Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1852-12-01

with the South fork Of Shenandoah River |
and derives its name from the discoverer. ID /
is 10 miles North East of Staunton. and the |
entrance to it is in the Eastern side of steep |
and rugged bin, at least 200 hundred above /
the water that washes It's base, and from
which u rises so abruptly as scarcely to leave
room ior single wagon road. The mouth Of 4
the cavern Is about two-thirds of the way up,
and the ascent steep and laborious But nh /
the toll and expense of the visitor is repaid /
With compound interest, by sight Of the
splendor and magnifcence presented to bis
bedazzled eyes, In trailing through the extern
siye and various halls into whiclIi. is divided
For everything that eau contribute to natural
curiosity Meyers cave is said 70 be uuriyaned
The strangeuess of its stalactitic concretions.
the arrangement of its festooning, the fanci-
ful exhibitions Of its drapery, the sublimity
and granduer OF its scenery all combine to
make it ope Of the greatest curiosi,ies in the
world
We we're conducted through by Mr.. Moler.
the guide, who owns the premises, and keeps
hard by an excellent house Of entertainment
TIE entrance is easy, and rather descending
leading to the anti chamber leaving which
you pass into the Statuary Chamber, SO term
ed from numbers Of stalagmites strongly re
senlbling statues. Directly over this is the
Gallery. an opening Of some attraction, You
next enter through high, narrow passage
Solomon's Temple, one Of the best apartments
the Cave affords Its shape is difficult to
describe--is irregular, rather an oblong
square, 80 or 40 feet wide, and perhaps 10
feet longer. Thisis magnificent room, dec
Grated in the most gorgeous manner, presen-
ting to he cyes Of tue spectator scene Of
.icncsss, In the highest degree enchanting
There is an elevated seat in this room APPLY
called Solomon's Throne surrounded by
starry incrustations. that sparkle before the
lighted candle. Here are a number Of other
attractive objects in this hall Tho next
room you enter is beautiful beyond descrip
tion The ceiling is high, variagated and
brilliant, thickly set with stalactites like
pointed shells, from which it is called Shell
Room. We then passed through success
rion of different sizes among which was the
Armory, Lawyers Office and Meyers Hail.
named for the discoyerer Of the cavern. We
passed also two other called the Pantheon and
Irvine rooms. Next is the Balustrade room,
which contains many beauties. The Cathe-
dral comes next, aud is spacious hall, con-
tanning representations Of the Bishop and
Bishops Seat and Desk This room is also
alive with highly wrought limitations aud rep
reservations Of various things. Next the
Drum room, so named from sound similar
to the Bass Dram, emitted by s.riking
thin stalactitic partition, stretching from the
ceiling to the floor. by fight Of natural
steps you descend i.cm the Drum room into
tho famous Ball room said to be 100 feet
long 80 or 40 feet wide. and about 80 high.
In the contre Of this hall is a calcarous de-
posite, bearing at distance rude resem
blance to a man. The floor is quite level
enough for dancing purposes, and We were
informed that visitors occasionally amuse
themselves in that way. In leaving this hall
by gradual ascent of S or 10 feet the yisi-
tor proceeds through the Narrow Passage :
80 or 60 feet long. 3 to feet WIDE and from
to feet high to Jacobs Ladder, formed
by natural indentatioLs in the rock which
offers an easy descent. You next proceed to
the Senate Chamber, by means of an irregular
passage. This is another splendid hall and
presents great variety Of splendid sights -
Congress Hall is adjacent to this, and derives
its name from that circumstance. This room
is irregular but commodious, and wears
wild and grotesque appearance, in which res
pect it differs widely from the others, nor does
it contain much stalactitic concretion. About
500 feet to the right is Star Chamber con-
tanning great variety CT rare crystals of
great beauty aud singularity from Con-
gress Hall We assembled 10 feet TO the Lobby,
from which DIVORCES number of secret pas
sages which lead to the end Of tie cave,
without communicating with the main path.
From this point descent Of 10 feet brings
you to Washington's Hall, the most gorgeous
apartment in the whole cave SO named in
honor Of the Father of his Country, and it
is no disgrace to his illustrious name. 1t
is about $50 feet long. % broad, aud about
the same in heigth--remarkably smooth, even,
level and straight throughout. This Hall
presents great variety of interesting objects
tho Towers--the Shield of Achilles-the
Sword of Democlcs, and the Pyramids The
most conspicuous object in this hall is Wash.
ington's Statue, standing near the centre 1t
is an immense depositc of calcareous substan.
ces near feet in heigtb, and closely initiates
a statue clad in drapery. After entering
here the Guide went in advance and lit I'D
number of lights, that are constantly kept
here, which Eliminates the hall in the most
brilliant style. and displays the Statue to
great advantage On our return to this
room the Guide proposed to extinguish the
lights to show the utter darkness that reigns.
and such perfect darkness as we experienced
cannot be described. Mr. l.. and myself
made an effort to walk from the extremity of
the hall amid this utter darkness to the
Statue, but failed to End it Contiguous to
this hall is Lady Washingtons Hall, place
of great interest and elegance, though Of less
magnitude than its neighbor The entrance
between these rooms is low, and the visitor
Is compelled to stoop in making the passage
Nothing can be more exciting to brilliant
than the sublmity of these halls
well Illuminated. The scenes is enhanced in
proportion to The extent Of the heigth. At
ter leaving Washington Hall, through rough |
narrow walk or passage a descent of several
feet brings you to the Diamond Room, OBJ !
long and uneven in shane. and hiober and |