The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-04-01
dBIA, TENNESSEE, FRIDAY, April i, 1910.
A sUB1ERRAxEAx VOYAGE.

h A SUB7ERRANEAN VOLTAGE.
The Story Of = West virginia PIow-
man-He Breaks Through the Crust
OF the Earsh -Ralls into . snbtefRa.
mean Rfver-six Miles In Forfy.Eight
Hours.
When We were publishing paper
in Lewisburg, West Virginia, several
years ago, very singular accident be-
fela young man there, which was mar
rated briefly at the time. A few days
ago we CHANGED to meet him here in
Muskegan, and he narrated his adven-
ture at our request. 1t occurred on the
farm of General A. w. G. Davis, in
Greenbrier county, in 1856. Wefgive
his story in his own words, as near as
we can rec0llect them. ~ IL Il
i was ploughing on Gen. Davis's
farm in 1867 said he, unsuspiciOus
of being on insecure ground, when sud-
denly the earth seemed to tall beneath
me. l saw the horses, descending, but
was too frightened to let 60 the plough
handles. The pitch of the horses with
the earth gave my fall an impetus, and
somehow 1 caught the name of one of
them in my fall, and so held on in
stinctively. What / thought when
falling I can hardly tell at any rate l
did some rapid thinking. When l
landed I fell on the horse whose Eiane
l had hold of, and although the horse
was instantly killed, 1 was merely
stunned and confused. On recovering
m saIf Il nd I,n IanI
through which had fallen looked so
small, l concluded / must have fallen
l5O feet. My first thought was to call
for aid, but instantly recalled the fact
that was at least q mile from Gen.
Davis's house, and that there was not
the remOtest probability that any one
had seen my descent into the earth.
1t was then early morning, and as l
had brought out my dinner with me,
no one would miss me before nightfall.
While going over these facts in my
own mind, 1 heard the rush of water
near at hand, and it it occurred to me
that must have fallen upon the bed
of Sinking Creek, which, as you know,
falls into the earth above Frankfort,
and does not come out but once till it
reaches the banks of the Greenbriar
river. To say where was, or attempt
to follow the subterranean passage, was
the next question. l sometimes took
the team to my own tenant stables, and
therefore might not be missed for days;
so l determined to follow the stream.
waded in it, and, juding from its
depth of from one 10 three feet, con-
Guided it must be the identical Sinking
Creek spoken of. Leaving my dead
behind me, 1 followed the
stream. For the most part 1 had pref
ty easy work of it, but sometimes l
came to a deep place where Twas forced
to swim for considerable distance /;
again was often precipitated headlong
into deep water by the precipitous ma
ture of the rocky bed of the stream.
Talk about the darkness of the grave!
The grave itself could not have been |
more impalpably dark than the passage |
[ was following. The occasional rip !
pling of the waters was an ineXpres- |
,ively dear sound to my ears. Day and |
night Were the same.tO me. AT last,
wearied with my efforts, laid down
IN a comparatively dry rCck to rest,
md must have slept for hours. When |
[ awoke / again took to the water,
ascertaining which way it
an, SO as not to lose my labor by re-
racing my steps. 1t seemed to me
hat the farther 1 went the more diff
,ult progress became. When / had
rome perhaps mile, came to asplace
where the archway narrowed so much
hat / had to crawl on my hands and
,nees in the water.
Here was a dilemma had not look
d for. / tried either bank of the river,
,ut found no passage. / could swim
lnder water for considerable distance,
,ut the distance before me was un-
,nown, and halted long before max
ng the dangerous venture. At last l
oncluded that my fate was equally
doubtless in returning as in proceeding,
nd plunged boldly into the current
nd soon found that it was so swift in
Is confined passage, that l only need
d to hold my breath to go through
n the course of twenty or thirty feet l
gain got my head above, water and
Ook long breathing spell. Again
he archway above seemed to enlarge,
nd the bed of the stream become more
ven. / sped along comparatively rap
div, keeping my hands outstretched
o prevent my running against the jag
ed rocks. Wearied out, / again laid
own and slept soundly in my wet
lothes. .ff..- ETI,
On awakening l pursued my course
own the subterranean stream, and at
asst, in the long distance ahead, saw a
thinner that booked very bright in the
I was then shut i'm. Nearing
his, found that it die not increase in
Brightness; and when had gone per.
APPS a mile, came to another place
where my path narrowed to the very
unnel filled by water. My case had
low become more desperate; / could
lot possibly retrace my steps, so l COM
nitted myself ~ the current, and was
mmeasurably overoyed to find myself
apidly swept into daylight. Exhaust
d and half drowned, / crept out on the
and, and was not long in recognizing
he objects about me. / had come out
nto the Greenbrier river, as / knew \
rom the familiar look of Gen. Davis's
mill ON the bank. On reaching home
found that / had been over forty
light hours in making my perilOus
ourney of six miles underground"
This singular story we copy from the
dichigan (Mich.) Enterprise, which
hus speaks of this strange place: ii
1.-The hole where this man went
through is now fenced round. On list
ming one can plainly hear the rush of
rater below, and stone thrown down
will sometimes be heard to splash in ,
he stream" .at- fst