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Beautiful is the
View from the Top of Lookout Mountain
Earl Pixley Spends a Day There and Writes Interestingly
of It for the Times Headers.
Chattanooga. Tennessee
Sunday, April 24, 1898
Today
I took in Lookout Mountain. To start at the first: There are
two incline roads up—No. 1 and No. 2.
No. 1 takes you to Point Lookout direct and No. 2 to the highest point of
the mountain and to Lookout Mountain Inn.
I
chose No. 2. It is a cable and electric road the car coming down assisting the other up,
passing half way. The track is about 4,700 feet long and is not so very steep
until the last going up or the first coining down, then for a thousand feet
the track is at an angle of 671/3 degrees. This is the “scary" part to the
newcomer. The cars have that mashed
appearance. For instance, take the
bottom out of a box and press it down. The seats are on steps, or stairs, they
might be called. The power house is at
the top of the mount, from where the cars are controlled by a man at a lever which regulates the speed, etc. But to start at the bottom. The conductor cries "All aboard,"
the gates are locked and he pressed an electric button as soon as they are
settled in the cars. From the top he receives an answer by the ringing of a
bell and then he touches the button again and up we go. Half way we pass the other car. A little farther, and on an immense rock is
painted "Lookout Mountain Battlefield." This is on a sort of shelf, or level, about
half way. There is a small stone station, for many live here. Soon we strike the steep part, and we hear such
expressions as “Well, goodbye, old man," and other similar ones, spoken in
a jesting way, doubting if they ever get out alive. Another minute, through a
deep cut in solid, rock, and we stop at the top, about an eight minutes ride,
crowd scatters, some to Lookout and others to the point.
I go
to the point. The first rock is Sunrise Rock. From here an elegant view of the
rising sun is seen. Next is Battery
Rock, where they say a battery was stationed during the war. But I hurry to Point Lookout, reach it, and the
first view comes and surpasses all expectations. The
city of Chattanooga at
your feet; Missionary Ridge, which is about 600 feet high, looking very small and low; Moccasin Bend, formed by the
Tennessee river, and which is a perfect image of one, and the fine farms, now green and brown, the
brown from fresh plowing, in their
patch work way, are all before you. As
soon as you have a first glance you begin to pick out different objects of
Interest—Orchard Knob, where Rosecrans first had his headquarters; the National
cemetery and the post-office, with others. Of all you get a kind of bird's eye view.
Lookout Point Inn is just below on a ledge, from where, they say, Hooker placed
his ladders. It is the building with the
three galleries you see in all photos of the Lookout. Umbrella Rock is just to the left and is in
use nearly all the time for photographic purposes, there being a photographer
there who takes your picture in any of the various ways you can assume. Some
hang from the umbrella, which gives the appearances of hanging over much space,
but you are not over five feet from the ground, this side being from the
cliff. I had some taken on the other
side, and from there it is a sheer drop of probably a hundred feet.
Ropers Rock is about a hundred yards from
here. It is named after a man of that
name who fell over backwards, He did
not know when be got to the bottom.
Sunset Rock is farther on. The
name tells what it is famous for.
From Lookout Rock on a clear day it is
possible to see into seven states.
Commencing on the left -- Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina in the order named. The
battlefield lies a little to the right of the Point, but Hooker’s forces climbed
up a little to the left. I saw the
places where they say the ladders were.
Numerous balls, bullets, etc., are found and are on sale, and ordinary
old “Minnie” ball selling for “only” twenty-five cents. On the tope of the mountain is a museum of
such relics, stumps with shot and shell in them, old flags, coats, guns,
saddles and many other and parts of things.
Lookout Mountain Inn is a large summer resort
on the highest part. It is an elegant
place. One of the finest sights I ever
saw, or expect to see, of the kind gain was two cavalry troopers from the camp
at Chickamauga, who rode up the mountain and to the point. It was a surprise to all to see a horse on
the extreme point, for it is a regular Chicot pass down to it but soldiers, how
perfectly in accord with the times and scenes.
By much coaxing the horses were led to the point and there mounted. Their heads were over the cliff, which
extends hundreds of feet below there, and at a favorable moment, with head high
and ears extended, looking out over the bottom they were caught by the
camera. No one remembers of a horse
being there before and certainly not a United States cavalry horse and trooper since the war. They will be fine pictures and I will try and
send you one.
After taking in the view until almost dusk, I
started down, taking a stand on the front platform, coming down slowly and
having the view shut off by a coming to it level. It was like the dropping of a curtain
Earl
The Daily Times: Wednesday, May 4, 1898
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