The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-11-18
LETTER FR0N ION

LETTER FROA ION
A Visit to the A11snamothI Cavc-It,
sWondsrs-The BRIDES Chambor-The
Gave - : Fashtonable Reso rt-some
4 81 the Celebrities there.
%ft E. MAMMOTH CAVE. Ky.,)
Vs. :. ...& October Is. 1869.
From Our Regular Correspondent.
EDITOR JouRNAL.--Mammoth
Cave is ore days drive from Green's
burg. I found myself with three days
leisure, in short college vacation, and
did not SEQ how I could better consult
good. taste than to PAY this place another
visit, Was here in 1850, and made .
thorough exploration Of the wonders Of
this subterraneou, cavern: V On that
visit We travelled nine miles, with lamps
under ground and I remember dis
tinctly the solemn Impression made on
my mind 3, the river Styx and
the. sombre chambers that led, to il.
l was younger then than I am now,
aud perhaps more susceptible to iuau-
,enoe. l remember how long I stood
and gazed at the g)itteripg Pulpit, and
the Lady's Chamber, and the bottomless
Pit, while tho bengal lights streamed
up from its ,mmeasurable depths; and
how rcsplendcnt shone the stalactites,
from the roofs and sides OF the neigh
boring cayerns, all damp and moist
from the filtration Of water coming
down mixed with calcarious particles,
from the assures and pores Of tho rocks.
Then the stalagmites pointing in an
opposite direction, upward, formed from
the drops Of a thousand years, on the
floors Of these drearY eaverns, struck
me a. something 80 out Of the ordinary
works Of nature that I looked upon
them with certain feeling Of awe.
Minnie il il Mary Lee, who was with me
then l!s9 and is with me nov; with. perhaps
= keener perception, views with undi-
mniin i admizatioa fox . second time
all Of these things ! DO not. I do
not know that anything here after all
is more wonderful than tho beauty Of
the blue: sky, or the sun, Or the moon
and stars, arrayed in their order in the
armament. These We soc every day
Those are hidden in everlasting dark
ness. We grope our slow way among
them BY the pale light of the lamp
and wonder and admire because We SET
them but once or twice in = life time:
I cannot. find any marked. chang,
since I Was here twenty years ago o.
about that. The same ragged moutl
yawns to receive you. Tho same rug
ged rocks serve for stairs to let 20.
down. The same vast dome is oye1
your head. The same haggard: sides
for the first twenty rods, trown out from
the right and left in grim, sullen silen &c
As you advance, height and width i'm
crease; objects become more and NOR
interesting. You chat with the guide
who, you see, is at home, and who tell
you as you go along: what Webster sal,
here, and Clay there, and old Tom Ben
ton in another place; and what Charlie
Dickens thought; and where Jenp,
Lind sang, and how the vast dome owe
her echoed back Ter heavenly notes
Thus We 60 along, now half perpen
dicular mile below the grassy field
above, where the OK and horse are graz
ing in the joyous light of day, and full
six measured miles from. the mout]
that took US in. We are now, havin'
passed the mouth aud down the neck
fairly in the bowels Of the earth ant
poor Jonah was never more completed
swallowed up when he vas in tn
whales belly for three days and tire
nights. :, We gothe Brides Chambe
and there halt. Its the best Of all
and We go no further. Why need we
l cannot describe it aud it cannot b
described. 1t is a glorious sight
starry armament suddenly revealed on
Of midnight darkness. We nov re
trace our steps,. and move rapid
"home." This is the phrase of tn
guide: Home means out Of the dee,
vast slumbers Of this great "strang
country under the earth. We III
soon clambering up the rocks at .th
mouth and: look again at the sun =; th
warm sweet air comes refreshingly o
the face-the golden leaves Of. til
neignborIIng forests, in their quiet al
trmn beauty, lie scattered on the gras
or culver on their branches. Th
Smiling guide takes one dollar and goe
on his way rejoicing, and ve on our
to the long, low row Of white cottage
: near by. These rows Of houses: a,
: four, inclcsing a handsome area of lew
ground, in which the crowd: move
and out With carriages and horses
These together make the great hot,