The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1872-03-14

first almost startle Us with their dis
tinctness, but gradually diminish in
strength - they retire far into the dis,
tant recesses on either hand and now,
. We listen TO their expiring tones,
We can hardly rid ourselves of the
feeling that some unfortunate wan.
derer has lost his way, and that we
hear his almost despairing calls for
help. This Is repeated again, and ct
length all is 20 still that nothing 10
heard but the breathing Of that bDat
ioal Or hsman HE, floating upon IN
underground river hundreds OF feet
beneath the bright and busy world
above us. A few minutes row then
brings US to the other shore, and we
resume our journey. We entered the
cave at 7 o'clock 10 the morning, and
at the end of another hours walk we
halt for our midway lunch which we
have brought with Us. Outside, the
weather is hot aud sultry, but within
the cave the weather 10 % cool and In
vigorating that we are quite comforta-
bic in ordinary wooden clothing.
although walking briskly most Of the
time. We have walked constantly
since we entered. except while eros.
sing the rivers. and we are glad to rest
when the noon hating place is an
Eounced.
After an hours rest we continue our
journey, which but for the occasional
lighting up the chambers by magne-
sium light would have been quite mo-
notonous. Hitherto the chambers
aud passages, 30 far from presenting
any thing that could be called beauti.
full, impressed, and might say OPP
pressed us with sense Of their dreary
and dismal grandeur, but In this part
of the cave many Of the chambers
have their roofs and sides covered over
with effiorescent gypsum, often ex-
tremely beautiful " shown by the
magnesium light. In no part Of the
cave did we see any stalactites worthy
Of attention.
About three o'clock in the afternoon
we reach what our guide calls the
Rocky Mountains. This is . hill of
rock that has fallen down from the
roof. forming barrier across o n route
some 40 or so feet high. We Chamber
over this and soon come To Q large,
deep and high chamber which Is near
our journeys end-the end Of the
cave. Reaching the end the magne.
sium wire 10 lighted and We 6nd our.
selves standing upon the brink Of the
" bottomless pit" We watch the
burning, oil-soaked masses Of cotton
- they fall into the abyss, revealing
the perpendicular sides Of the pit ~
tney go uOws, ~~.-, A----.. Oon fat
beneath Us, some being quenched In
the little stream Of water running NJ
the bottom, but whence the stream
comes or whittier it goes we have no
indication. Water is falling In heavy
drops around the sides OF the pit as 1t
ssues out of the crevices 10 the rock
and seems to have shaped its sides, as
1t no doubt has. by that continued"
dropping" which /" wears stone"
We gaze In silence into the fearful
aby.s 90 long As the fallen lights ie.
main, but when they are gone out,
even the mouth of the pit IL hardly
apparent by the light Of our lamps.
We are now to start on our return,
and our guide tells Us we are ten miles
from the mouth of the cave. My esti.
mate, and 1t Is only an estimate, Is
that the distance is between six aud
seven miles. The return 10 made
In less time than the outward
journey. for we make no stops except
to turn aside to allow other large par
ties Of visitors to pass us, who were
later than we in commencing their
toilsoms journey. We TecrOss the
rivers. again hearing those wonderful
echoes, but aside from . few remarks
concerning their strange impressive
ness, each member Of the party seems
wrapped 10 silent thought. Our
watches tell US that the hours Of day
are past, we are little tired, the
lighter social amenities have all been
expended, the novelty Of the occasion
has subsided, and we only now begin
to realize the sublime magnitude Of
this great subterranean wonder. We
have seen almos: nothing that may be
called splendid. but what we have
seen, has produced upon us . deep,
intelligent feeling Of awe which il
almost oppressive, but which we new
ertheiess like to dwell upon.
Thus we Dass silently onward toward
the entrance, when We near the pas
sage that leads to the "grand dome"
We are tired, but quickly taken vote
of the party decides that we must visit
1t before we breathe the outer air.
some portions OF our journey have
been difficult indeed, but the passage
to the grand dome, Of half . mile,
exceeds in difficulty anything we have
passed before, but having accomplished
1t we al feel that our exploration
would have been very far from COM
plete without It. Amid the toll Of
crowding through narrow crevices aud
craving under low passages, our guide
at length calls halt and We 6nd our
selves Ut IN aperture 10 the side Of one
of those perpendicular shafts or
chasn1s In the solid rock like that
named the bottomlsss pit, but this one
10 said 70 b $50 feet from bottom to
top, the other 10 28O. Instead Of com :
Ing upon this at its top, A. W did
upon the other, We come upon It, .
before said, by an aperture at IT. side
near It's bottom. We DESCEND to its
bottom by . ladder, and when the
masnssium wire IL lighted thsls, the
light 10 barely sufficient to reveal the
rocky roof or top, aud whsn Il II .
little faint We sssn, 70 Be at the bottom
OF . huge, deep we'll, looking up Into
the starless heavens. The bright hight
reveals the Same pespendicular groov-
ing Of the sides by the ceaselsss falling
OF great drops Of water that ws had
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