Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-18

brldge as the equal of Niagara Falls.
anu iooks upon it as wonderful work OF
nrnmen, winch should belong to the COY,
TINS ne has the hearty support of many
~ representatives from other sections 81
egation
In one Of the House galleries, when MT:
Flood walked to the Speakers desk and
presented his bill was one of his constitn-
ems, VINO lives near the bridge. Char:cs
~. rax.on. The latter was as deeply m
I, .tTested IN the measure as Mr.. FLOOD.
W III Rockbridge," he said to report
er Tor The Star. the Natural Bridge IS
ESTIMATED as ole of the most interestinS
thlngs In Virginia. JeffeI son, who was us
!lIs owner, spoke of it as "a famous place
, unai VIII draw the attention OF ny
World. John Marshall called 1t Goa
sreatest miracle in stone. Clay sald II
was "a bridge not made with hands, that
SPANS river. carries highway, ana
lnakeS Two mountains one. IhoSe men
visited the bridge at the cost of long.
trying stage journeys, but they were nos
the ofiy ones attracted to RockbridSe -
see IT. Monroe, Benton. Jackson, van
Buren, Sam Houston, and no one knows
how many others undertook the same
journey 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
ana TO ADJUST their schedules to include
Natural Bridge exactly as they long ago
included the great summer resorts on the
main line
Those who have seen the bridge do
not require to be told about it. But
for others, don't believe all the pictures
in the world can indicate its solemnlty
and grandeur. 1t is a 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 il cut with chisels. The height
of the arch is almost exactly 10 Iee.'
about half that of the Washington mon
ument. Its width is 100 feet and ITS 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
1119 and hurled down an immense mass OF
rock, but there is no sign OF It's dis
placement on the bridge Itself.
The history of the Natural Bridge Is
remarkably interesting. 1t was MEL
toned first, 4 think, by Burnaby in lIo9,
bridge joining two high mountains, with
considerable river underneath.
bloody Indian fight occurred near it about
ITO. Washington, when a surveyor Tor
Lord Fairfax, visited it and carved MS
name, where it can now be SEEM Dur
ing the revolution the French organized
two expeditions to visit it. From their
measurements and diagrams a picture
was made in Paris, which for nearly hall
a century was copied in Europe and
America as correct. The original tract
was granted by the king to Thomas JEFF
ferson in 1774. After Jefferson became
President he visited the place, surveyed
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 entertain
ment of strangers. The slaves were new
er manumitted. jefferson left here a
large book for sentiments, and the
saying by Marshall and Clay, | have in
dicated were taken from that book. In
fortunately the book was accidentally de-
stroyed in 1S45 and only part of it re-
mains.
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 blythe confederates in 1867, and
Lost river, a subterranean stream which
shoots out of a cavern high in the wall
and disappears in another nearly oppo-
site Above the arch some one has
carved, Whoever drinks here SHAH re-
turn
Natural Bridge Park is plateau 1000
feet above the sea and comprises about
1000 acres. 1t is about two miles away
from the James"