Evening star., 1945-03-25
CONTINUED From First Page.) )

old buildings in the older and lower
section of this hilly town.
Mayor Nichols, who also is treas
urer and acting secretary of the
Harpers Ferry National Monument
Association and B. a. O. station
agent, said he did not know what
plans the railroad might make, but
he believed the tracks might cross
the river about a mile above the
town, where the mountains would be
tulneleG.
Officials of the B. 81 o. in Balti-
more said last night they were
making a study of the proposed
project and would withhold COM
ment until after the survey has been
completed.
Landmarks Would be Covered.
Among the landmarks that would
be covered would be marble shaft
marking, the spot where John Brown
surrendered in 1859 to Robert
e. Lee, then colonel in the United
States Army, and the old foundation
stones OF the armory and arsenal
where breech-loading guns were
first manufactured in quantity.
The dam formed lake, which
would extend up the Potomac to
another dam at Rockymarsh Run,
would also drown land once used as
a camp by the Shawnee Indians and
the land claims of the areas first
white settlers. The land was bought
for 80 gold guineas in I747 by Rob-
ert Harper, millwright.
These landmarks lying at the con-
fuence of the Potomac and Shen-
andoah Rivers are a part of a
15,000-acre national memorial spon-
sored by Representative Randolph,
Democrat, of West Virginia and
signed last June by President Roose-
welt.
Approaches to three Civil War
forts in the area would be inun-
dated.
Park Bill Being Drafted.
While the park area has not been
purchased and turned over to the
National Park Service, bill now
is being prepared for presentation
to the West Virginia Legislature
providing funds to purchase land
in that State, and it is understood
that similar bills will be introduced
in the Legislatures of Virginia and
Maryland to buy land in those
States when accurate surveys and
land costs have been determined.
Mr.. Demaray, in a report to Mr..
Randolph on the effect of the dam
project on the park area, said 1.-The
majority of thoughtful citizens of
the area feel a great wrong would
be done to Harper's Ferry.
THE value of Harper's Ferry as
a historical site would be impaired, /"
Mr.. Demaray said. I'm fact" he
added, lit is on Harper's Ferry that
the most adverse effects of the pro-
ject would be felt"
Canal Would Be Damaged.
He said that damage to the c 81 o
Canal that parallels the river from
Cumberland, Md. to Georgetown,
would be severe in some sectors.
However, he continued, parts of the
canal could be saved.
The view from Jefferson Rock
overlooking the gorge below the
union of the two rivers, once de-
scribed by Thomas Jefferson as
worth voyage across the Allan
TIC" wouldn't measure up to much
If all you had to look at was a
lake bordered by mud flats" Mr..
Nichols said.
AS for the park area, Mr.. Nichols
said new roads would have to be
built to the three civil war fortress
ses in the area. These are forts
Sullivan and Duncan and the Old
Stone Fort. They played an i'm
portant role in the civil war, he
said, when the Federals and Con-
federates fired cannon balls at each
other from mountain top to noun
tain top across the town.