The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1859-12-29
Thrilling Cave Adventure.
Twas born aud brourh, up in the n.iy

Ny father was second engineer, and l fill
ed the situation Of assistant. The scene
Of our mining operations, at the time ol
the event which an, going 20 narrate, was
in a narrow valley, lying close TO the loot
of perpendicular cliff Of rock about one
hundred feet high. On its bare sides
neither grass nor shrubs was to be seen,
aud scarce any inequality was visible,
whereon the foot Of the climber might
find resting place. In fuct, it was con
siJered unsc alenblc for distance OF two
miles, when it sunk down gradually at
either end to the level Of the plain. As
cending the cliff, one beheld on the sum.
nit wide plain. stretching of in the dis
tancs from the sharp edge Of the prsci-
Pice, and from that dizzy point could look
down upon the works the miners below,
close under its sides.
Upon the top Of the cliff which have
been describing, I was strolling lis.lessly,
late one Sunday afternoon, thinking Of a
strange and sad circumstance which had
happened about a year ago in our fami.
ly. Ny only brother, a lad Of fifteen,
had gone out early on summer morning
to shoot plover on the nights, ard from
that hour had never been heard Of
When last seen, be WAS mounting the
cliff from the eastern side, and though
when alarmed at his long delay we
made immediate search and inquiry, we
never gained further information. To
speak OF our family distress and my own
heart grieving for my well beloved young
brother, is not my purpose; but it was the
only subject Of my thoughts on that
quist summer evening, when all the noise
from the works was hushed, and the still.
ness seemed tenfold by contrast.
Iapproached very near the edge Of the
cliff. I was now at ts steepest part. and
looking down its smooth sides, l thought
how terrible the fall would be; but my
brother could no, have fallen down. In
that case his mangled body, at least would
have been found. ra.y
l was recalled to nv sell by strange
sinking Of my feet. Ny first confused
idea was that the soil had given way
from the edge of the cliff, upon whose ut
most verge | stood, and thstI was about
to be precipitated to the bottom. / be.
came dizzy with horror, for l felt at osce
that | could not recover myself, SO sud-
den was the caving in Of the earth be.
meath me. made one stumble forward,
felt a ringing and crushing in my ears,
and then lost all further sensation.
1t must have been many hours before
| was sufficiently conscious to know that
/ still existed. Sick and bruised, was
long unable to raise myself from the pros
ra te position in which | became aware at
last, that | was lying. 1t was quite dark.
and every portion Of earth or stone that
touched was wet, and smell of damp
salt psrvaded the close atmosphere. !
thought had fallen into an exhusted sall
mine, but soon remembered that had
been standing on the edge Of the cliff
1t was an impossibility. Then came the
LEA that l must have fallen to the bot.
> tom and the loose earth and stones had
fallen ever me. That, too, soon found
equally unlikely. and, after groping about
some time on my handsan knees, (every
movement one Of intense agony I be-
came sure that my prison was a cave Of
some extent. Too weak to move further,
! lay down and endeavored to think of
my position. 1t seemed hopeless one.
| was certainly in one Of those caves
formed in the salt rocks, and sometimes
found by miners, running far below the
earth's surface. Ihad no idea how far
had fallen; il might be but few feet; it
might ba hundred. As yet could inl
no trace Of the passage through which
had dropped, but remembered that
bad case Of matches in my pocket. and
it was not long before succeeded in DRAG.
ging them out. though it was excru-
ciating pain 70 my bruised limbs to move
, them.
Having no taper, determined to be
very careful Of the matches, and to i'm.
prove the short moments Of light, during
which one would last. I rubbed it very
carefully against the sole Of may boot,
then harder, then furiously it
would not ignite! They were too damn