DESTROYING MT. MITCHELL 



93 



Homeward Bound from Mt. Mitchell. 



to bring about some form of co-operation 

 between the State authorities and the 

 timberland owners so that no man will 

 be allowed to handle his land in a 

 manner which will affect the welfare 

 and destroy the property of his neighbor. 



A mysterious and quite dramatic 

 incident which followed the start of the 

 movement to preserve the beauty of 

 Mt. Mitchell for the people was the 

 recent discovery that the monument 

 marking the last resting place of Dr. 

 Elisha Mitchell, after whom the motm- 

 tain was named, had been blown up by 

 dynamite. It is not known what was 

 the motive for the act nor has any clue 

 which might lead to the arrest of the 

 vandal been discovered at the time of 

 this writing. It may have been done 

 by some drunken men carousing at the 

 top of the mountain. The people prefer 

 to believe that this is the case, and not 

 that an agent of some of the interests 

 which oppose the preservation of the 

 forest committed the act. 



Dr. Mitchell came from Yale to the 

 University of North Carolina as a 

 member of the facultv, and the monu- 



ment to his memory on the top of the 

 mountain was erected twenty-six years 

 ago by the alumni of the State Univer- 

 sity. The monument was constructed of 

 composition metal, and was cast in six 

 sections and base. It was twelve feet 

 high, and the base was thirty inches 

 square. Dr. Mitchell, during the time 

 he was a member of the University 

 faculty, spent much tiine in exploring 

 the mountains, and studying the geog- 

 raphy, geology and botanical specimens 

 of the region, and was killed on one of 

 his daily trips, falling over a precipice. 

 It was considered peculiarly fitting 

 that his grave and the memorial 

 monument should be located on the 

 top of the mountain. 



At a mass meeting held on the day 

 following the blowing up of the monu- 

 ment, the students and faculty of 

 Weaver College, at Weaverville, nine 

 miles from iVsheville by trolley, agreed 

 to rebuild the montmient in stone, in 

 which will be set a tablet to be given 

 by the North Carolina Historical Soci- 

 et3\ The rebuilding of the monument 

 will begin in the spring. 



