The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1905-01-26
Reyerie.

Asheville in 1905. and had been gone
Just ten years.
l looked up and saw sign in large
letters, This way for Electric Cars
Over the Great Scenic Railway TO
Fruitland, Fair View, Bat Cave, CHM
ney Rock, Rutherfordton and All Points
East" I stopped in amazement and
although my destination was Hender-
sonville. ] decided that I could go there
some other time. When entered the
station and called for ticket to Bat
Cave, the agent asked If wanted to
travel in the Palace or open car, and
! said I wanted a Palace car by all
means. seemed to be lost somehow.
l couldn't convince myself that this was
the Asheville I once knew. A Palace
car to Bat Cave and Chimney Rockl
How strange it sounded Could 1t be
possible? Think of such thing flying
down through that rugged country!
The rustic and hustle around the de-
pot was Just like that at ST. Louis or
Cincinnati. Passengers were hurrying
to and fro. It was midsummer and the
traffic was heavy. "Yours is the rear
coach on first track, :" the gatekeeper
said as he handed back my ticket and
reached for the next one coming be-
hind. Sure enough, there they were,
three open cars in front and two
Palace cars hooked on behind. got
aboard. Elegant carpets on the floor,
windows like those in the parlors Of the
wealthy.
The cars were all full Of happy tour
lists who were just out for days pleas
ure down at Bat Cave and other places.
We started. On we sped faster and
faster, until the mile-a-minute rate was
reached. At Fruitland q number got
OF to change cars for Hendersonville.
but my destination was Bat Cave. On
we went, through tunnels, around the
sides OF huge cliffs, over gorges so deep
that you got dizzy in spite of all you
could do and down narrow valleys. A
fellow taveller remarked that 1t was
wonderful what changes. had been
wrought BY the application OF electric
ity-thaG some ten years ago he had
logged along in a hack over the Hick-
ory Nut Gap road, taking almost day
to goffrom Asheville to Bat Cave, and
that he had never dreamed of ever GO
ing over the same route In Palace car
at the rate OF sixty an hour.
: could hardly realize it myself. All
the once small towns of the famous
Land of the sky had become popul-
Gus cities of wealth and influence, Hem
dersonville, Brevard, Saluda were man
and distributing points as
we'll as resorts of health and pleasure.
Bat Cave and Chimney Rock had be-
come the most famous resorts for pleas
ure-loving people anywhere to be
tound. Thousands had to be turned
away every year for want of accommO-
1ations. Familiar names as propr1e-
tors, could be seen in New York papers
advertising their hotels and inns. In
summer they were crowded with visi-
'ors from the coast, who sought fresh,
,ool air, and in winter thousands flock
I'D there to escape the billiards, ice and
snow OF the bleak regions Of the north.
The beautiful Broad river valley pre-
'ented view never to be forgotten,
and one which decided could never be
on canvas. It was evening
lad the hot summers sun bad just hid
len itself behind q towering peak that
ooked as if it might have been left
here by the kind hand of nature pur-
oosely to give the little city shade in
'he afternoons. The river c-ept lazily
lloHg through the narrow, shaded val
ey. Hundreds of visitors and tourists
n evening dress were walking and chat
ing pleasantly. Others of more ro-
nantic nature whizzed by in automo-
piles, while children just like children
|lways did and always will do, played
n the sand near the rivers edge, and
preferred to be barefooted and dirty to
automobiles, model Fairgrounds, or any
hing else that 10Th century civiliza-
ion could offer.
: Looking down the river 1 could zee
beautiful residences, large hotels with
pretty, vine-clad porticos, the noun
aims towering heavenward on either
ide were now tinted in golden hnes
rom the setting sun. Farther on down
light at the point where the narrow
rale spreads out into the hills of Ruth
'rford, could be. seen the far-famed ma
ural curiosity and wonder of the CEN
ury, Chimney Rock.
While contemplating all this, shak-
ng hands with old friends and meeting
lew ones, my bunkie punched me on
he side of the head, and as I woke up
le shouted: "For Christ's sake get up.
It's three below zero and the snow is