. c.. FEB. ,. 1s9

ASHEfI ILLEs N u, L EB. :, 1891
This is Grounding Day, and he will
not return to his place of Information
not this winter. 1 speak, Of course.
for only this Land of the Sky, whose
boasted attribute is not visible to NOR
tai this noon. Thick, gloomy layers
of cloud overhang the earth, and snow
and sleet cover the ground. Yesterday
it showed. rained, sleeted, showed,
rained and showed again. To-day the
north wind is filing up the vacant in
terstices with fne-pelleted snow, com
ing at uncertain intervals, and the
scene from my window is as bleak and
dreary as though both sky and sun
shine were unknown tu Western Tar
heeldom.
Last week 1 gave you, at second
hand, description of Biltmore, the
Vanderbilt chateau and estate. Its
establishment has been a Godsend to
Asheville in many ways. 1t has
brought this section into worldwide
repute, is developing thousands Of
acres of wild lands into farms, gardens,
and forests of valuable timber. The
buildings and improvements have cost,
it is said, eight million dollars; but
one must take this statement cum
grdnO sails. The people about here
appear to delight in retailing the fabu-
lous sums spent for nearly everything
connected with the farm" A thOus-
and dollars for pig; fifteen hundred
for COW; and one hundred and fifty
dollars for very ordinary looking
rooster and hen-are among the item
lied accounts of Mr.. Vanderbilt's ex-
penditures in stocking the place, as
given by public rumor. He is verit-
able Monte Cristo to this town. and the
! multitude worships from afar his mil
lions, if not himself. hear from the
few who know him that be is a sensi-
BILE, unassuming young man, gifted
with excellent business talent - a
model son, and American to the back
bone. No wonder he isolates all that
he may from the adulation of the mad
ding crowd who would worship his
wealth under any other name just as
sedulously as they swing the censors
under the coat-tails of the fortunate
son of his father.
"Biltmore" is neither euphonious
nor sonoGous in its enunciation; but it
has legitimate derivation, being made
up of the paternal and maternal family
names-the former being shorn of its
tO-desinguatiOn, so to speak, in order
to balance matters and save the one
from undue preponderance over the
other. "Vanderbiltmore" would, as
any one may see, have been too much
of good thing.
Asheville has a very neat and pretty
opera house, capable of comfortably
seating one thousand people. | can
also warrant it, at this time of the
year, to throw in at each performance
frst-class cold to every auditor, re-
gardless of age, sex, or previous con-
dition of servitude. l have attended
on three occasions, and caught the
premium twice. One enters a few
minu tes in advance of curtain-raising
| and finds the room well warmed and
| pleasant. He doffs his oveTcOat and
puts himself at ease while the piano
| overture is losing itself in the waste
places of the hall. After a time the
curtain goes up, and-whiff. comes an
arctic draught into the face OF the de-
voted auditor, and he sits out the act
in physical discomfort. Then the cur,
tain throws its protecting shield be-
tween him and the hyperborean at
mosphere of the stage, and he gradual
ly warns again. This repeated again
and again, and the three doses are al
most certain to be followed by a first,
class case of sniffies next morning.
During the play. one involuntarily
longs for the s.inth" act, advertised &c
take place in So-and-so's Candy Kitch'
en-, comfortably warmed and lighted,
in an adjoining block.
"Tis, true, its pity it's, It's true
that theatre builders and manager:
rarely take into account the comfor1
of those who fret their brief hour upor
the mimic stage; when this non-regard
for health and comfort is extended tC
the men and women who pay their
good dollars for entertainment anG
recreation, it becomes unbearable, and
frst-class criticism is surely in order.
This town has two leading dailiet
and one weekly-the former being the
Citizen and Gazette, and the latter th'
Hotel Ne,cs and Advertiser. The dailiet
are Democratic and preach square
Democracy of the Missouri brand; th'
| l4drertiser is society paper. beins
neutral in politics, religion and base
bali. All these journals are we'll con
Quoted and ereditable to the city which
sustaius them. l take pleasure in &C
kpowledgIng their many courtesies ex
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