Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1857-01-07

a sculptor's dream of beauty. The ssof is
about twelve feet high, and the gallery is if
ty feet brold. The ceiling which is the subject
OF our admiration, is covered with iucrusta-
tIons OF gypsum, the result of crystallization
They exist in forms of the most profuse vari-
ety-resemblipg snowballs. roses, tulips, Ill
les, daisies, even long stalks of celery FLOW
ers, however. predominant. and with fdeli-
ty to nature that is truly astonishing
In some places portious of rock have falle n
out, and In the crevices thus left these beau
tltul formations are Reproduced. 1t has been
SAID that they exist not only in living, but in
growing reality; for new formations are being
continually made beneath, the old ones drop
ping off and lying in quantities under the feet
BY searching among the collection, apparent
iy OF rubbish thus formed, / was SO fortunate
as to secure some beautiful specimens to bring
home as mementoes of the place, aud which
L prize more highly than | would one of the
white eyeless fish, for containing which the
wators Of the cave are so celebrated
Leaving Cleveland's Cabinet and over the
Rocky Mountains as they are called, for an
other mile, the termination of the cave is
reached. New passages have been explored
during the last year but being difficult of ac-
cess, and containing nothing, as was assur-
ed, more wonderful than what had seen /:
with my appetite, moreover, for the marvel
lous in this case thoroughly satisfied, I was
willing to return and as L retraced my steps
L stcove to retain in my mind the succession
of wonderful objects, and with regard to many
OF them to feel that my sense of appreciation
for their true merit had been increased
Being unaccustomed to such things, and
not knowing their real magnitude, one fails at
first to discover their importance but upon
the return and the second visit they seem to
have been enlarged, or rather, cur ideas hav-
ing grown, were the more capable of compre-
hending the real proportion of the different
objects. The first sense of disappointment
originates doubtless from misapprehension
10 the mind of the visitor as to the real char
acter of the cave.
Being ushered through darkness and gloom
into great, bare, deserded-looking places,
with his imagination filed with fairy grottoes,
stalag mites from the floor and stalactites
from the ceiling, and with other beauties of
which he has read or heard confusing his
mind with most undefnable ideas, he receives
shock from which it takes him some time to
recover. Stalactte and stalagmite formations
exist but in one place, and are few in number;
and except beyond the river, where they are
most beautiful, the rocks are Of black, una
dorned limestone, with none of the accesso-
ries of fairy land. But when he begins to
understand where he is-among the vast gal
leries, the wild, weird-like halls, the preei-
pices, pits and chasms-and gets his mind
wrought into the sublimity of the scene, he
becomes willing to forego the beauties of the
place, and is satisfied to be able to appreciate
the vastness, grandeur and sublimity of the
whole
Upon reaching the entrance and emerging
to the light the effect is most surprising. Af-
ter having been in darkness for several hours
and our eyes, straining to discover objects in
the gloom, have accommodated themselves to
the necessity, the light seems to stream in at
the olering, casting strong and distinct a
shadow upon the pathway as direct sunbeam
into a room The mouth of the cavern is
overarched with trees. and the light seems to
be tinged from them with a grceuish hue,
which is cast like veil over the rocks and
other objects In the path.
The access to the cave is By stage to
q Bells;" thence by accommodation line
across to the hotel. The quarters are most
excellent, the tables as well supplied as in the
City Hotel, and the servants are the best |
ever saw. There are accommodations for about
two hundred guest, and will be greatly en-
larged to meet the increased facilities that
will be rendered to travellers in reaching this
place by the expected extension, during the
next summer, of the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad to BELLS Tavern"