Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1898-01-31

capital, where we fingered longer
than was our first intention, as we
who had visited the city before were
glad to revisit the Capitol, Mount
Vernon, Arlington, and many of the
public buildings, while the Congress
sional Library building was new to
all. This alone would repay our five
days. stay iii the "Paris of America -
1 will make no attempt to describe it,
for after reading the most exhaustive
and minute descriptions of it in our
popular magazines, and seeing num-
berless pictures and photographs of
it's exterior and interior, I found
hadn't theAfaintest conception of its
wondrous loVeliness. Of course we
felt an honorable pride in the beauti-
full Vermont marble that decorates
many of it's corridors; also that it was
mainly through the influence of our
revered Senator Morrill, that the ap-
preparations for this wonderful struc-
ture were made. And the glory of it
all is, that this storehouse for the
mind, one of the most beautiful in the
whole world, was reared and adorned
wholly by American architects and
artists. While visiting the Senate we
had fine view of the striking face of
our aged senator, Justin S. Morrill,,
and although his majestic form is
somewhat bowed with the weight of
years, yet he is still remarkably we'll
preserved. While we we're doing the
Senate the male members of our
party visited the House and had a
pleasant chat with our neighbor and
visited the Krupp Gun exhibit at the
Worlds Fair, could perhaps imagine
what it would be to see vast numbers
of these huge engines of destruction
in all stages of construction, some
with a capacity for throwing i'm
mense shells a distance of thirteen
miles. This is one of the interesting
sights to be seen at the Navy Yard.
On Tuesday, Jan 1S, we continued
our journey to Shenandoah Junction,
and, thinking we might never be SO
near the Luray Caverns again, we de-
cided to make side trip down to the
interior of Virginia, distance of 65
miles, to see them. We arrived at
Luray at p. M, and as night and
day are all the same in the bowels of
the earth, we decided to do the Cav
erns in the evening, in order to take
our onward bound train the following
day. Accordingly we descended to
the regions below, and there we
wandered about for several miles
under the direction of an intelligent
guide. Awe and reverence possessed
US as we beheld wonder after wonder.
Among the many curious formations
is the gorgeous Entrance Hall, the
Fish Market, the Theatre, the Vegeta
BILE Garden, the spectre in Pluto's
Chasm, the Brownies at their bath,
Diana's Bath, Giants Hall, wet
blanket hanging in graceful folds, the
Ball Room, the Cathedral with it's
organ. The waiter at the hotel where
we dined told us of the organ, and we
smiled incredulously, but we found
not only the organ, which would
emit many musical sounds at the tap
of the mallet in the hands of the
guide, but would chime bells also. All
these wonders and many others are
are formed of many hard, glittering
stalactites, stalagmites, and helictites.
At one time the guide told us we
were 100 feet below the surface. In
summer, when there are many visi-
tors, the caverns are lighted by cleo
tricity, but at this time of the year
they use candles and flash lights. I
heard of one old lady who saw them
in the evening as we did, and was SO
with their wonders, that
she said, "she must come again and
see them by daylight" When IIcame
to the surface my first thoughts were,
''Be still, and know that am God"
The next morning we retraced our
journey by daylight.
One thing that surprises us New
is the lack of thrift after
you get below Mason and Dixon's
line, the natural outgrowth of slavery,
I suppose. We came back to Harper's
Ferry, and as we had to wait about
seven hours for our onward bound
train, we thought we would do that
quaint old town bristling with mem
cries of John Brown and other Incl
,%o 80
sight that greeted us was monu-
ment erected on the site where stood
the little engine house which was