The times., 1898-07-27
SCENES ALONG THE RIVER
Upper Portion of the River a
Veritable Fairyland.
PLACES OF AMUsEMEHENT
Glen Echo the Coney Island of
Washington - Cabin John bridge
tie Falls by Moonlight - Marine
Views and Landscapes

No one is more foolhardy in the manner
Of spending his money than the average
European traveller Not only is he be-
guiled into ali sorts of financial excesses
in a violent endeavor to be cosmopolitan
but he squanders money abroad for the
very things that he can purchase much
more easily and readily here And about
the only good that the average man gets
out of it is the pleasure he secures from
seeing his name in print-on the pas
senger list.
On a par with the story concerning
certain gentleman who took no end of
trouble to smuggle certain silks through
our custom house only to find on them
afterward the inscription, '-Peret &
Sons. New York. is the not infrequent
instance Of the wanderer who takes time
and means to stroll through the moss
groqn towers of England and be rowed
upon the malarial canals of Venice only
to find upon his return that we have
beautiful scenery of our own-both ma
tural and artificial
Max O'Ren, the celebrated French trav-
eler and satirist, who has the distinc-
ton of having written such volumes as
Jonathan and His Continent and John
Bull" remarked once after a journey over
the Baltimore and Ohio that he couldn't
make out what the final initial meant,
but he was sure that the q stood for
beauty. and so many have discovered who
have attempted to take in any portion
Of this great new world. Washington
ians are particularly fortunate. from his
torical, artificial and natural standpoints.
Most of them do not realize it, and few
er still take advantage of their knowledge
when they have acquired ii. but the To-
calities surrounding this city are filled
with hooks and crannies that bear the
same relation to other views OF the world
that the Congressional Library does to
other buildings. There are people here
who have never been in that structure
and there are people who have never tax
en- advantage of the scenery surround
ing Washington. but their existence IS
due to no lapse on the part cither of the
architect or Dame Nature.
The upper Po-omac IS particularly rich
in scenic investure spread before one in
panoramic order. Reaching Georgetown
eith,<. by the Metropolitan road or that
of the Capital Traction Company one is
first delighted by the vista-if that word
is not too Spanish for contemporary use
spread before him. The river. flied
with varying currents and spanned by a
long bridge, runs fifty feet below him.
while for human interest to his right
he may see that quaint cottage in which
Mrs. Southworth has written the larger
portion of her celebrated novels. The
Virginia shore stretches before him for
goodly distance, green with verdure
and covered with trees. At night this
scene is dimly lit up by the gas lamps
on the opposite side or by the ever-ac-
commodating moon, while the sun coats
ii with a bright vermillion every after
noon. This is the first tasse one gets of
the treats for the eye to be Obtained
in that until recently little-frequented
portion of the District-''up the river"
By taking a car on the Washington and
Great Falls Railway one may soon be
speeding from this place to the other
sights near. Plunging through a dense
growth Of foliage, running with high
bluff on one side and the glistening water
on the other, occasionally rushing over
some rustic bridge or pier, the outlook re-
sembles that TO be got in a vitascope ex-
hibition or in lecture hall rather than
that provided by nature. towpath
which runs along directly below the bal
lasted roadbed of the line on which one is
travelling reminds him of the wonderful
commercial growth of the nation.
Glancing at the river always one final
ly comes TO the trio of rocks POLITICALLY
known as the Three Sisters" Though
dangerous to the oarsmen or the SWIM
mer these crags present a striking ap-
pearance from the shore. lending a tinge
| Of romance that would not be wholly in
appropriate setting for such a story
as ''Ivanhoe.' Almost directly opposite
one sees Dixie's Landing, formerly no
| torious gambling resort but more utilized
| of late by rustic parties with fondness
| for the picnic diet of ant sandwiches and
caterpiller salad. Stretching below this
| point are the stony palisades of the his
| toric Potomac with their glistening sides
and massive strength. When the sun is
just coming out after rain storm these
crags present a most marvellous appear
ance and one needs but little Imagination
when looking at them TO transplant him
self TO the wonderful region of the Rock
les with its mount of Holy Cross and Gar
den OF the Gods.
Few people care to travel without hav-
ing some destination in view, and in the
case of this journey the want is supplied