Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-10-26
A GHOST OF A PLACE.
THE STORY OF ASHLEY HALL AND
HOSPiTABLE COLONEL BULL.

| Goods From the Hands of the Raiders
Pictures of = Beautiful Suburb That All
Visitors to Charleston Admire.
| Woodlands thick with underground:
tranquil country stiffness, the stiffness
of bit of country comparatively TN
titled and unpastured roadways lined
| with tall and stately trees-such the
scene as the clatter of horses hoofs echo
ing on the hard flooring of the river
bridge dies away into noiseless footballs
and the wheels turn without sound in
the yielding soil of st. Andrew 5. The
| murmured chorus of countless pines
charms Us into forgetfulness of the city
| close proximity across the river. Ahead
| the way unfolds to us, broad and smooth,
winding between long battalions of an
| cient oaks, muffied up to their chins in
| gray; on through miles of the century old
trees, their massive trunks bound with
| fibrous scarfs, as if to veil the scars of
successive seasons, every twig and
branch and spray hung with streaming
moss. Grand old oaksi Autumnal
storms and April airs i'll turns have
tossed and kissed their rugged boughs,
yet the giant trunks stand firm. Scarce
| a gap in the uniform line shows where
elbow to elbow, they guard the ancient
highway from enCroaChment of forest or
field.
Here is an old gateway, the entrance
to the grounds which once surrounded
Ashley Hall, one of the prOudest and
most spacious of the ancestral homes i'll
this parish. We pass through the use
less massive portals into the driveway
IT, u, i,,ht hn
seems dreaming of the past, for these
great oaks stand guard over the wreck
of all they We're intended to adorn. OF
the stately homo to which their beauty
formed fit approach nothing now RS
mains but the crumbling marble steps
and tall, spireliko chimneys Little
pickaninnies play hide and seek where
once the flowers in my lady's garden"
grew i'll trim luXuriance. Only the Ash
ley is unchanged rs it ripples by OH its
way TO tho sea, its waves as blue and
sparkling as when it bore many boat
ing party from the mansion house
Ashley Hall was the scene of n munifi-
cent and lavish hospitality i'll antebel-
lum days. Its owner possessed immense
plantations i'll Mississippi and Louisiana
in addition to his Carolina estates, and
rooms of the St. Andrew $ mansion were
frequently thronged with a gay COM
pany of the most distinguished people
of the state The host was passionately
fond of the chase and delighted to as
scmble about him those who shared in
his love of sport. Deer hunts, partici-
pated in by famous sportsmen from all
over the south, were features of every
nH
ity that dictated a hospitality so marked
obtained between master and slave, and
the large retinue of servants at the hall
were happy, care free set. 1t was ira
ditional that no one was ever sent away
empty handed who applied for aid at
the doors of this plantation home.
This old hall, in which seven genera
lions of tho same family had dwelt, liv-
ing almost ideal lives. met with a tragic
fate The organized struggle between
the north and south was at an end, but
the raiders were in possession of this
country. They had already sacked and
destroyed every house in the parish,
with a single exception, and that plan
tation was occupied by an enemy more
dreaded even than demoraliZed soldiers
namely, smallpox. That frightened
even rough handed rapacity away, and
venerable Drayton Hall, today famous
for its wonderful gardens, was preserved
inviolate The knowledge of the fate
that had overtaken the homes of his |
ncighbors, and which he felt that a few
hours more would precipitate upon his !
own, determined Colonel Bull. Calling !
for kindling wood, surrounded by his !
awestricken servants, he himself applied |
the pine torch to his household gods. |
Pictures, plate, antique furniture, val |
ned heirlooms-all were sacrificed save |
the small number which could be has
tily secrcted by trusted slaves when they /
learned of his intentiOn. 1t is related by |
an eyewitness that the stalwart planter |
wept tears of infinite sorrow as the |
sounds of falling brick and crumbling |
woodwork smote upon his ears. Just |
back of the house is an ancient monu-
ment erected to commemorate ono of |
Cardinals colonial governors, an ances-
tor of the doughty colonel. 1t was on
the base OK this shaft that the master of
the manor sat and watched the destruc-
ton of his home.
We retrace our way along the ranks
of rare old trees, passing through the
ancient gateway, fit subject for poets
theme, into the open road, where we are
greeted by a procession Of oaks as sym
metrical as those we left behind. Miles |
Of moss fringed trees, their somber cur
tains swayinS far above, and again
dropping so as almost to touch the earths
about their feet, continue even to the
cleared strip of land Immediately IN
front of the bridge. Opposite lies the
city, her cluster turrets and slender
spires outlined against the evening sky.
Asked how we like the oaks, we say
that they are beautiful, but all the
while we are conscious that they nave .
charm of their own not to be interpreted
IN words. Cor. New York Post.
a Great Landowner.