The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1914-06-04
THE BEAUTIES OF P|SCAH FOREST
DESCRIBED IN CHARMING MANNER
The Wonderful Land of the Sky Sold BY Mrs. Vanderbilt the
Government To Be Kept Peretuay Playground Nation

vile. The imagination pictures as
climbing TO the sharp summit OF Pis-
gah.
This road extends from the end of
The county macadam. 20 miles from
HE city. and asccnds $500 feet by a
steady grade Of 3 To per cent miles
To the lodge. and then continues 10
miles along Pisgah ridge. Ii circles
great peaks, hanging over steep pre-
cipices and crests heights over 5000
feet high and then becomes almost
level for several miles. The speeding
car unreels new scenic marvels each
moment. In front. above. below, an
ocean OF greenery seems 'to rise and
fall as far as the eye can see. to the
dim blue of the Appalachian giants,
the mass OF the Great Smokes guard
ing the Tennessee line. and North
ward the dark pinnacle of Mt. Mitch
cll.highcst land East OF the Rockies
Far below CLEANS the water-mirror-
ed face OF stone pinnacle that stands
sentinel in the river valley and
through the widening Vista of encom-
passing ridges shows the distant es-
carpment of the Blue Ridge, reaching
from Georgia to Virginia.
An extension OF this road II to Is
miles to Brevard would connect 1t
Will tHC otdte lOdu ~ ASnCVlllC, ~
fording circling 60 mile ride. From
it two roads lead down 10 the valleys
where ere many miles of we'll graded
roads along the streams which at
slight expense could be converted in
to automobile highways. It is the
plan OF the Appalachian Park Asso-
citation. whose head quarters are in
AShCvillc. to have the government con-
vert the most suitable parts OF the
lands. which like this. It acquires un-
der the terms Of the Weeks Act" for
conserving the water supplies of navi-
gable streams. into national parks,
and to connect these by automobile
roads that they may be easily acces-
s1ble to the people. These roads
would link the various reserves in the
mountain sections of the South.
1t was the wish of Mr.. Vanderbilt
that the nation should become the
owner Of Pisgah Forest and last
spring he offered 1t to the Forest Res
ervation Commission. $4,000 acres
were priced at $5.75 an acre. this
tract being subject to contract which
he made two years previously with
the Carr Lumber Company by which
1t could cut trees of u diameter over
l6 inches. for which 1t was to pay him
$1,000 an acre. $4,000 acres OF virgin
timber were offered at $500 an acre
The commissioners inspected the
property in the early part OF June,
1913. but on returning to Washington
decided not to buy. The generally ac-
cepted reason for their declinatfon
was their belief that Mr.. Vanderbilt
would preserve the tract and thus the
government would have the, essential
advantages of a reserve without pur-
chase. The death Of Mr. Vanderbilt
in March showed the hazard of this
plan. Individuals offered several dol
lars an acre more for the entire tract
than the price named to the coma g.
sion.
Mrs. Vanderbilt wrote to. the COM
mission the fsrst OF May that her hue
band wished the forest to be owned by
the nation and that price might not be
an obstacle to effecting his wish she
would sell the entire acreage at the
price Of $500 an acre. This repre-
sented saving of 100000 to the gov
ernment and the commission accepted
the proposition. There Is excepted
from the sale. as there was by Mr..
vanderbiIt's Offer, 500 acres surround
ing the hunting lodge. Neither offer
included the 10000 acres which form
the Biltmore House property which
under the terms of the will was in
herited by fourteen year old Cornelia
Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, the only child.