The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-10

row. gauge branch railway. which car
ries you, as on downy beds of case,
under. the very shadow of one of the
wonders of the world
1t seems to me like sacrilege for any
uninspired pen to attempt a descrip-
ton of the Natural Bridge. Mine, GER
tainly, shall not be guilty of it, but
will content itself with Offering you
this bit of advice-come and see for
yourself. This much may be reverent-
ly said: No picture has ever yet been
made that did faintest justice to Ma
lures Utmost sanctuary, and words
and figures fail alike to convey an
adequate idea. AS for figures, which
give no conception of the grandeur
of this perfect arch in blue limestone
here they are: Hight of the bridge
216 feet; width, 65 feet; span, go feet
But the wonderful lights and shadows
in the narrow gorge, the beautiful
Blue mountains, the natural groves of
oak and cedar, beach and Under crowd
ing close on every side, and the gay
little river breaking into a thousand
cascades!
You may ascend to the top of the
bridge, over which the highway runs
and look down from its dizzy hight:
or descend to the foot of its stupen-
dous piers, by a rocky, winding path
way among the great trees that line
the gorge. Under the arch, among
hundreds of other names carved above
and below, are George Washingtons
initials, about thirty feet from the
ground, cut by himself when he visited
this spot as surveyor for Lord Fair
fax, with several young companions.
The letters are dim with time. but
having been sheltered by the massive
roof far, far above, from the storms
of nearly one hundred and fifty years
they may still be distinctly traced
with the aid of a glass.
Who does not remember that thrill
ing yarn in McGuffy's old Third Read
er, which has narrowed so many
youthful imaginations-abo the boy,
Harry Piper, who climber from the
bottom to the top of the bridge? 1t is
with great satisfaction that am able
to assure YOU that the story is sub
stantially true. and will never be ex-
ploded as has been the Barbara Fret
chic legend. the William Tell exploit
and other dear decisions upon which
childhood pinned its faith. The hero
of the Piper story died not long ago,
and many of his relatives still live
hereabouts Harry was born within
mile of the bridge, and when a stud
ent at the Military Academy at Lex
ington. he came home that eyentful
summer with a number of other ca
diets, to visit his parents. Wishing to
do something unusually smart, boy
fashion, he determined to carve his
name under the great bridge, higher up
than anybody else had ever done So
he climbed and climbed, far above the
place where the more sensible Father
of his Country had left his honored
mark-farther and farther upward,
like that little fool of the poem, FIX
celsior"-until he got so high that his
nerves would not permit him to come
down You know that having gone
beyond a certain hight it is impossi-
bic TO descend, though one may per-
haps continue to ascend. Standing at
the bottom of the gorge. you see a
cleft in the solid rock at such a dizzy
hight that the trunk of projecting
tree looks like a mere twig, and are
told that here Piper tainted, and after
recovering consciousness. remained on
the narrow shelf nearly two hours be-
fore mastering up courage TO proceed.
Meanwhile crowds had collected, above
and below. Their shouts of encourage
ment came to him family from the dis
lance, and his mother and sisters were
on their knees praying for him. An
effort was made to reach him with.
ropes. which were thrown down over
the side Of the bridge, but none were
long enough. More ropes were brought
and spliced on, but the arch prevented
their falling in the right direction. At
last he began 10 climb again. slowly
step by step, in frightful peril. cutting