Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-07-31

fill us with sense OF sublimity and
awe, and the wondrous mountains and
valleys of the Alps instill feeling of
admiration over their magnifcence;
but this little valley, with only a chain
of hills encircling it, rests the soul and
imparts to one sensl Of perfect con-
tentment, feeling OF infinite pleasure
such as we feel in LOOKING at the rad
lance of feminine beauty or the glory
of perfect flower. Is it any wonder,
therefore, when the very atmosphere
is heavy with content, when nature
seems to sleep with all the beauty of
slumbering girl and entices men aud
women into Irritation with the in
diligence of Father Time, that the in
habitants of the valley are satisfied
with life as they find 1t and entirely in
harmony with the environment in
which they have been castp And it is
these very conditions that makes the
Arcadia valley an ideal place for rest
and recreation during the months of
torrid weather, as many wealthy st.
Louisans who have country homes
there will doubtless testify.
The Arcadia is one of chain of
small valleys, and its hilly walls en-
circle an area of probably twenty
square miles, nearly every inch of
which is attractive and pleasing. The
waters of the valley all flow toward
the south, where they find their exit
through gorge known by the de-
cidedly unpoetic name of Shut-In.
The exceedingly precipitous sides and
the bed of the gorge, along which
Stout's creek murmurs and babbles on
its way to join the St. Francis river,
are of solid rock, jagged, gnarled and
twisted into divers odd and interesting
shapes, ruggedly picturesque in every
part, though for all the world it looks
very much like giants quarry when
one has scrambled down the steep,
almost perpendicular slopes and stands
on the porphyry banks of the creek
gazing about on the rocky picture
towering high on either side. Here
are places that look as though some
cyclopean had cut cyclopean blocks
from the breast of the canon walls,
leaving patch with a slightly nicked
and corrugated surface, like the marks
that would follow the blows of huge
chlsel. Near by is hole torn and
rent as if some tremendous explosive
had been used to detach mass OF
stone, leaving the deep scar to add TO
the picturesqueness of the scene.
Huge blocks stand about every where,
giving the impression that the titans
had been frightened at their tasks and
left them hurriedly for mortal eyes to
gaze upon after cons of time had
slipped into the abyss of eternity.
Mighty blocks are these; some stand
ing in the center of the gorge, force
the waters of the creek to flow on
either side, murmuring loudly at the
impudence of the monolith in seeking
to block their passage; others stand on
apparently frail foundations far up the
canon sides, as though it needed but a
vagrant breath of air to topple them
over to the chattering waters below.
The coors of the stone, for the most
part reddish-brown, change at inter
walls, and at times merge into verit-
able riot in which red, yellow, black,
brown and gray are mingled in hetero-
genous confusion with result pleas
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Again the colors rest in perfectly de-
fined horizontal stratas as clearly
marked and as beautiful as the bands
OF liquors in a pousse cafe, but always
where the varying hues OF rock are
found it is gratifying TO the visual
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too, add to the pleasure of the picture,
and their murmur is incessant and
musical. Almost In the middle of the
journey between the towering hills,
where the rocky walls attain their
greatest height, the prophyry forma-
tion breaks abruptly into series of
irregular steps, compelling the creek
to leap from one TO the other with a
noise loud enough to be heard far up
the slopes OF the mountains, and form
ing a cascade of the most beautiful de-
scription, a cascade so pleasing that
on seeing it alone one feels we'll re-
paid for the trip to Arcadia and the
tough scramble down the canyon walls.
The heavy growth of bushes and trees
upon the upper edge of the canyon
effectually screens the cascade and all
the other beauties to be seen along the
course of the stream from the view OF
those who may attempt to see them by
going along the carriage road above,
but 1t is worth all the risk the climb
down the walls involves to see the cas-
cade at least. The big rock far up