White Sulphur papers; or, Life at the springs of Western Virginia

S W E E T S P R I N G S . 51
We conversed with Jean DeLorme, the old bathkeeper,
who has been standing here, with a napkin
on each arm, for the last forty years. " Peregrine
Prolix" has given his history in full, so we were prepared
for the antiquated guardian of the bath.
The Sweet Springs are among the most ancient
and celebrated w^atering places in the United States,
and it is only surprising, that until very lately, so few
improvements have been made in the buildings.
large and handsome hotel is now erecting, which
will be ready for the reception of guests in the summer
of 1839, and the accommodations will then be
sufficient for four hundred persons. Tliis has been
long wanting, for the cottages are mostly old and
dilapidated, each containing two small rooms
The bar room of the present day, was once the
theatre of quite a different display. The county
court w^as formerly held in that room, where Patrick
Henry, and other great men of Virginia,
heard to thimder their eloquence.
A
have been
There is a continual flow and ebb of company
here during the summer, and it is only in the latter
part of August, and the first few weeks in September,
that the place is much crowded, when persons,
with families, after having drank the waters of the
other springs, come here to bathe in the waters,
which possess so many secret and beneficial
quali-