The Portland daily press., 1874-07-30
Correspondence New York Graphic.l
The Magnetic Cave of California-An Am
adOr County Marvel,

have notice that some newspap erS, the
Springfield Republican among others, are
talking about the magnetic cave near Pine
Grove, California. 1t is impossible to exag-
gerate the strangeness of the phenomena of
the cave; but, observing that they are neither
accurately nor fully described in the papers,
l send you an account of them as observed
by myself not a month ago, when, in COM
pany with Mr.. Stokes, visited the cave.
The cave is in AmadOr county, and has
been long known to the people of the neigh
borhood as curiosity. The story in regard
TO the discovery is that, in making surveys
near the spot, the magnetic needle was
noticed to act in an unusual way, to dip With
remarkable and at that time, unaccountable
force, and certain sensitive persons were said
VI WItcn-naZel was
even brought into requsition by some of the
older people. 1t is said-though, of course,
/ cannot vouch for the truth of the assertion
that the forked rod, when held in the
hands of a sensitive" would twist and
turn with the greatest velocity, and at certain
spots be, as it were. wrenched from the hand
of the holder and act as if, according to the
old notion, there were running water beneath
the ground there. / give this for what it is
worth it may ormay not be true, but having
seen so many curious things in my lifetime,
I scarcely doubt anything hear confirmed.
II was, however. probably the action of the
magn ,etic needle that led to Ithe discovery of
the cave,
When ihe party of which Mr.. Stokes and
myself were members visited the cave, we
wandered about in it for, say mile and a
half before we reached this laboratory of ma
The approach TO it is gloomy, and what poets
would call romantic. There are no stalactites
hanging from the roof, as in the Mammouth
Cave of Kentucky, but the iron ore is more
fused than any have seen, the oxidation
being undoubtedly accelerated by the mag
netic currents, as the copper bottoms OF ships
are rusted when iron nails arei used as rivets,
the electric currents effecting the molecular
changes. The fragments OF ore lying in the
path, and which afterwards tested, are most
highly magnetic, and, as the assay showed,
very rich in iron. AS we enterered the
chamber. which is lined with brownish
black ore, all the party were more or less at
tected in peculiar way, which some de-
scrbed as a chill along the spinal column, but
which seemed to me more like the laura
one feels when he brings his face into close
proximity TO an electric machine in vigorous
acton. There was-at least so it seemed to
me-a slight odor of ozone in the air, which
considering the current theory OF the close
connection of magnetism with electricity,
might have been expected. 1t may be true
as Mr.. Stokes says, that in the middle of the
chamber a hatchet carried by one of the party
was sss1atched from him by magnetic rocl
near which he passed, and the combined
strength of four of us was insufficient to de
tach it.'' but the curious circumstance ha
escaped nv memory. MIR. Stokes account Il
though. on the whole trustworthy. A circum
| stance to which he fails to allude attracte'
nv attention. Polarity is an essential to mag
| netism. The austr.sl attracts and the boreai bu
| repels the austral. In walkingialong the slip
| perry floor of the cavern, struck Win m
| foot a small oblong rock in such way a
| completely to overturn it, bringing its sout
| poie where its north had been in contact wit
I the north pole of another. 1t was immed
| ately repelled, rebounded to distance OF sey
| eral feet with considerable force, but it mus
he remembered that the floor was covere
4 with ooze, which had all the effect Of oil
do not hesitate to pronounce Mr.. Stokes az
| count of the iron nails of the boots OF one
the party being so strongly attracted to th
floor as to necessitate their abandonment,
mere canard, and l doubt much that he eve
cave it to the Sutler Greek Independent q
the truth. The story was probably cooke
ND in the Office. One of the party had take
| a GUN into the cave. which, of course, he cal
| ried with its muzze towards the floor. Ii
| ramrod was withdrawn by the magnetic forc'
| and, to the surprise of us all, stood uprigl
| on the ground. When struck on one side,
4 would fall over to the other, but Instant
snap back; but it was easily taken up an
i, ,splaeed IN position. The watches OF all IL
nariy were found, on emerging from the cav
fn have stopped while in. A knife tossed
tbe roof rem ,ained fixed there. An expei
mept which afterward wished had trit
would have beel, to feel the pulses OF the pa
tv to see what effe ct, if any, the popularity
| the situation had on the human body.
There was with us a yenng man O. pecl
| iarlyi delicate and nerl' l'ous physique, up,
| which, what, for lack of better term, l m;
call the physico-psychological effect of Il
| cave, acted in singular manner. He 1
| marked when in the center of the magnet
chamber, that he could see behind him
well as in the direction in which he was loo
ing. AT first he was laughed at, but as
persisted in his statement, drew from Ii
pocket letter and, holding it behind
head, proposed that he should read it. ]
my great surprise he read it without Il
slightest hesitation, and even corrected an G
! ror in spelling which had not noticed. f
| the benefit of these who may believe in "ma
| netism'' and ''trance" and 'mesmerism,"
record this fact, as it seems to confute the nj
ton that the clairvoyant reads only what
in the mind Of lis interrogation. Lord Baco
| was, l believe, the first to account for clal
| voyance in this way, though of course nc
under the common name of clairvoyance, an
it has commonly been accepted as an expl
nation of matter of which we know bt
: The Young gentleman read the papers
$ the same way, although previously he hs
never been clairvoyant. What is equally si
gular is that he actually became magn
and attracted iron. This condition co
| t;nuod for a number of hours after he left II
4 cage ! a pen-knife or steel key would hal