The times., 1899-09-03

lightful than the accessibility OF the views
This is very important, for If one is TO
enjoy scenery from a hotel one must oc-
cupy a room from which the whole ex-
panse OF mountain and valley may oe seen
at any and all hours of the day The
painter knows that no weather bureau in
forms him of when conditions are favor
able for landscape effects. Therefore.
when he finds himself in paintable neigh
hood, he is ever on the watch lest some
beautiful and unheralded transient effect
pass unobserved. There is endless enjoy
ment in observing fleeting effects OF sun
ilSht and shadow over great valley and
mountain range. Virginia has many fine
views. but rarely may they be seen from
the farm house or hotel as here at Alton
More than half way up the mountain side,
Alton rests upon bench which is a
comparatively fiat-topped shoulder, pro-
1ecting from the mountain side. On this
level. but hundred yards from the hotel,
Is the station and two stores. About a
mile beyond the station westward the rail-
road marks the highest point reached by
rail in the Blue Ridge. and passing through
tunnel arrives at Basic City and Waynes-
boro, the nearest towns the latter being
the county seat of Nelson county, in which
is Alton. The natives are justly proud OF
the views of the Piedmont and Fishback
valleys.
In the distance there nestles on the banks
of the Ravenna the University of Virginia
and sacred Monticello, the home of Thomas
Jefferson. While meditating on the su-
preme beauty of this Happy Valley who
knows but jefferson may have had those
visions which have endeared him TO all
Americans. From Alton in the early
morning the flood of sunshine breaks to-
ward the observer straight from Month
cello, miles away. When the suns mighty
disk rises above the horizon and Monti-
cello one thinks of the revered statesman
and how his profound wisdom, like the
morning light, is flooding the land. and
his name becoming scarcely less dear TO
his countrymen than that of the great
Washington himself The ragged noun
ta1ns make wavey line on the horizon s
rim, broken only where the sun is directly
above them. Fair-sized mountains TO
dweilers in the valley from Alton seem to
be but little Islands of insignificant eleva-
ton floating in a lake of FURNISHED gold.
There is singular beauty in the per-
spectiye which these tiny clouds make.
With irregular but very graceful lines lead
ing to the sun they form a scenic effect of
great splendor. Nearer, in the valley. the
woods and cultivated fields form dainty
patchwork, like a bit of old-fashioned silk
quilting. Here and there where the light
catches the projecting edge OF an upland
pasture or red plowed field there is soft
line producing the effect of light on velvet
or changeable silk. White farm houses are
mere white specks of dazzling brightness.
Those that are unpainted hide away like
the nest of ground sparrow and may
only be located by the long blue shadows
they cast across green fields. Winding
about in that seemingly aimless fashion,
known only TO country roads. one may trace
here and there through the valley these red
and yellow threads, while other threads
of shining silver tell of the river and small
waterways. The one quality which i'm
presses itself upon the memory more than
any other when one observes sunrise
over a wide valley like this at Alton is the
perfect harmony. The whole expanse is
blended with faultless delicacy and tender
ness-no harsh edge, no sharp note. There
is that melody and mystery about 1t which
nearer-by things possess only after sun
down and by moonlight. It is the mystery
of the air. that alluring veil which glorifies
everything and verifies the truth OF that
carelessly quoted phrase, Distance lends
enchantment TO the view
JAMES HENRY MOSER.