Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1870-06-16

Wa ~ ~ - - 80
TERMS, - IsSr As.sss, - Advance.
Once in Aliens Brick Block. northeast cor.
ncr Of Court Square, Broadway Street.
L
Z QIficrxLpApgR or THE COUNTY.
Correspondence Of the Chicago Tribune.
IOWA.
Discovery Of n WOMGlcrGnv Cave
An E:xplOrN0 lOm Of Six Hours
nmd the E:uads mot Rs.ac he'd -
ThUI Architecture Of Mature.
M [9f DuDuayr, May Ie, 1870.
A cave OF wonderful interest and
beauty has recently been discovered
About six miles west Of Dubuque.
It has the name Of "Rice's Cave"
jrem, its discpverer. While mining
for lead ore NJ. Rice opened d mar
row passage which he followed
shout SEVEN hundred feet. This
opened into large room. connected
by narrow passages wish many 9th.
ers, winch he followed distance OF
about 1000 feet, whcre the cave
seemed to terminate. Ketracing his
steps he traced the course OF the
cave along the surface Of the bluffs to
the furthcst point which he had
reached in his explorations. Here
he sunk shaft TO the depth Of about
thirty feet, which opened into the
cave near its termination.
Our party, consisting Of five per.
sons, including Our guide, descended
this shaft. and entered a narrow pas
sage, which we followed about one
hundred feet, where it expands into
q largo hall one hundred feet long,
forty to fifty wide, aud ten to fifteen
high.
The first impression is one Of lone
?incss, for VIC are not yet accustomed
TO the change from the clear sun
light of MONDAY AMI the beautiful
and varici scenery which a few min
utes ago met our gaze on every hand.
to the dark, circumscribcd limits Of
this "sub terra" world.
But q few minutes will dispcl all
the gloom and loneliness. for rs we
look about the walls we find them
everywhere ornamcnted with sta
lactitcs OF great beauty. We look
up to the root, and, like a miniature
sky, We find it studded anil spanglcd
with orbs Of the most brilliant lustre.
Almost, the entire roof is covered
with the most delicate and beauti.
ful incrustations of white carbonate
Of lime, formed by the slow percola.
ton OF water through the porous
limestone. Every particle leaves its
little deposit OF pure lime. This in.
has n crystalline surface Of
exquisite fiaeness and lustrc, which
flashes by the light Of our torches
with great brilliancy.
From this room the cave branches
in two directions at an angle of about
forty degrees. We take the right
first, which we explore rapidly, as
our guide informed us that the 9TH
cr branch far exceeded this IN beauty
and interest. We pass from this an.
te.room through narrow passage to
another about as large rs the first.
though wanting in its ornate and
wonderful beauty. From this room
10 the extremity Of this branch Of
the cave VIC have proceeded rapidly.
passing through large rooms, narrow
passages, AMI tortuous wIndings un.
I we come to where the cave is too
much oostructed to proceed with
pleasure. We have traversed the
caveSthus far about half mile. The
cool, bracing air has given us keen
and we retrace our steps to
the ante room for lunch. Thus for
tilted We entered the left hand branch
Ny q narrow passage. A little stoop-
ing and crawling soon bringing us
into more spacious apartments.
sicrc the entire sides and roofs are
with snow white stalactites
and frost-likc encrustations Of car
donate of lime and gypsum. In many
parts Of the cave fine specimens OF
arayonitc may be seen. At dis
tances varying from ten to fifteen
feet there are deep rccesscs in the
walls, 40 large and high in some cases
that ono could almost walk about in
them. On the floors Of these reccsses
many stalagmites have formed. We
noticed one eighteen inches in dame
ter, and nearly six feet high, with a
clear white surface and satin lusier.
From their roofs hang innumerable
The stalactites are form.
cd by the dripping OF the water
the crcvices aud seams Of the
Each drop deposits
little carbonate OF lime, slowly in-
creasing their siae year by year and
by century. From tho best
estimates that we could make some
of them have been ten thousand years
in forming. The drops Of water that
fall FROM the stalactiies haYc not
parted with all tho carbonate of lime
they hold in solution. As they drop
to the floor OF the cave they make
another. smal. deposit, and slowly
built up from the floor OF tho cave
the stalagmite. Sometimes stalag.
mlSe and s:nlactite meet, and from
colamns. In this cave there are,
many Of great size and beanty. We
pass On to another large room where
= huge stalagmite has formed, rese,n.
bling, in outline, polar bear. On
Ghe walls there arc formations rescm.
bling clusters of grapes; in another
place. q band may he distinctly trac.
od-in another, the wall is covered
With beautiful fibrous gypsum. One
with creative Imagination will make
out the forms Of all sorts Of animals,
birds, reptiles and fishes. From the
- Al. A., 4.