The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1858-10-05
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y ~ AT tuc buppOSeQ ouu O1 Wo16 - iDe'
ways been. considered ofhc Iongeat sSsHns
of tue Mammoth Cavc,. niuc miles non,
Its entrance, there is pit, dark and deep
and terrible, known as the MeslstonsA
Tens of thousands have gaShd Into L wifh
awe, whilst bongallights were thruwn dow,
IL to make its fearful deptha Visible, buk
none ever had the daring to explore iGsatc
Tho celebrated guide Stephen, who IwaaI
doomed insensible to fear, was offered sik
hundred dollars by tho proprietor of ths .
cave 1.-The, would descend to tho bottom a.
il, but he shrank from the peril. A ian
years ago, n Tennessee professor, lcara.
cd and bold man, resolved to do what 10
| ono before him had dared to do, and ma.
king his arrangements with great cars and !
precaution, he had himself lowered dowa
by strong rope a hundred feet butt g !,
that point his courage failed him, and hs
called aloud to be drawn out. Nc human
power could ever have Induced him 10 res
peat the appalling experiment. .,fg al,
A couple of weeks ago, however, gsh.
tlcman Of Louisville, whose nerves novsf
treInLlcd at mortal peril, being at the
Mammoth Cavo with Professor Wright of
our city, and Others, determined, no mat.
ter what the damages and difficulties might
be, to explore the depths of the Mealsirom.
Mr.. Proctor, the enterprlsing proprietor OF
the cave, sent to Nashville and procured .
long rope Of great strength expressly for
tho purpose. The rope and some nccessa
~ timbers were borne by the guides and
others 10 the point Of the proposed explo.
4 ration Tho tro ~ /,o ,,oofa ho;,<~ oooc 90.
pleted, tbs rope, with fragment Of rock
affixed 10 it, was let down and swung ID
and fro to dislodge any loose rocks that
would be likely to fall at tho touch. Sew.
eral were thus dislodged, and the long.
continued reverberations, rising up like dis
tant thunder from below, proclaimed tho
depth Of tho horrid chasm. Then the
young hero Of the occasion, with several
bats drawn over his head to protect il %
Ear as possible against any masses falling
from above, and with light in his hand
and the rope fastened around bis body.
| took his place over the awful pit, and di. 1
rected he half dozen men, who held the
end Of the rope, TO let him down into the
Cimmerian gloom. J ISL g,. lim01 y
We have heard from bis own lips an 20.
count Of his descent. Occasionally mssses
Of earth and rock went whizzing past but.
rome struck him. Thirty or forty feet from
the top, he saw ledge, from which, a. hs
judged by appearances, two or three aven-
ues led off in different directions. About
hundred feet from tie top, q cataract
from the side of the pit went rushing down
the abyss, and, of he descended by tho
side of the falling water and ia the midat
Of the spray, he felt some apprehensiou
that his light would be exiinguished, but
his care prevented th;. H. !ssn .sa nius :.
u faet' from Il the top. He found il almost
perfectly circular, about eighteen feet in
diameter, with a small opening at one
point, leading to fine chamber Of no
great oxtent. He found on the floor besu-
tiful specimens of black silex of immense
size, vastly larger than were ever discover
e. in any other part Of the Mammoth
Cave, and also multitude of exquisite
formations as pure and white IA snow.-
Making himself heard with great effort
by his friends, he at length asked them TO-
pull him party up, intending to stop on
the way and explore cave that he had
observed opening about forty feet above
the bottom Of the pit. Reaching the
mouth Of that cave, be swung himself with
much exertion into it, and, holding the
end of the rope in his hand, ho incautiously
let it 90, and it swung out apparently b..
yond his reach. The situation was fear
full one, and bis friends above could do
nothing for him. Soon, how ever, he made
hook of the end OF his lamp, and by ex- 2
tending himself as far over the verge -
possible without falling, he succeeded in
securing tho rope. Fastening it to rock,
he followed tho avenue $50 or 200 yards
to point wherc he found it blocked by an
impassablG avalanche of rock and EARTH
Returning to the mouth Of this avenue, he
beheld an almost exactly similar mouth Of
another on the opposite side of tho pit, but
not being able to swing himself into it, he
reiastcned the rope around his body, sus.
pended himself again over the abyss, and
shouted to his friends to raise him to the
top. The pull was an exceedingly sewers
one, and the rope, being lily adjusted a.
round his body, gave him the most excru.
ciating pain. But soon his pain was for
gotten in new and dreadful peril. When
lie Whs 0O iceb IrOiil tnc tboueh VI sho Pas
and 100 from the bottom, swaying and
swinging in mid air, he heard rapid and
excited words of horror ard alarm above
aud soon learned that the ropo by which
he was upheld had tak"n fire from tie ffic-
ton o. the timber over which it passed..
Several moments. of awful suspense TO
those above and still moro awful to him
below ensued. To them and him fatal
and instant catastrophe seemed inevitable.
But the fire was extingnislied with bottle
of watcr belonging to himself, and then
the party above, though almost exausted
by their labors, succeeded in drawing him
10 tho top. He was as calm and selfpos.
scssed as upon bis entrance into tho pit,
but oil Of his companions, overcome BY
fatigue, sank down upon the ground, and
his friend Professor Wright, from over-ex.
ertion and excitement, tainted and remain
cd for limo insensiblc. ......-,.
The young advcnturer left his namc cary.
cd in the depths Of tho MeaIstronI--ths
name Of the frst and only person that ever
azed upon it's mysteries. 80, ie,i,