The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-07-24
MISCELLANY.
The Magnetic Cave OF California
An AmadOr County Marvel.
rrezponaenee New York GRAPHIC.

the Springfield Republican among 9TH /
ers, are talking about the magnetic cave
near Pine Grove, California. 1t is i'm /
possible to exaggerate the strangeness
Of the phenomena of the cave; but, OBJ
serving that they are neither accurately /
nor fully described in the papers, 1 send
you an account-of them as observed by
myself not month ago, when, in com
pany with Mr.. Stokes, l visited the cave. /
The cave is in Amador County, and /
has long been known TO the people of
the neighborhood as a curiosity. The /
story in regard to the discovery is that,
in making the 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 /
TO be peculiarly affected when in THAT
region, where the divingrod of witch
| hazel was even brought into requisition
by some of the older people. 1t is said
the truth of the assertion-that the
! forked rod when held in the hands of
sensitive" would twist and turn with
the greatest velocity, and, at certain
spots, be, as it we're, wrenched from the
hand of the holder and act as if, accord
| ing to the old notion, there were run
ming water beneath the ground there. 1
| give this for what it is worth; it may or
! l. h,,%
many curious things in my lifetime, |
scarcely doubt anything ] hear confirm
ed. 1t was, however, probably the ac-
| tion of the magnetic needle that led TO
the discovery of the cave.
/ When the party of which Mr.. Stokes
and myself were members visited the
cave, we wandered about in il for, say,
mile and half before we reached this
laboratory of nature, with its curious
magnetic appliances. The approach to
it is gloomy, and what poets would call
romantic. There are no stalactites hang
ing from the root, as in the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky, but the iron ore is
more rusted than any 1 have seen, the
occidation being undoubtedly accelera-
ted by the magnetic currents, as the cop
per bottoms of ships are rusted when
iron nails are used as rivets, the electric
currents effecting the molecular changes.
The fragments of ore lying in the path,
and which afterward tested, are most
highly magnetic, and, as the assay show
ed, very rich in iron. As we entered
the chamber, which is lined with
brownish black ore, all the party were
more or less affected in peculiar way,
which some described as chill along
the spinal column, but which seemed to
me more like the "aura" one feels when
he brings his face into close proximity
to an electric machine in vigorous ac-
ton. 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 Snatch
ed from him by magnetic rock near
which he passed, and the combined
) strength of four of us was insufficient
| to detach it," but the curious eircum-
stance has escaped my memory. Mr..
Stokes account is, though, on the whole,
trustworthy. A circumstance to which
he fails to allude attracted my attention.
, Polarity is an essential of magnetism;
the austral attracts and the boreal but
repels the austral. In walking along
the slippery floor of the cavern I struck
with my foot small oblong rock in
such way as completely to overturn it,
= bringing its south pole where its north
had been in contact with the north pole
of another. 1t was Immediately repell-
ed, rebounded to distance of several
feet with considerable force, but it must
! be remember that the floor was slippery
with ooze, which had all the effect o.
+ OIL do not hesitate to pronounce Mr.
e Stokes accounted the iron nails of the
, boots of one of the party being sc
strongly attracted to the floor as to nee
- essitate their abandonment, a mere can
ard, and I doubt much that he ever CAV,
it to the Sutler Creek Independent a
the truth. The story was probabl.
:, cooked up in the Office. One of th,
., party had taken a gun into a cave
A. which, of course, he carried with it
muzzle toward the floor. It's ramro'
was withdrawn by the magnetic force
:" and, to the surprise of US all, stood up
right on the ground. When struck ol
u one side, il would fall over to the othel
but instantly snap back: but it was easi
- ly taken up and replaced in position
The watches of all the party were founC
e. on emerging from the cave, to hav
II stopped while In. A knife tossed to th
II roof remained fixed there. An exper
ment which I afterward wished I ha
lie, tried would have been to feel the puls'
'e- of the party to see what effect, if an,
as the popularity of the situation had @
the human body.
in There was with US a young man of
in peculiarly delicate and nervous phys
ok que, upon which what, for lack of a be
ter term, I may call the physico-phy
M Geological effect of the cave acted in
nl- singular manner. He remarked wh'
lp- in the center of the magnetic chamb
that he could see behind him as well
in the direction in which he was lookin
Did At first he was laughed at, but, as
old persisted in his statement, drew fro
;. my pocket a letter and holding it /
rv- hind his head, proposed that he shou
of read it. To my great surprise he re
for it without the slightest hesitation, al
even corrected an error in spelli
which had not noticed. For the be
Al eft of those who may believe in "ma
es' netism" and "trance" and "mesmerisr
: -, ;, record this fact, as it seems to conf,
IT, the notion that the clairvoyant rea
OF =. - L. ofI .,N