Litchfield enquirer., 1860-06-21
THRILLING CAVE ADVENTURE.

was born and brought mp in the neigh borhood of the salt works of NJ. My fath- CT was second engineer, and filled the situa- tion of assistant. The scene of our mining operations, at the time of the event which l am about to narrate, was in narrow val ley, lyipg. close 10 the foot of perpendicu- lar cliff of rock about ono hundred feet high. On it's bare sides neither gass nor shrub was to be seen, and scarce any inc quality was visible whereon the foot of the climber might find a resting place. In fact, it was considered unscalable 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 its summit a wide plain, stretching of in the distance from the sharp edge of their precipice, and from that busy point could look down on the works of the miners below, close under its sides. -...
 Upon the top of the cliff which I have been describing, I Was strolling listlessly, late one Sunday afternoon, thinking of Q strange and sad circumstance which had happened about year before in our family. My only brother, Q lad of fifteen, had gone out early one summer morning to shoot plov- CT on the heights, and from that hour had never been heard of When last seen, he was mounting the cliff from the eastern side, and though-when alarmed at his long delay-we made immediate search and in- quiry, we never gained any further informa- tion.
 I approached very near the edge of the cliff: l was now at it's steepest part, and looking down it's smooth sides, l thought how terrible fall would be but my broth CT could not have fallen down. In that case, his mangled body, at least, would have been found.
 was recalled to myself by strange sinking of my feet. My first confused idea was that the soil had given way from the edge of the cliff, upon whose utmost verge I stood, and that was about to be precipi- tated to the bottom. I became dizzy with horror, for I felt that could not recover myself, so sudden was the caving of the earth beneath me, made one stumble for ward, ia wild struggle to save myself, felt ringing and crushing in my ears, and then I lost all further sensation.
 It 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 prostrate position in which became aware, at last, that I was lying. It was quite dark, and every portion of earth or stone that touch. ed was wet, and smell of damp salt per vaded the close atmosphere. thought had fallen iDto an exhausted salt mine, but soon remembered that had been standing on the edge of the cliff It was an impossi- bility. Then came the idea that I must have fallen to the bottom, and the loose stones and earth had fallen over me- That, too, soon found equally unlikely, and after groping about for some time on my hands and knees-every movement one of intense agony-I became sure that my prison was a cave of some extent Too weak to move farther, lay down and endsavored to think of my own position. It 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 sur face. had no idea how far l had fallen it might be but few feet -and it might be many hundred. And yet I could find no trace of the passage through which I had dropped, but I remembered that I had a case of matches in my pocket, and it was not long before succeeded in getting them out, though it was excruciating pain to my bruised limbs to move them.
 Having no taper, had to be very care fal of the matches, and to improve the short moment of light, during which one would last. ! rubbed it very carefully against the