The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-10-07
Terrible Adventure In the ua,u-
mOtIi Cave.

mOtn Cave.
At tie Supposed ead Of what In, .ta
been considered the longest avenue Of ibs
Mammoth Cave, Zine miles from lie an
trance, there Is pit, dark and deep and ter.
rible, known as the Maelstrom. Tens of
thousands have gazed into it with awe whilst
bengallights have been thrown into It to
make its fearful depths visible, but none ey-
er had the daring to explore it. The cele.
brated guide Stephen, who was deemed inl
sensible to fear, was offered six-hundred dol.
lars by the proprietors of the Cave II he
would descend to the bottom of It; but he
shrank from the peril, A few years ago. a
Tennessee professor, a learned and bold
man, resolved to do what no one before him
had dared do, and, making his arrangements
with great cure and precoution he had him.
self lowered down by strong rope a hun.
dred feet, but at that point his courage fail.
ed him, and he called aloud to be drawn out.
No human power could ever have induced
him to repeat his appalling experiment.
A couple of weeks ago, however, a Young
gentleman from Louisville, whose nerves
never tremble at mortal peril, being OF the
Mammoth Cove with Professor Wright Of
our city and others determined, no matter
what the dangers or difficulties might be. to
explore the depths Of the Muelstrom. Mr..
Proctor, the enterprising proprietor of the
Cave, sent to Nashville, and procured long
rope, Of great strength expressly for the pur-
pose. The rope and some timbers were
borne by the guides and others to the point
OF proposed exploration. The arrangements
being soon completed, the rope, with n
heavy fragment OF rock affixed to it, was let
down and swung to and fro to dslodee anv
loose rock that would be likely to fall ot ,he
touch. Several were thus disodged, and the
long continued reverberations, rising up like
distant thunder from below. proclaimed ,he
depth of the horrid chasm. Then the younO
hero of the occasion, with several hats drawn
over his head to protect it as far as possible
against any masses falling from above, and
with light in his hand and the rope fasten-
ed around his body, took his place over the
awful pit and directed the half dozen men.
who held the end Of the rope, to let him
down into the Cmmerian gloom.
We have heard from his own Inns an oc-
count of his descent. Occasionally masses
of earth and rock went whizzinp past, bnt
none struck him. Thirty or forty feet from
the top, he saw ledge, from which he judg.
ed by aPpe rance, two or three avenues led
off in different directions. About hundred
feet from the top, cataract from the side of
the pit went rushing down the abyss, and,
as he descended by the side Of the falling
water and IN the midst of the spray, he felt
some apprehension that his light would bo
extnguished. but his care prevented this
He was landed at the bottom of the nit, a
hundred and ninety feet from the top, He
found it almost perfectly circular, about IS
feet in diameter, with q small opening at one
point, leading to fine chamber of no great
extent, He found on the floor beautiful
specimens of black slick of immense size.
vastly larger than were ever discovered in
any part Of the Mammoth Cave, and also a
multitude of exquisite formations as pure and
white as virgin snow. Making himself
heard with great effort, by his friends, he at
length asked them to pull him partly up, ill.,
tending to stop on the way and explore q
cave that be observed opening abolt for,v.
feet above the bottom of the pit. ReachDo
the mouth of that cave, he swung himself
with much exerton into it, and hodino tho
end OF the rope in his hand, he incautiousIv
let it 60 and it swung out apparently beyond
his reach. The situation was fearful one.
and his friends above could do nothing fer
him. e''
Soon however he made hook OF the end
OF his lamp, and, by extending himself as far
over the verge as possible without falling.
he succeeded in securing the rope. Fasten.
ing it to rock, he followed the avenue lrO
or 200 yards TO point where he found II
blocked by an impossible avalanche of rock
and earth. Returning to the mouth of II ia
avenue, he behod an almost exactly similor
mouth OF another on the opposite side of the
pit, but, not being able to swing himself in.
to it, he reiastened the rope around his BODY,
suspended himself again over the ABYSS and
shouted to his friends to raise him to the ton.
The pull was on exceedingly severe one,
and the rope, being ILL., adjusted around his
body gave him the most excrUtiating pain
But soon his pain was forgotten in new
aud dreadful peril. When he was 90 feet
from the mouth Of the pit and 100 from the
bottom, swaying and swinging in mid. air, he
heard rapid and excited words of horror and
alarm above and soon learned that the rope
ny which he was upheld had taken fire from
the friction OF the timber over which it pas.
sed. Several moments of awful suspense
to those above and still more awful TO him
below ensued. To them and him fatal
and instant catastrophe seemed inevitable.
But the tife was extinguished by bottle of
water belonging to himself, aud then the
party above though almost exhausted by their
labur, succeeded in drawing him to the top.
he was calm and self-possessed as upon his
entrance into the pit, but all of his compar.
ions overcome by fatigue, sank down upon
the ground, and his friend Professor Wright,
from over exer'on and excitement, tainted
and remained Tor time insehsble. ~. s1iFa'
The young adventurer left his name cary.
ed in the depths OF the Maes,rom-the name
ot the first and only person that ever, gszed
upon its mysteries Louisville Journal.
Head Cut off bV "a Railroad Train.