Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-12-25

80 fFor the olarksviiis chronicls.l iis
.1ass DUNBAR,s CAVE. X,
AsToUHDHNo DKvEL0PEMKnTs.
On the first day Of December,
1874, Mr.. Claiborne and myself vtsi-
ted, for the first time, the interior Of
this remarkable natural curiosity
not very remarkable, however, for
anything then developed, but aston
ishingly sosor therevealments lately
brought 10 light. At that time, my
friend and I walked through Its
stately halls, spacious corridors, and
long and narrow alsles, giittering
with pendant stalactites, little dream
Ing that but Q few feet to our left,
hidden by bank Of sand, lay yawn-
Ing chssms, bottomless pits, and re-
splendent grottoes, outrivalling those
Of the Eastern Genii. =, -
Having passed the {" Wheelbarrow
Track" the "Bail Room,n and
!" Peterson's I.eap;n having scanned
in our pathway the beauties and
magnificence Of everything which
was admired by the generation
which has kone before US, we re-
traced our footsteps to the entrance,
and seated ourselves upon some loose
rocks, diJointed no doubt by some
convulsive throe, Of nature, away In
the dark dina and shsdowy past,
probably when the world was In its
infancy and humanity confined It.
self 70 the limits Of the Eastern con-
unene. W .argv,,po.r 10 s.rrs -4.ssy
8 After resting In almost profound
silsnce for about thirty minutes, my
friend remarked that he was not sat-
isfled with our recent Investigations,
and asked me. II I would not accom-
psny him again into the cave. I rs-
piled that I would. - When shall II
be?" said he. 3'-s Z inn
I answered Tin . facetious manner),
"Twenty-five years nom to-day"
He arose tremulously, and stood be-
fore me, and spoke In substance, ~
follows: "Dear John, after the lapse
of q quarter Of century, you and I,
In all human probability, win sleep
a. silently In death as the unrevealed
chambers Of these hills lie In obscu.
rity, and hidden..from mortal ken.
BE IL 90, however, n you and I are
both living, I will meet you here at
10 o'clock, A. NJ, on the morning Of
December lst 1890" i arose. and
graspsd him By the band, and told
him TO BE- punctual to the hour, We
then separatsd, he 70 his old Ken.
lucky home and I, to my erfatie
wanderings In Tennessee.
Since that the, changes have
come over the natural q well - The
moral world; since that hour, ths
lightning has rent the pine and
scathed the beech, pestilences have
scoarged every people, and the tocsln
Of war has sounded In every land,
even this bright land Of ours, the
land Of the free, and the home OF the
brave. What Is 1t now, compared t.
what 1t was then? A mere wreck O
Its former greatness; q funeral pile O.
its wonted strength and grandeur
Every Southern State has been con.
verted into one vast charnel house
and tears enough shed, North ant
South, to float the navies engaged In
the conflict; million of men sacri
feed upon the sltaro political fanat
icism; treasure enough wasted Il
have supported the entire orphansg,
In the United States for five hundred
years, and sufficiency squandsret
to have soothed every care, driet
every eye, aud kindled q cheerful
blaze upon the hearthstone Of every
widow In the United States for one
thousand years. EIR ~ g
All these scenes and changes have
come and gone In the natural anc
moral world, since my friend Ciai
borne and I parted, just as fleeing q,
the fitful shadows chase each Other
over the wide landscape.
"Be punctual to the hour" haa
been ever present with me from thai
time to this.
There appeared to be an indefina'
BILE fatality connected with the words
Let me roam where i would, "Bt
punctual to the hour" would still
haunt me. so on the morning O
December LIST, 1869, found myself
walking leisurely up the Russellvills
pike, In the vicinity Of Dunbar'i
Cave. -,
With an occasional twitch Of the
muscles and an almost audible whis,
per, "Be punctual to the hour,p fol
1t will be borne In mind that thess
were my own words, and they given
voluntarily. When about parallel
with the cave, 1 turned at right an
gel, and In n few minutes I was seated
upon the same rock upon which ]
rested just twenty-five years ago
and as ] am now dealing In Dot
rather than fiction, I hasten to do
lineate clearly, and truthmlly, the
incidents Of this day, and the revela-
tions Of the same. When I seated
myself I took out my watch and Il
yet wanted ten minutes to 10 O'Clock.
AL was still and quiet In and about
the cave, audi fell into deep, brown
a