The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1845-06-07
Wonderful Cave,

A most extraordinary cave was recent
~ discovered in Howard county, (says a
late Missouri paper,) between Glasgow
and Cooper's bottom. One Of the farmers
Of the neighborhood, wanting rock to
build, we believe, chimney, went to an
adjacent hill side for the purpose of quar-
ryng them. In striking the earth with
hoe, or some similar implement, sound
was emitted plainly Indicating that the
hill side was hollow beneath, and, pro-
ceedlng to remove the dirt covering the
surface, he discovered wall built of
stone, and built evidently by human
hands. This wall he displaced, and it
gave him entrance to the mouth of u cave,
which upon subsequent examination, he
found most extraordinary natural curin
osIty. The cave has been explored to
the distance of 300 yards. Twenty five
or thirty yards from the entrance is
sort Of room, the sides of which, accord
ing to an account we see in the Glasgow
Pllot,' presents q most brilliant and Won
dcridl appearance. The writer, who ell
tered the cave with lantern, says:
j had not proceeded far before enters
~ WV SliuiiluSI mat ny Il Single
light presented the mos, magnificent that
ever beheld. The ceiling Of this splen-
did cavern is some eighteen or twenty
feet high, and Of a hectagon form, the
whole ceiling presenting a shining SUR
face as though it was set with diamonds.'
Very near the mouth, another writer
says, there is a stone shaped like horse,
but not SO large, being only about three
feet high:
'Tho head, neck, and the body are en-,
tirely finished, and part of hind leg and
all the rest is solid stone. The neck is
made of three pieces, and stuck or fas-
tened together something like cabinet
makers put the corners Of drawers to-
gelher, ldovetaIled,) the rest is all soid.' !.
In another part of the cave the walls on
one side are very smooth. On these
walls numerous letters, figures, and hie-
rogIyphcs appear, most of which, howev-
are so dclaced as TO render them unintel-
ligiblo. Nevertheless the figures ], 2, 6,
and z are quite plain. Just above these
figures the letters DON s. CARLO are
Icgible. Further on, the letters J. H. S.
appear on the wall. An arm of the main
cavern has also been discovered, and has
been explored some 200 yards. A wri-
! ter says:
l'hc walls and ceiling of this extraor-
binary cave are pretty much the same az
in the other rooms. The walls have
peculiar and extraordinary briIlnncy, oc-
casioncd discovered from the fact that
instead Of stone as we first believed, we
found them to be of metal, very much
resembling sulphate of iron, but more of
silvery appearance. We had not pro-
cecded very far before we head rumb-
ling noise that occasionally broke upon
our cars in notes the most thrilling and
melodious ever heard We stood for
considerable time in brcathless silence to
catch the most enchanting sounds that
ever greeted the ear of man, and it was
only at an interval that we could summon
courage TO explore its source, which we
did, and were much surprised 10 find it
proceeded from gushing spring in the
side of the wall. The sounds we heard
we found to be produced by the fall ofthe
water, and varied by the current of air
before alluded to, which we then found
to be very strong. We each took hear
ty drught of the lympid water of this
gushing strng, and, after surveying the
diamond walls of the greatest natural
curiosity in the world, we commenced
re.racing our steps to lis mouth, when
we found it to be quite dark and eight
O'Clock at night
--Izaxr -rr-rz rrn