Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-30
THE NATURAL BRIDGE.
An Interesting Talk Apropos OF the
Bill For q National Park There.

An Interesting Talk Apropos Of the
Bill For a National Park There.
Representative Flood, Of Virginia,
whose district embraces Rockbridge
county and other mountainous terri
tory, introduced a bill last week pro-
viding for the purchase Of Natural
Bridge by the national government,
and the development Of the land just
about the bridge into a national park.
Like everyone else in the state, Mr..
Flood regards the Natural Bridge as
the equal Of Niagara falls, and looks
upon it as a wonderful work of nature
which should belong to the government
and be jealously guarded. In this he
has the hearty support Of many repre-
sentatives from other sections Of the
country and the entire Virginia dele
cation.
In one Of the house galleries. when
Mr.. Flood walked to the speakers
desk and presented his bill was one
of his constituents, who lives near the
bridge, Charles H. Paxton. The latter
was as deeply interested in the meas
ure as Mr.. Flood. "Up in Rockbridge,"
he said to a reporter, 1.-The Natural
Bridge Is estimated as one Of the most
interesting things in Virginia. Jeffer-
son, who was its first owner, spoke of
it as famous place that will draw the
attention of the world John Marshall
called it Gods greatest miracle in
sIone.' Clay said 1t was a bridge not
made with hands, that spans a river
carries a 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 Rockbridge to
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 in
terest in the bridge seems to have
grown with the country. 1t has be-
come necessary for the railroads to
build new stations and 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 1t. But
for others I don't believe all the pic
lures in the world can indicate its
solemnity and grandeur. It is a single
block of limestone, with many shades
Of color, wide enough to span Broad
way and high enough to throw in the
shadow the turrets Of Trinity church.
The walls are as smooth as If cut with
chisels. The heighth Of the arch is al
most 215 feet, about half that Of Wash
ington monument. Its width Is loo
feet and it's span is clear 80 feet. Birds
high in the 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 remarkably interesting. It was men
toned first, think, by Burnaby in
1853, who spoke of 1t as a natural
arch or bridge joining two high noun
tains, with a considerable river under
meath. A bloody Indian fight occurred
near it about ITO. Washington, when
surveyor for Lord Fairfax, visited
it and carved his name, wnere it can
now be seen. During the Revolution
the French organized two expeditions
| to visit it.
From their measurements and dia-
grams a picture was made in Paris,
which for nearly half a century was
copied in Europe and America as cor
rect. The original tract was granted
by the king to Thomas Jefferson in
liza. After Jefferson became president
he visited the place, surveyed 1t 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
ulTSClcu OliS " NC hSpl oPSh hOA eihS
entertainment Of strangers. The
slaves were never manumitted. JEFF
ferson left here large book for SEN
timents,' and the sayings of Marshall
and Clay I have indicated, were taken
from that book. Unfortunately, the
book was accidentally destroyed in
1S45, and only a part Of it remains.
above the bridge is an immense
glen, probably once cave, which ex-
tends for a mile to Lace Water Falls.
There Is much to see in this glen-a
saltpetre cave, worked for inter dur
ing the war Of 1872 and by the Confed-
crates 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