The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-17
THE NATURAL BRIDGE.
An Interesting Talk Apropos of the Bill
 for National Park There


 l for National Park There Representative Flood of Virginia
 whose district embraces Rockbridgt
 county and other mountainous terri tory, introduced a bill last week pro Viding for the purchase of Natura- Bridge by the National Government and the development of the land Just about the bridge into national park 1 Like every one else in the state, MT Flood regards the Natural Bridge as the equal of Niagara Falls, and looks upon 1 it as a wonderful work Of nature which should belong to the Government and be jealousIy guarded. In thls ne has the hearty support of many repre- sentatiVes from other sections or the
 country and the entire Virginia delesa-
 ton.
 In one of the House galleries, when Mr. Flood walked to the Speakers desk and presented his bill was one Of his constituents, who live near the bridge Charles II. Paxton. The latter was as deeply interested in the measure as MT Flood Up in Roekbridge, ne Sala to q reporter, the Natural Bridge IS es- timated as one of the most interesting things in Virginia. Jefferson, who was it's first owner, spoke of it as famous place that will draw the attention or the world. John Marshall called IL Gods greatest miracle in stone clay said it was bridge not made Wlth hands, that spans a river, carries highway and makes two mountains one. Those men visited the bridge at the
 . +aCCA they were not the only ones attracted to Rockbrdge to see it., Monroe, Ben ton, Jackson, Van Buren, sam Housloh and no one knows how many others uh- dertook the same journey at the same cost. To-day interest in the bridge seems to have grown with the country. It has become necessary for the faIl- roads to build new stations and to ad- just their schedules to include Natllral Bridge, exactly as they long ago eX- cluded the great summer resorts on the main line,
 '"Those who have seen the bridge do not require to be told about 1t. But for others I don't believe all the pie lures in the world can indicate it's sol emnity and grandeur. It is single block of limestone, with many sh8das of color, wide enough to span Broad~ way and high enough to throw in the shadow the trurets of Trinity church The walls are as smooth as if cut with chisels, The height of the arch is all most 215 feet, about half that of the Washington Monument Its width is 100 feet and it's span is clear 90 feet. Birds high in air pass under the blue arch The place Is full of echoes. l. ght- ming struck the bridge in 1179 and hurl- ed down an immense mass of rock, but there is no sign of its displacement on the bridge itself,
 "The history of the Natural Bridge is inters sting. It was men tioned first, I think by Burnaby in 1759, whc spoke of it as a natural arch or bridge joining two high mountains, with considerable river underneath. A bloody Indian fight occurred near it a bout ITO. Washington. when a survey [ or for Lord Fairfax, visited it and ca'v- ed his name, where it can now be seen During the Revolution the French or ganized two expeditions to visit it.
 From their measurements and dia-@ grams a picture was made in Paris, which for nearly half century was 1 copied in Europe and America IS cor | rect The original tract was granted by | the King to Thomas Jefferson in 177i. | After Jefe son became president he vs- ted the place, surveyed it and made the map with his own bands. The next year he returned, taking two slaves, Patrick Henry and his wife For these wo the former president built log ,abln with two rooms and directed one 0 be kept open for the entertainment ,f strangers The slaves were never nsnumitted. Jefferson left here a large book for sentiments, and the sayings of Marshall and Clay I have indicated we're taken from that book. Unfort- lnately, the book was accidentally de. itroyed in 1s45, and only a part of re- mains.
 Above the bridge is an immense ;len probably once a cave, which ex { ends for a mile to Lace Lace Water Falls. There is much to see in his glen a saltpetre cave, worked for hitter turing the war of 1872 and by tbe Con- ederates in 1862, and Lost River. a sub- stream which shoots out of avern high in the wall and disappears { n another nearly opposite, Above the ] NN-