Evening star., 1902-03-03
NATURAL BRIDGE PARK
BILL INTRODUCED BY REPRESEN-
TATIVE FLOOD.
Beauties Of the Scenery and Historic
Associations Told by Mr..
Chas. n. Paxton.

Representative Flood of Virginia, whose
district embraces Rockbridge county and
other mountainous territory, introduced a
bill last week providing for the pur-
chase of Natural Bridge by the national
government and the development of the
land just about the bridge into national
park. Like every one else in the state Mr..
Flood regards the Natural Bridge as the
equal of Niagara Falls, and looks upon 1t
as wonderful work Of nature which should
belong to the government and be jealousy
guarded. In this he has the hearty support
of many representatives from other sec
tions Of the country and the entire Virginia
delegation.
In one of the House galleries, when Mr..
Flood walked to the Speakers desk and
presented his bill was one of his constitu-
ents, who lives near the bridge, Charles
HI. Paxton. The latter was as deeply in
terested in the measure as Mr.. Flood. up
in Rockbridge,' he said to a reporter for
The Star. the Natural Bridge is estimated
as one of the most interesting things In
Virginia. Jefferson who was its first own
er, spoke of 1T "a famous place, that Will
draw the attention of the world John
Marshall called it Gods greatest miracle In
stone Clay said it was Il bridge not made
with hands, that spans river, carries
highway, and makes two mountains one.
Those men visited the bridge at the cost OF
long, trying stage journeys, but they were
not the only ones attracted to ROckbrldge
to see 1t. Monroe, Benton, Jackson, Van
Buren, Sam Houston, and no one knows
how many others undertook the same jour
ney at the same cost. Today interest in
the bridge seems to have grown with the
country. 1t has become necessary for the
railroads to build new stations and to ad-
just their schedules to include Natural
Bridge exactly as they long ago included
rs no m
Beauty of the Bridge.
'"rhose who have seen the bridge do not
require to be told about it. But for others,
I don't believe all the pictures in the
world can indicate its solemnity and gran
deur 1t is single block of limestone. with
many shades of color, wide enough to span
Broadway and high enough to throw In
shadow the turrets of Trinity Church. The
walls are as smooth as if cut with chisels.
The height of the arch is almost exactly
215 feet, about half that of the Washing
ton monument: Its width Is 100 feet and
it's span is clear 80 feet. Birds high In air
pass under the blue arch. The place is
full of echoes. Lightning struck the bridge
in 1779 and hurled down an immense mass
of rock, but there is no sign of its dis
placement on the bridge itself
1.-The history of the Natural Bridge is re.
markably interesting. 1t was mentioned
first, l think, by Burnaby in 1883. who
spoke of it as a natural arch or bridge
Joining two high mountains, with a consid-
cradle river underneath A bloody Indian
fight occurred near it about l110. Washing
ton. when surveyor for Lord Fairfax.
visited it and carved his name, where 1t
can now be seen. During the revolution
the French organized two expeditions to
visit it. From their measurements and
dia grams picture was made in Paris.
which for nearly half Il century was copied
in Europe and America as correct. The
original tract was granted by the king to
Thomas Jefferson in 1714. After Jefferson
became President he visited the place, sur
veyed it and made the map with his own
hands The next year he returned, taking
two slaves, Patrick Henry and his wife.
For these two the former President built
a log cabin with two rooms and directed
one to be kept open for the entertainment
of strangers The slaves were never manu-
mitted. Jefferson left here a large book
for sentiments and the sayings by Mar
shall and Clay, Il have indicated. were
book was accidentally destroyed in 1S45
and only part of 1t remains.
above the bridge is an immense glen
probably once a cave, which extends for
a mile to Lace Water Falls. There is much
to see in this glen-a saltpeter cave worked
for nitre during the war of 1872 and by the
confederates in 1862, and Lost river, a sub
terranean stream which shoots out of a
cavern high in the wall and disappears in
another nearly opposite. Above the arch
some one has carved, Whoever drinks here
shall return
Natural Bridge Park Ia a plateau /, ,JOe
1000 acres. 1t is about two miles away
from the James,"