XIII 
ASHEVILLE 
A SHORT distance beyond Flat Rock, the train 
stops at Hendersonville, a gay garden of build- 
ings as seen in the distance, and where upon arriving 
one is dismayed to hear the pouf! pouff of an automo- 
bile. For Hendersonville has recently grown into a 
place of importance where summer visitors congre- 
gate, and it would also like you to know it is a rail- 
way centre. At least, besides the main line running 
through it, there is that branch line crossing over 
into the French Broad Valley and proceeding up 
past Brevard and on over the mountains into the 
Sapphire Country, that enchanting region where, 
besides silver cascades and blue mountains, one finds 
sumptuous hotels, artificial lakes, and the ways of 
the world. 
Beyond Hendersonville the train continues across 
the plateau some sixteen miles to Asheville, villages, 
from each of which one gets beautiful views, growing 
closer together. These villages in the forest, not visi- 
ble from the train, make pleasant summer resorts 
for the increasing numbers of those who come up to 
escape the heat of the plains. Each of them, of 
course, is destined to a great future, and the young- 
est and smallest, the one that bears the name of 
Tuxedo, must perforce bear more than this, for the 
