The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-08-07
SslELa. Y. {. AuEust :.

some al4e GiLeI our ARRIVAL mere Ee
took a "Trip 20 Asheyille, thirty-I.ur
miles distal-. Fer nonotoEous gran
dew We 10 10. believe thai The dis
lance can he duplicated ON the West
en hemisphere. We say "nouoto-
nous" because a ar,at writer has sad
that Familiarity breeds contempt"
land this living in no clouds makes
one very familiar WIN natures most
gorgeous handiw0rlz, hU, on can no
more liz e Is be,"-T G. ines
fe,a.aai ana majestic MS than h.
can iail 20 be enraptureu by he beau
Y of d glorious sunset.
Asheville is trimmed about with
mountains and is like a jewel in g
brilliant setting. Mountains every
where They rise one above another
and reach such lofty heights that
they are kissed by the clouds and
present a panorama of light and
shade, height and depth, beauty and
grandeur that painter and poet love,
and a writer from the flat-woods finds
adjectives entirely inadequate TO de
scribe.
There is no pTettier picture On can
vas than the view presented from the
veranda of the Battery Park Hotel. Ii
captivates the eye of every beholder.
As the celestial bodies have each 4
glory Of their own, and one different
from another in glory, a visit here
also reminds us that terrestrial bod
les differ one from another in glory.
But in majesty and grandeur this re
gion has a glory all its own, and
stands m.ivalled and alOna. A3jec-
dives pale IN their power Of descr.r-
,icn, Id IL contemplation falls g.:
olcf, of The reality.
Tire Sapphire Country" The Land
of :lp Sky" and other aphorisms dc
b"t lct Die attempts 10 convey TO the
rniniI:ated some idea of the magnif-
/ ca@ce and dcIghtfuness Of this IA
voraC region.
Asheville is both a summer and {
WHIT resort and its hotels are kept
iopn all the year round. 1t is a vine,
Irascrt for northern tourists, the
clowd<, or a large part of ITEM, max
ing a stOp-oyer at Asheville on their
way 20 and from Florida. Nassau an
ICuba. It is a summer resort for tn.
southern people. largely Floridian1
An examination of the hotel regis
tiers show that a large number of our
people spend their summers at Ashe-
vile, where climate and scenery are
so entirely different from that of our
own state.
Biltmore, Mr.. George Vanderbilts
atate, is Asheyi,!c's chief extraction
! 70 v,e!t As'eyi:le without VISITING
IRilt.-.f: N,.ld lie like reproducing
! le IT,. q Eoml.; VIII Hamlet left
out.
Biit.ore is something exceptional
in the United States. and is what We
suppose is wonderfully like the old
castles and estates in England in feu-
dal times, 1t embraces many thous-
lands Of acres. and nowhere else has
+ nature been more prOdigal in her
, gifts on the same number of acres.
But where nature has been at all mig
gardly the hand If art has been Law.
! ish in making this estate the most
superlatirely beautiful in the world
River lake, mountain and forest con
, spiFe to add to its attractiveness,
The French, Broad and Swanhanoa
rivers sweep through the valleys OF
, the broad acres and the banks have
been made a picture OF supreme love
= illness by the transplanting of every
f lovely tree and i1ofer that will grow
and blossom in this climate.
The mGuntain ranges are nowhere
more rugged and majestic than those
THAT encompass the Biltmore planta
\ ition. and to make the landscape mOr'
o beautiful artificial lakes and serpen
g tine walks, bordered with the mos
A beautiful plants, flowers and shrub
9 berry have been added which give t
% the intervening valleys a look of troI
ical luxuTiance.
IN Among other things the Biltmor
T. estate has ninety miles of macadan
10 lied driveways, and on Tuesday,
is Thursdays and Saturdays it is Ope
20 to the public. An admission of
q cents is charged for single-seated V,
ar hicles, so cents for two seated web
o. cles and 10 cents each for every pa
70 senger over four in a team.
Y AS we passed through the baroni
m gates our driver said: eve are now
Paradise" He was very nearly co
rect, for if there is a paradise outsiC
sr, the "Pearly Gates" it must be Bi