Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ...Ry................. to Lincolnton, Pennsylvania R. R.................... to Baltimore. Baltimore Steam Packet Co................ to Norfolk. Southern Ry........................ to Gastonia. Carolina & North Western Ry.............. to Lincolnlon. Returning by same route. THROUGH BATES. Located in the historic Shenandoah Valley, midway between Harrisburg and Roanoke, are the Luray Caverns, admittedly among the most wonderful examples of Nature's handiwork ever discovered. Here one finds himself immersed in gloom and surrounded on all sides by grotesque shapes which his excited fancy clothes with ghostly appearances. The entrance hall is a large compartment, supported by fluted columns, and adorned with snowy drapery and glittering stalactites. From this section avenues radiate to other portions of the cave. One leads to the Vegetable Garden, where the pendants assume the perfect form of vegetables; then through lesser rooms the way leads to the Fish Market, where the wall is hung with rows of fish, so natural in their likeness that the beholder is startled into a belief in their real existence. A succession of chambers, each named from some striking resemblance to wellkn0wn objects, and each tilled 'ith the curious creations of a subterranean world, are connected by passages which appear to have been carved by some giant hand; grottoes, adorned with the richest ornamentation; cascades of sparkling brilliancy; and forms and figures of infinite shape and variety inspire emotions of wonder, which grow with each new revelation. The Crystal Lake, with its flood of pellucid water; the Cathedral, with its silent organ; the Bridal Chamber, with its alabaster figures in trailing drapery; the Giant's Hall, with its glittering arches...