Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1863-08-04
NO. 10.

a extreme-below, the river flowing bv three =, ;I
& IN the distance, to the east, South Monnta;,
h stretched away in the dreamy distance, Nortf
# and South, till lost to view. Grand wa ALI ax
h lclaimed. The violinist of our party then nar
4 formed ssScenes that are BRIGHTEST As he fin.
tt lsned, we gave one hurrah The people who
f were making saltpetre at the foot of the moun-
tain hurrahed too, and shouted back, ssGiye ma
another The following names and initials
then copied from the front of the little bniId;no
At tne mouth of the Gave: j p. George, r. ".
A. M. D., 1859; w. H. Strickaw, Daugktery.
i Nansemond county, Va, G. Wright. June IA
1907, !. =. B., A. S. W. p, 18th Reg. Va. Cav
airy, u. A Cook, 1862, F.. Glover. S. Lewis.
MO MO- looo, +. r., May 22d, 1862, and J Wayne.
me guide now unlocks the door. and we entar
the building, and the cavern yawns before ms,
moment the lanterns are ready oGuide to the
front,'' and we enter
wEYER's CAVE.
Inc hrst opening is nearly circular. ahont s,x
leet Wlde We then advance about ten feet
stoop low, and pass through smaller circnlar
opening. about three feet In diameter. A fsw
steps further and we stand in
sTATUARY CHAMBER.
rms Cave is oblong in shape, about 30 feet in
lensth, AZ feet wide, and 10 feet high To your
rignt is well formed sea she'll in shane and an
pearance. formed from the crystal rock Took
up anc there IS a magnificent dome, directly in
she centre of this Cave. Dome is Is feet high
ana Zen fees across the widest part. II is re9n,
ariy SNAPPED and attracts our special rvonder
10 s'lllac5 o. thls cavern on which we are stand
eg IS nearly level in the path7ay. but an eecb
St-e IL Is quite rugged Aboys he crvstal roct-
= suspended, much Resembling icicles in evarv
erection, and in various fantastie sbanes Tbs
eHect Is beautiful and wonderful, as the pnide
nn our irlends throw the gisre o. their lanterns
tull upon the scene. The srrfsce and rnrras
condition cf the verioHs chsrnbess Of this csya
vim one ortwo exceptions. being much sbe same
1 shall omit the description of nearly 81 tba
others, in that respect. Next We pass through
a narrow Iassage, about two feet wide, and eight
or ten feet long. We have to 90 ssedgewavs,sto
enect LIE passage. Matters now begin to look
serious. We emerge from this narrow passage.
and enter
CATARACT oHAEBER.
This cavern is much the size of the ona WIG
nave just passed through. The prjac;pI.
OBJECT that attracts our attention. as we
enter, is ssNiagara Falls AS our lanterns re.
veal 10 US the cnrlosities of this the alis
are readily distinguished. 1t presents serg cor
rect appearance of the falling and rnsbiag of wa.
ers from rocky precipice above. And thisde-
uslon is not entirely dispelled until yen advance
Ind place your hand against the rock, when 10
he waters have faded away. esSolomon's Tenn
)le'' next attracts our attention In this small
emple is a cushioned seattle cushion fashion,
ID by nature in q most Iuxurians manner Next
s the sfDeyiPs Draw Bars'' of crystal rock
strike it, aud hollow sound is emitted. Thro'
short passage, and we enter the
SHELL ROOM.
III sides of this cavern are studded with thous-
nds of shells OF every size, colour and descrjp-
ion. 1t is beautiful indeed. Reach tn gather
n your grasp. ssBeautiful delusion 20 you ex-
aim. Now look up, and radishes hang suspen-
led from above, by the thousand. You exclaim
sthey must be radishes' No, touch them, and
,ou are satisfied. Friend R. remarks that
hey would be eatable, if we only had some salt
o touch them in. Our violinist here PLAYS
'Shells of Ocean - the effect of the music here
$ net so grand as we had anticipated. We pass
n A small dark cavern to our right attracts
ur attention. ssGuide, shall we enter this ?''-
IN o indeed, Massa, dats de ssDebil's Hole, neb-
r go in dar.'' l shuddered that the cave
there met the ssDemon of the cavern,'' in my
coincidence murmured in
Hence. We next enter
PoRrER's ARCH.
his is passage, and the walking is somewhat
angerous here. The day before our visit to the
ave small boy missed his footing and fell soma
tteen feet in crevice of the rocks. He was
OF very severely injured, however. To the left
we'll defined Elephants head and proboscis
light feet long and six high. We almost imag-
le he is reaching out towards you, as We have
ften seen at the circus but the crystal elephant
loves not. To our right is the s'DeviPs Bake
)ven,' twenty feet in circumference. 1t ia
mooth, and oval in shape. small opening
ermits to look In. 1t is empty. His maies-
: evidently does not intend to provide dinner
DR. US, as it is now nearly 3 O'Clock. He has
OF even sssinner to roast.'' Above the oven
the ssDevil's Bell, - which the guide tells us is
II the purpose of 'scallin de childun to dinner''
lv dream recurs to me, and we passed on and
nter the Cathedral - which is small circular
pom. with canopy above. No curiositiss here
nd we pass into the
DRUM ROOM,
eur left is the drum sboat steen feet high
1a ten feet in diameter. o5ved around
nj IS we'll shaped. We stT1ssi. ii IN our clench-
hands, and the sound is 2inios; eqfal 20 a large
5m. Our violinlst here psrtofGsa march,
=. st!a yed the drum at ths tne using his
'ot IS drum stick. The efscl was king,
ii eticited arch apPseHss. We bad nos sSr0-
,eded far before rushing reise is here pc
md rs A derk figure gtides by as, ard the
ord ssd--m'' is heard II low smotherea
me. The spectre stops at the foot of the oe-
ivity. We approach cautiously, and loi il is
C.; and, strange to say, he lad preserved
le violin and bottle intect during his hasty
ght. ssYou are not going to put tBaf DO wn -
Tvs j. c.. Certainly /; you sswent down.
i'd the incident must do the same. We now
lter the
BALL ROOM.
It is nearly circular, smooth ground aoor and
eausifully arched. About the centrs is the
5
rum,'' ABOUT ten feet In circumi renee Ite-
its a tone as loud as tho heayiesE brass drum
ttached to this Ball Room is the L.siiss
ressing Rcom.'' 1t is circular, az cue lweive
et high, and ten in Giametes; sn0osh, dry
Dor, " III the crystal sparkling above; it Is a
larning little retreat. In the Bal Room
pll1a ID played, and the guide capels about In a
cry wonderful and fantastic style. There being
D ladies to join with us, we then entered mar
Nv. passage, fifteen feet long, and three feet
ide. This is ssFat Mans Misery Wanderer
ranks the gods he is not corpulent, and in we
. Dssstoop low''-sswhat place"-ssoh my
ack - We are through; and here We have
ie ssTea Table''-a fat, circular rock, we'll
laped, and five feet in diameter. Now we GO
own ssJacob's Ladder;'' the steps regularly
,rmed, and twelve in number. Another hole,
nd we emerge into beautiful ssGaliery'' which
ztends around one-fourth the Cave. Gallery il
eautifully fringed around the front with the
rystal rock, sppl opriately arranged; it would
,as twenty persons. 10 the left is s'John Ty-
'r's Nose '-six feet long there's nasal Or
an for you We pass ON and enter
WASHINGTON HALL.
1t is 275 feet long, 20 feet high, and Il feet
ide. with regular, smooth floor, but rough
yerhead To the left is jar filed with water,
hich drips from the rocks. We drink from
lass tumber which some good geni has placed
here At the further end is ssWashington's
tatue,n ten feet high, and we'll proportioned.-
he ssFather OF his Country looms up grandly
! the darkness as we approach him. We raise
I1o<s fTTI II