The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-04-23
4 NIGHT IN THE CRATER.
1EE FEAEFCL ADVENTURE CT EEo DARING
AaERTCAES-

i correspondent of the Cleveland Lezfer
gives tie following thrilling account Of =
descent into the crater q PCPocarzpetI
l succeeded IN reaching an altitude q
nearly 1S, ,ooo feet, and then gave cot On
account q . previous 1.nsss, from which
had DOs fully recovered, and v-s compelled
70 return 70 a ranch doSn On the 'Timber
line" Here awaited tAs return Of the
party, which was composed Of CO. Gr4sty
Of Virginia and NJ. Harry SSeYeas u
CleTelaad, wto hai accompanied ne from
home
The giEa1tie crater : about one mile II
diameter and 400 feet deep, and. almost
incredible 70 believe bat nevertheless true,
there i settlement consisting of forty
sulphur miners II the botton q This awful
cavity, their only mode Of ingress and
eg-ess from this Internal region being by
the means ~ 4 Viudlass and !, 0oe feet Or
rope, By zhieh they are lowered d0sn to
shelf Il the side Of the abyss, the rest or the
journey dc~nward being performed On f0o-.
over . long and steep descent. The
thoughts Or Grasty and Stevens were nov
turDed 10 tLs Lozr5EIe gulf that yavued
before them. for IA L they must pass The
night, Ebieh would fan II tie course oftwo
@ three Eo1Ts f0E / > as alike III possible
10 sP~1d Z OF the mountain top o. 70 return
down 10 tie timber line" An Indian
eInpsoye u ths Sulphur mine had preced-
Sd tbea Up the volcano, hearing thei- letter
Or Introduction 70 SeEoE Co-chzdo, the su-
peFiute Rdent Of the gaiue, who Immediately
repaired 70 the suJ1 ui-. zbere he met them
half OF three g-aEteEs OF an kvuT after their
arrival
CoTchz5o, the Ol5 M CT the Noun
tain, l. a singular character B5-r -
Tlanaeas, lie has always lived o. tg-e
E-o1atain, . in lis 3reseEE brimstols
home. zlere his father lived and d.ed b.
fo.s him lie las been Intimately cuu-
nEc,ed wltk PcFoeazapetI and every tbinE
asslcia-ed with the great yo-cano FOR oTer
a half century He 3ow lives a. the botton
of TIE crater, !, so feet bslox It's rocky nm.
70 this strange abode - Welcomed Gras,y
and Stevens with Le4rtiuess AID real L1z-
pi-a.ity-
Faey z;zzzgzed down ths bIez-ed AID
b,zckeuzd rocks about 20 feet a1E came 70
= viadlass called u Na,zclte-'' Prom
this vas suspended cable about Al inch
and LzIf n diameter and thousand fset
--E- Eso- this Fc.1t they obtz5aed
magnificent view o. The crater, vhose sails
rose II al directions IN frigbtfuI wildnsss
ard subllmiTy. They az once appreciated
as enoTuous dIu-eus5ous- NearfE a nile
beloE them was Sc bottom, almost Iosz II
the darkness and distance To illustrate
the great depth It would BE 10 ezzeEera-io-,
70 say thss If you were 70 take Mount We
suy.us- z;lleh Is I 800 feet high. and turn
il upside down and stick II iz.tc tbe crater,
i would about I'll Il This gax presents
one o tie gTaudest gbts On earth. and
tzs terrible fascination f0I the b-ho.d-r.
TIE u0st solid are greatly impIesseSl-
while the susceptible are greatly over
wlsasned BY its awful sublImity- GTasty
and S.eSsDs peered over the ledge where
sto3d the wiBdlzss- and saw far. fAr below
them q level rock that forusS the top q =
long, steep decIivIJy, a. the foot Of zhich
Was . black sFoz This, they were tod,
was the EsEers' house They -ere 70 de-
s-eaa 70 the GeeEyity by tie rope, having
aece epted CoIcbsdo's Invitation 10 speud
the night below. Corchado and Stevens
went fist They were ted - the table il
szch manner thai they sat side By side.
For about the distance CT 40 feet the
ledge from which they made their Wild
leap PEUssczed cut CTe< tie p-ecipiee, and
consequently they hzns free and dangling
L mid az. Il wzs only = minute OF two.
however, before they came to- pace where
the cIIE beIlied out further than the wind
lass rock, a1ld they were conpeIled % kick
against - strong ffoot % keep clear Of t.
Tnzsase clouds Of saIl,huruas steam and
gases rolled skyEzri srczH bersash t.55s
pEojsctScn-k These uzGseated Stevens zoi
set hin 70 ve-nitiHg badly. They were
BOW cut Of sight of the peos&e above them
Stevens zfter~ard said be fell that he was
gong straight into the Jaws Of he'll On
every side u them vas a gigantic ard
hiGe.sus ruin Of cracked ellis and bliS-ered
cTazs- Beneath tLeza zsze pools of guild
ard buEsSE-z sulphur that Sricklsd IN little
si5uIets from the gzshed and f-e-msrked
xaHs * The crater No3ieS-s EaPOFS Eez-ei
through ts-s air-au seemed = hosribIe
night mare They reached the dselIsIty
IN safety after fsaEfal jouEuey Of ten mn
uoes. and united tIeI1zesxes- Tee reEe
vas then Y1Ied zp.
Tie eslozzel proceeded 20 tie himself or
ThE0ugh some mistake the rs'ps tLzt Vsu'
TounG rs back s.iPEed dosu too low lie
dropped frosa the erag. stII weak from lie
suffering lie Lad experienced Ia The ascent
Everything weht EeA uDtH he got - the
pace where tie pEe-iI,ice aglses oat-
Here disaster overlook kin elozd Of
czsIzsien vapog eEveloPed him. and he