Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-08-21

II and forty-fve feet from the base of tn
mountain, while around US, extended i
vast proportions, circular wall one thou
sand feet in circumference. Within thi
rOtunda the ancient Pantheon might b
placed or St. Paul's, of London, fine
ample room. The dome is closed at tn
top by smooth, elliptical slab beaut
fully fringed by broad, leaf-like, curtin.
stalactites, bearing a close resemblance t.
the ornamental foliage of the Acanthus
The summit Of the mountain is a gigantic
stalagmite, one hundred and twenty fee
IN circumference, rising above its common
bulk IN three points-siX, five and
three feet. These, viewed from the
mountains base, have the appearance
OF three persons clad in pure white.
Hence the name-Monument Mountain.
On the opposite side of the mountain
from the entrance Is a beautiful sulphur
spring, the water clear and cold as ice.
For about three years after the discovery
OF the new cave this was supposed to be
the end of it. A party was one day
halting at the springs when one of the
number noticed that strong draught of
air was about to blow his light out. Ex-
animation disclosed small aperture some
six inches in diameter. Tools were pro
cured, the orifce enlarged enough to ad-
NIT OF passage in longitudinal position
and Is now dubbed the Auger Hole, and a
tight squeeze it j. 1t leads into Lii
putian Hall, thence into the Hall Of Ruins,
and thence to White Cloud Chamber,
where the irregular shaped rocks, with their
thin crusts Of gypsum, look like immense
piles Of feecy clouds.
The Ice House is an elevated room with
floor of loose stones. which are thickly
coated with layers Of semi-trausparent
carbonate Of lime, giving them a perfect
resemblance to blocks of ice a writer
IN a Cincinnati paper says Of Beauty
Bower: And here Is one of the sweetest
spots Of all-Beauty's Bower. No pen
can describe its beauties. Lying fiat on
our backs, with the candles by our sides
we remain for hours looking al the endless
forms the pure white gypsum here takes
like rams horns, frosted celery. flowers.
like-well we can 6nd a resemblance to
anything and everything No conception
can be formed Of the varied beauties of
this place until il is seen"
The visitors to the cave will not fail 20
see PIilare1 Palace. although 10 reach IL
he must pass through Creeping Avenue
at no place over three feet high and about
two hundred yards long-a journey which
one very naturally performs on al.-tours.
But when Pillared Palace Is reached one
feels well repaid l. is from five to six
feet high, forty or fifty feet wide.
and several hundred yards long. and
the ceiling Is a complete tringe-work of
sta.actites, while its floor is as thickIy
set with staagmitcs, hundreds OF which
latter unite with the former midway. max
ing the graudest Of pillars, which seem to
have been set up TO support the root.
Drapcry OF cyry conceivable style may bo
seen, some Of which Is AZ transparent as
crystal, and rings ike a silver botl when
exposed to a light blow from a hammer.
The writer Of this account spent some
six or seven hours IN the cave. walked
fifteen miles. and then failed to visit the
half Of il. The length of the old cave is
three miles, making in all twenty-five
miles Of explored cave. Besides. there
are some halt-dozen avenues which have
never been traced TO the end, so IT Is use
less to attempt to form an estimate OF the
total length. From the southwestern to
the extreme northeastern limits is about
nine miles.
The temperature never varies more than
, three degrees, winter and summer. and
ranges between "a degrees and - degrees
The air Is extremely pure and bracing, and
OF great preservatIye qualities. No mat
ter how far one walks and how little used
he IS to exercise, he rarely feels latigued
until after he leaves the cave and comes
into the by comparison close, sultry air
outside. Delicate ladies who could scarce
ly 90 up a flight Of stairs, will walk fifteen
to twenty miles, principally over ragged,
stony pathway, without complaint. An
oppossum Is lying alongside Of Counter
feiter's Trench, which was found there
when the new cave was discovered twenty
two wears ago, and IS in the same state
now as then 1t isdried up and mummifed
but presents no appearance Of decay. In
the winter time the mouth Of Wyandotte
Cave becomes the great potato cellar of
the neighborhoOd.
From all appearances, Wyandotte Cave
has at one time been the channel Of an !
under ground river. The limestone, where |
not covered with gypsum and other foreign /
formations, shows undeniable evidences of
the action of water in much larger guam |
titles than find their way into the cave |
during the heaviest rains. In the low |
passages the floor, sides, and roof are |
rounded off in curves, with no sharp an
giles at all, and the rocks, which are piled |
here and there, nearly all bear the same |
evidence.
The cave is Inhabited by strange order
]
in Mammoth Hall-one a small, white, /
thousand-legged worm, and the other large |
white cricket, entirely without eyes, and |
so transparent that, by holding it up to
the light, its internal structure may be
viewed with perfect ease. Crawfish Spring
the largest stream as yet found in the
cave, takes its name from the fact of be
Jog inhabited by crawfsh, which are per-
fectly white and entirely without eyes.
They live but a short time after being
taken from their native places.
Aside from the cave, the neghborhood
presents attractions in themselves sufficient
to warrant visit. The country is almost
in a state Of nature, and to one Of pis-
catorial turn, Blue River, within half
mile of the hotel, will afford sufficient
faci lities for the exercise Of his art. To
person of moderate means, Wyandotte
is summer resort that will come within
the limits of his purse, and afford enjoy
ment equal, if not superior, to any place
in the country.
The Franco-Prussian war has developed I.
some strange things in France They
have regular wife market, and an advcI- /.
&C. :