Weekly Mail

Our Own Archdruid in America. 0 White House and President Harrison. WASHINGTON, OCT. 26. In the last sketch of our journey, which 1 posted at Roanoake, Va., 1 endeavoured, by delating my personal experience, to oonvey to the reader some idea of the rough^ railway •ravelling we had just undergone. Ihe great tollman sleeping cars had never, prior to our visit, been seen on the lines we bad just Passed over. Therefore, our trains proved to It a kind of test as to the sustaining Powers of the extraordinary tresseled bridges on those lines It will be remembered that I mentioned that we had left the Pullman trains and gone by a peclal train of ordinary cars to a mountain Camlet, called Cripple Creek, 50 miles away. About 400 went. It will scarcely be believed, it is perfectly true, that the upper Portions of that line were hurriedly put down the day before our visit. The sleepers and rails resembled a skeleton railway, for there was not an ounce of ballast between the sleepers. It seems that the railway officials Who accompanied the train actually antici- pated a smash, in which they themselves, as well as the visitors, would have been involved. They had in the train the neces- sary appliances to lift the locomotives back to the line, if those locomotives were to behave so unreasonably as to turn somersaults! At one place between Knoxville and Pulaski a long, dark tunnel was in such a ricketty condition that it had been shored up with beams. We dashed into it, and, horror of horrors! the passage through the tunnel proved to be almost too shallow to admit of the passing through of the Pullman cars! Think of our state of mind when we heard the noise of the roofs of our cars grating along the under parts of the timbers, which held up the rocks-the mountain-from falling and filling up the tunnel. We emerged into day- light with the "C" and "K" oars badly •oratohed by the contact with the shoreing teams of the dark passage. THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. On Thursday we entered the above-named valley, and the scenes we beheld en route between Roanoake to Luray-the site of a marvellous cave—were surpassingly beautiful. We were now with our faces in the direction of Washington, the beautiful capital of the United States. The broad Shenandoah Valley is flanked on both sides by chains of moun- tains, which are wooded to the summit. Fre- quently there were deep rents in the ohains of mountains, and beyond the gaps wooded dells asoended gently backwards to the horizon. The foliage of the trees everywhere presented a mixture of almost all the tints of the rainbow, viz., orange, green, red, pink, dark blue, &c. Occa- sionally we beheld a far-off mountain casoade spouting its foaming waters in the midst of the lovely tinted scenery Now the valley would be only half a mile or so in breadth; then the wooded mountain slopes would recede back a few miles, all the time main- taining their lofty, rolling-billowy oharac- teristics. Repeatedly the sunshine illuminated the sylvan seenery beyond the gaps in the chains of mountains, and revealed diversified charms of tints and terrestrial formations, which drew from the visitors loud exclama- tions of admiration as the trains sped along. Through the charming valley flowed gently the yellowish-brown river. The lands of the valley seemed very fertile, and there were many homesteads with cultivated farms. But there are miles and miles of the valley waiting for the agriculturist to put in the plough. The Shenandoah Valley has teeming associations of the late civil war between the North and the South. In the spring of 1862 Stonewall Jackson and his army passed through the streets of the small town of Luray, situated on a sloping upland in the valley.When perform- ing their flank movement on the banks at Stratsburg, and again in July,1863,General Lee, the Confederate oommander, returned from the awful battle of Gettysburg. Finding the lower passes of the Blue Hidge held by, General Meade's troops (Federals), he marched tip to Luray to gain Thornton Gap. Thus recent events have stamped themselves upon this delightful valley, so that for future ages the valley of the Shenandoah River will be associated with some of the most thrilling incidents in the history of the New World. While rapidly traversing this valley one could not forget that we were in the heart of the State of Virginia, and that it received that name in honour of Queen Elizabeth-Britannia Is "Virgin Queen." Unquestionably, the noble Sir Walter Raleigh, in the time of England's Elizabeth, journeyed through this very valley, and reoeived here such impressions as to the beauty of the New World that when his poetio fanoy portrayed it after bis return home it was thought by some that he was romancing. But Sir Walter and Sir Francis Drake gave by their narratives that impulse to British enterprise whioh has resulted in making Britons the principal oolomets of the world. THE CAVERNS OF LURAY. The caverns of Luray are, undoubtedly, one of the wonders of the world. They are annually visited by between 12,000 and 16,000 people, and the charge for admission into them is one dollar for each person. The three trains with the visitors stopped at Luray Station -142 miles from Roanoake-and we walked down through the small town, notable for its ornamented wooden houses. 1 henjve passed up through a straggling village, principally inhabited by negro men, women, and ohil- dren, with a scattering of half-whites. On reaching the sloping tableland-a mile from the station-a scene of extraordinary beauty met the view in every direotion. The Shen- andoah Valley is here at least ten miles wide, and the spaces between are undulating. Far off the mountains rose in rugged grandeur to the sky, and their broken summits standing against the blue firmament described a sky- line as erratic in shape as can be lmaginea. Turning our faces in the direction of the station, the rolling hill-tops, 50 miles away, appeared like a long series of Brecon Beacons. We at first thought that all the slopes of the mountains on the far-off opposite bide of the valley were barren. But sud- denly the sun's rays darted out of the clouds and illuminated the majestic slopes, and we now saw they were clothed with trees, whose leaves -were tinted with all the beauties of colour which had charmed us so much during the rest of the journey through the valley. Among those tremendous hills, which are a continuation of The Cumberland -another form of (Jymru-land (Land of the Welsh) were bred the most valorous troops that marched under Stonewall Jackson. No doubt, at some former period in the history of Amerioa those hills were so named owing to their resemblance to the mountains of wild Wales. They breed a race men among them worthy o ancient race of the Cymry; a people vvho, in •ttoient times, won the cognomen of Iron race" and the bravest of mankind, OnL- teemed to breathe the spirit of poetry in the atmosphere of those Virginian mountains and to be almost unable to speak thera in plain prose. A LECTURE ON GEOLOGY. We arrived at a large building on the hill- side. It is bailt over the entrance into the caverns of Luray. Those caverns extend twenty miles under the hills, but only about a mile and a half of the extent is open and shown to visitors. The caverns were to-day illuminated throughout by brilliant balls of eleotricity and hundreds of wax candles. We descended over a long flight of stone steps. The scene which met our view below baffles description. There is no pen on earth, how- ever eloquent, that can convey to the reader a complete idea of what we saw. The caverns are a series of ravines, roofed with stone, in all imaginable formations. Suspended from the roof in endless varieties of shapes are seen stalactite formations, some reaching to the ground, and appearing like the elabatorate pillars of cathedrals exquisitely carved. Other formations resemble suspended white or yellowish embroideries then white draperies of the finest texture are imita- ted, all suspended from the roof. One sees rows upon rows of what appeared like the most exquisitely fluted marble of the most delicate construction suspended from the roof, and reaching, yards in length, nearly to the floor. In many places were white rows of what seemed like beautifully turned organ pipes. There were pillars of stalactite, stalagmite, and helicite at least 4ft. in diameter, with delicate grooves running down each, each pillar reaching from roof to floor, and as if placed there to prop up the cave. One of these pillars had fallen down, and we had to pass through an opening under it. On the upper side of this pillar, near the top part, there lay a thick bed of stalactite encrustation. Calculating by the yearly growth of stalactite formations, it is known that this stalactite pillar fell off its base about 4,000 years ago. But think of the number of years it took the pillar itself to form. This pillar alone is enough to knock into a cooked hat Arohbishop Usher's theoretio calculation as to the date of the creation of the world. Why, the pillar was gradually forming hundreds of thousands of years ago. The broken stratification of the locality proved that long before the cave came into existence at all there were periods of an inconceivable length first, when the strata themselves were forming second, during which they remained in regular order: third, when, owing to the expansion of the crust of the earth, caused by internal heat, the strata were rent into fragments and the mountains danced like frisky lambs; fourth, the duration of the cooling period before the earth became fit to be a dwelling place for man and beast. It is difficult to refrain from entering upon a geological leoture in the presenoe of the marvels of this most extraordinary cave. When some of us were returning to the railway station a nigger on crutches stood begging by the way, and, referring to the cave and its wonders, he said, "We have done all we could for you in this neighbourhood I" The company laughed at the negro's assumption, but one of the party called out, If he did not make the caverns, it is certain his Father did 1" The casual observation seemed to take effect upon the company, and all walked for a little while face downwards, and occupied with his own thoughts. ARRIVAL AT WASHINGTON. Some hours after we left Luray the third train came to a sudden stand. It was night, but an almost full moon spread its soft, silvery light upon the landscape, and the rivers and brooks reflected it back. It seems like an age sinoe we left wild Wales, and I am constantly dreaming of certain little ones far, far away. The Awen appeared to spread her white wings around, and to suggest questions to the moon, The train, however, has stopped, 41ad we scramble out of the cars and nnd that a huge locomotive coming from another road leading into ours had slipped off the rails. For three blessed hours the experts of three nations sought to restore the locomotive to the rails, and at last they suc- ceeded. Preoeded by the locomotive which had delayed us, we rattled away. We were at the time of the delay within 80 miles of Washington. We now felt we had left the by-roads of the American railway system, and, as it appeared, of the tressled bridges,whioh, by the way, are numerous also in the lovely Shenandoah Valley. We reached the capital before dawn on Saturday morning, but we did not leave the oars until about seven o'clook. Then we drove into the oity. The impression made by the first contact with Washington citizen- ship was a pleasant me. The very cabbies were oourteous, and we rejoiced. The broad streets, flanked by broad pavements and bordered with trees, were remarkably clean. The autumn leaves lay in brown curls and unsoiled by the waysides. The immense white obelisk, towering aloft in the short distance, is the monumentof General George Washington. We were soon quartered in the various hotels, and after a while wandered about to see the city. There are neither ironworks, coal mines, nor great commercial houses within many miles of Washington. It is a city devoted exclusively to Government duties, and the minting of gold, silver, copper, and the manufacturing of greenbacks. The Treasury is a magnificent edifice. There is a grand row of thirty Corinthian oolumns in each of its sides, and a fine vestibule, with a splendid porch with grand columns in front. The whole city reminded one of the West End of London. WHITE HOUSE. White House, the official residence of the President of the United States, is in the heart of the city. It is a splendid palace, painted white, toned down by a mix- ture of slate colour. Not a single soldier is seen near it. Indeed, during the whole of our journey, which when we reaoh New York will have been 3,400 miles by rail, we have not seen a single soldier in ^•f m if We exoept the two or three u. hands who have played before us. ?he President's palace is approached through a fine iron gateway, within which are broad plots of green lawn. Beyond the front are nioely laid out sloping lawns, with well-kept pathways shaded by trees. *be,vlfTj r° jevei front windows is that of an undulating level country. Half a mile from the front entranoe is the obelisk-shaped monument the father of his country, General Washing- ton Its height is 555ft. 6 £ in. Topmost point above mean low tide in Potomac River, KQ7ft 3in.: or above the mean level of the Atlantic at Sandy Hook (N.Y.), 596ft. 0-30in. Its interior shaft up to 150ft. is 2oft. 8quare, and it then gradually tapers upwards, its ton nlatform is reached by means of a steam K!Td.l.o by 60 light, of 9001 jron sfceos The outside is all cased with white ™0rhlp and the interior is built of square nnK of aranite. Many of the blocks lining S0et8Meg"e 4. gift, of ti. SUte, of tho Union and of various nations of the world. A WELSHMAN'S PRESENT. Learning there was a block from Wales in the^nS, I ™tt<t^Tr8Tne° 70 it It is the gift of Mr. Daniel L. Jones, /U, black, with the name ™ved centre, and it bears the following carved inscription, all in ji Iaith, Fy Ngwlad, Fy Cymry am Byth." At each corner] is a spray of oak carved into the, granite and embellished with gold. Ihe gentleman who here acted in the matter for Mr. DI. L. Jones was Mr. Wm. T. Hughes 1 clerk in the War Department at Washington. Mr. II ughes came to this country with his parents from Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, when only four months old., Yet he spoke Welsh with me as if it were the only language he knew. W hen I referred to the monument I only intended to give the reader an idea of the White House and its environ- ment. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES RECEIVES THE INSTITUTE. At three o'clock on Saturday afternoon the entire company were reoeived by President Harrison and Mrs. Harrison, together with the other members of the Executive Govern- ment at Washington. The room was a mag- nificent one, and from its superb walls General Washington, Mrs. Washington, President Abraham Lincoln, and President Jefferson gazed down upon us. The mili- tary band in the adjacent chamber played Hail our Chief as the President and the rest of the company entered and formed in line towards the door through which we passed after being pre- sented to the President, During the cere- mony the band struck up God Save the Queen." I find that I have so much more to say of this city that I must devote another letter to the subject. We spent an hour or two to view objects of interest in and around the White House. Sir James Kitson, presi- dent of the Iron and Steel Institute, had after- wards a private interview with the President of the United States. We leave on Monday morning for the Falls of Niagara. THE WELSH BLOCK AT THE WHITE HOUSE. I had just returned to the Arlington Hotel, Washington—after ascending the 898 steps in the interior of the Washington Obelisk Monument, to find the Welsh block of granite, with Welsh words carved in the adamantine section, among similar blocks in the lining of the monument. I was seated in the exten- sive central hall of the hotel, where visitors to the house congregate for social intercourse. A man came and took a seat near me, and we entered into conversation. He inquired about the British visitors. I thought I detected in his speech a trace of the Welsh accent, and 1 asked him was he a Welshman. He replied that he was. We instantly exchanged courtesies in the vernacular. What part of Wales have you come from ? I asked. My parents," he replied," came to Ohio when I was but four months old, from Maenolochog, Pembroke." Have you been to Wales since?" "No," replied he. "And yet," I said, "you speak Welsh perfectly." "Oh, dear, yes," was hiB reply, and also read and write it." He read the Drych (America) regularly, and had read in it that the torrespondent of the Western Mail, whom he wished to see, had come over with the British visitors. After a little explanation we shook hands like two brothers. I mentioned to him I desired to learn the history of the Welsh block in the Washington Monument. He then informed me his name was William Hughes, that he was a clerk in the War Office in that city, and had occupied that position many years, and that it was he who had been instrumental in getting the Welsh block inserted, but that it was Mr. Jones, a wealthy Welshman of Brooklyn, who had defrayed all the cost. He on the following day showed to me all the offioial correspondence relating to the accep- tance of the granite block by the offioials of the Go/ernment of the United States. The striking way the very man whom I wanted to see in reference to the history of the Welsh block came to my side rather astonished me. It was as if my eagerness to learn its history had operated unconsciously in a mesmeric fashion and had brought him to my side. I found Mr. Hughes, I need hardly state, a very intelligent in He informed me the block came from one of the quarries of Wales and was prepared at Swansea. His wife came from Swansea, and her maiden name was Richards, A SWANSEA BOY UNDER FIRE. Mr. Hughes told me that his wife's brother was Lieutenant-Governor Richards, of the State of Ohio. He mentioned some incidents in the career of his distinguished brother-in- law, who was born at Swansea. Young Richards was nineteen years of age when the war between the North and South broke out. He enlisted, I think I was told, in the Con- federate Army. He was soon promoted to be sergeant. In one of the fieroe battles both the captain and lieutenant of the company with which Richards was connected were knocked down, and the command de- volved upon Sergeant Richards. The battle raged with demoniacal fury, and Sergeant Richards' company was falling back before the enemy, notwithstanding the young Cymro's desperate efforts to rally them. Suddenly it ocourred to the heroio young Swansea boy to sing, and he struck up in the midst of the smoke and roar of battle the words:— Freedom's battle, once begun, Is banded on from sire to son; Though biifHud oft, is ever wou!" The words acted like magic on the yielding soldiers, and with a cheer they charged, and oarried everything before them. A GENERAL OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. In the same building I was introduced to General Wintersmith, of the late Confederate Army. I found him affable, a capital story teller, and full of anecdote of the Civil War. While relating things about the old dispute between the North and the South the fire of battle would still kindle in the eyes of the gallant veteran. He spoke of the Confede- rate Army as oomposed of educated men, while the army of the North was composed of the riff-raff of the world. "But," said he, "the sentiment of Europe was against the South, because people had believed the rubbish about slavery found in Uncle Tom's Cabin. He admitted it was a great good fortune to the South that slavery was abolished, for it bad resulted in the mineral resources of the Southern States being developed. The most awful battle he had witnessed was that of Shiloh. But," said he, our men kept their ranks like trained British soldiers, and when gaps were made in the ranks the men filled them up instantly of their own accord. I recollect an inoident of that battle," said he, which illustrates the gallantry and coolness of our men. The place contained vast numbers of rabbits, which ran among the soldiers during the engagement. On a gap being made in one of the ranks and a Southern soldier springing to fill it up a rabbit passed between his legs. The brave fellow turned his head and looked after the rabbit, and cried out,' Co it, cotton tail! Had I not a character to sustain, I would be after you.' The next second the soldier was engaging the enemy." Did you know General Stonewall Jackson ?" I asked. Know him Yes, I did, intimately." "He was, I understand, a splendid soldier, and," I added, judging by what one reads, he is one of the great com- manders who will live for ever in Ameri- can history." Look here," said the veteran general, I have at my rooms- my home is in Louisville-a walking-stick cut near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, close to Stone- wall Jackson's tent. Wait where you are, and I wili fetch it and give it to you to take back to that old land of heroes—Wales—with you He was as good as his word, and I have the stiok. General Wintersmith intro- duced the writer to Mr. Washington, the qi-eat -grandson of General George Washing- ton's eldest brother. This gentleman resem- bled very much in features the portraits of the great Washington. lie not very long ago presented to the authorities of Mount Vernon, the looality where is the tomb of General Washington, the clothes and sword his illustrious relative wore when he was installed President of the United States in, I think, 1776. DEPARTURE FROM WASHINGTON. On Monday morning, October 27, we were all up early, for we were due at the railway station at an early hour to enter the trains bound for Niagara Falls, but to call by the way at the Pennsylvania Steelworks and at Baltimore. Our progress since we left New York, more than three weeks before, had been one of marchings and counter- marchings. How many times we left the cars, then hunted among piles of baggage for our own belongings; how many times we were hoisted in the direction of the heavens by means of hotel lifts or "elevators," as they are called here, to our bedrooms in the various hotels we visited, I cannot now tell. After- wards, when we were beginning to settle down in our respective chambers, came the command to pack up and be ready with our baggage It at seven o'clock a.m., sharp." Then came the application for our hotel bills; and we did this in a spirit some- what competitive in its character, as to who should have his bill first. Then we studied the bills, and occasionally entered into half angry discussions with the book-keeper as to some of the items the bills contained. By thus applying to my bill a critical faculty I on several occasions suc- ceeded in having the amount reduced, once by three and several times by two dollars. 1 shall on another ocoasion enter into an account of the American charges in general. The Pullman sleeping and dining cars we now occupied were of a very superior order. Our German fellow- travellers had early in the pilgrimage won for themselves the distinction of being a remark- ably thirsty body of gentlemen. 'J hey drank rivers of lager and brooks of champagne. Attached to our train-only one now, a part of the visitors having left straight from Washington for New Yoi-k-was a large smoking-room oar, and there the Germans smoked, drank, and chatted in German with animation, not to say noisily. A NEW SLEEPING ARRANGEMENT. With the new cars came a new order of sleeping arrangements. Hitherto nearly all the ladies, both married and single, had been lodged in separate rooms, two in each sleeping berth, one above the other on curtained shelves and wito the !!0! of each room closed. Now, however, the order went forth that the ladies were to adopt the ordinary American fashion of sleeping in the ordinary curtained berths of the open cars. There were two rows of beds, one row above the other, on each side of each carriage. This order naturally caused considerable alarm among the British matrons and their young female friends. Late that night I happened to be in a distant part of the tram among friends of the masculine gender, when there Game suddenly amongst us a stout ironmaster of the North of England. He was in a red-hot passion, and declared he would be something awful before his daughter should sleep in one of the places desoribed. It is," said he un- Knglish It is indecent! It is abominable! Great Scott I" The conductor of the train appeared, and he was greeted with many ex- pressions of the above description. He replied that the order was in accord with the usual American custom, and that American ladies occupied such berths nightly on all the railway systems of the United States. Our friend was not satisfied, and he returned to another part of the train to do the reverse, I fear, than bless the American plan of lodging ladies at night on the Pullman cars of the United States. A young lady had gone to rest in one of the lower berths in the bottom row, fondly believing that the top berth would be vacant that night. She, it seemed, had been asleep some time, when she beheld a male appari- tion in white ascending to the upper region. She startled the entire caravan by calling out 11 Ma in accents of terror. The poor fellow who had gone above was quite as much alarmed as the daughter of Eve in the lower recess, and he-as he afterwards told me-felt a cold perspiration breaking all over him as the cry of 11 Ma I" was reiterated. The commotion soon subsided, and nothing was to be heard through the night except the roar of the running train and the occasional loud booming of the signal appliance on the locomotive. I mention this as one of the amusing, innocent episodes of our long trip by train, found, after careful calculation, to have been about 4,000 miles. BALTIMORE. We reached Baltimore early on Monday afternoon. We left the train and drove about the town. It has a very thriving appearance. It has magnificent public buildings, including fine churches. In the lower parts of the city of Baltimore are open green spaces with neatly trimmed lawns, which are flanked by the palaces of rich merchants. Every- thing in and around Baltimore bore a sub- stantial appearance, indicating that the town is in the enjoyment of great prosperity. In its harbour were steamboat palaoes such as we bad seen on the broad waters of the beau- tiful Hudson River, and there were also to be seen there merchantmen, which indicated that both pleasure and business are studied by the wise people of Baltimore. In this neighbourhood we visited the Pennsylvania Steelworks and Furnaces, which are new and are of gigantic proportions. We were favoured by the owners with a sub- stantial luncheon. The wines flowed like water, and the popping of the corks of ohampagne bottles and the frothing of the contents of the said bottles, held by darkies in evening dress, were heard and seen in all parts of the building. Our ever-thirsty German friends grew excited by degrees, and, by way of showing their hilarity, they clinked their glasses in token of amity, and eventually broke out into crying Hoch We re-entered the train at Balti- more station, and travelled all night. Early on Tuesday morning we rolled into Rochester station, where we stopped to partake of breakfast in the refreshment-room of the building. We scrambled for coffee and made rushes for sandwiches. It was one of the most exciting breakfasts I ever witnessed. The attendants were almost carried off their feet. Theory of It All on board" was raised, and we all rushed back to the train. We now started for Niagara Falls.