The Ocala banner., 1913-09-12
|ExPERlENcEs OF a vAcATIoNlsr
To the Editor ocala Banner:

To the Editor Ocala Banner:
There are summer hotels and re-
sorts all along the line from Cornelia
to Franklin, and the rivalry is fierce.
1t is charged against the Georgians
by the Franklinites that they board
the trains al try to persuade you to
get off and sop in their town, and as
sure you that Franklin has an epidem-
ic of every deadly disease from dan
druff to diphtheria, and that the
Georgia mountains are the grandest,
the breezes and sunshine the most in
vigorating; that Rabun county moon
shine was the most exhilarating-
Franklin is the county seat of Ma
con county, and is only fourteen miles
over the Georgia line. 1t is 220o feet
above sea level, in the heart of the
Blue Ridge range. Judging by old
landmarks, including the cemetery. 1t
is probably near a century old, but
has only been discovered by the out
side world some six or seven years,
Since the extension of the railroad
from Tallulah Falls, thirty-six miles
below, that road now runs from Cor
nelia, Ca, where it connects with the
Southern to Franklin, N. c., distance
of fifty-seven miles. This road is a
great luxury to Franklin merchants.
The freight rate for this fifty-seven
miles average 4S cents per hundred,
or about what it cost in the old days
to haul it overland with mule and OK
teams from Walhalla, s. c. The town
has resident population OF about 500,
but has system of water works and
electric lights furnisher by water
power. There are four hotels and a
number of good boarding houses. and
it is a pleasant place to spend a short
vacation. There are several falls and
other attractions nearby, and livery
teams are not exorbitant.
Trimont mountain is 300 feet high,
to the top of which is only three miles
from town, with a good road Our
party walked up there and spent the
day, enjoying magnificent scenery
and picnic dinner. Our next trip
was to Cullassja Falls, about nine
miles distant, for which we got a
team. We were joined by several 9TH
er parties-four teams in all. You
can drive only to within a mile of the
falls, where the stream enters the
gorge. Here we had dinner. and dur
ing its preparation a thunder shower
came up, and we had to take shelter
and eat our dinner in a nearby barn,
one of the ladies hiding under the hay
from the keen flashes of lightning.
After dinner we started on the te-
dious and somewhat hazardous trip
up the gorge to the falls. On account
of boulders you cannot follow the wa
ter's edge. Sometimes we were an
hundred feet or more above the water,
along the side of the gorge.
each other up, and then all hands
pulled the ladies up. The ground was
wet, muddy and slippery, ead not be-
ing used to mountain climbing, sat
down some six or eight times with a
dull thud. A good many of the others
did the same; and the worst of Il
was that none of us had on water
proof clothing, (but perhaps ! had bet
ter speak for myself only on a matter
Of this kind. One of the young ladies'
started on the trip dressed in Inn
maculate white, down to and includ-
ing her shoes, but during the trip she
was overtaken by sad bereavement.
and at the finish she was in deep
The falls are beautiful. and we'll
worth the trouble in getting to them.
On this trip we passed several ancient
ruins, one former summer hotel
which had been partly destroyed by
fire. We passed dam by an old mill
site, but there was no mill there by
a dam site. OF course this Is an
cient, as / first heard about 1t in a
speech made by Hon. Chas. Dougher-
ty in the political campaign OF 1856.
had cherished it in my memory all
these years, and was delighted to see
the identical place he told about.
w w. CLYATT