Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-04-12

young men Wnlie out hunting near the
town of Augusta, some fourteen or fl
teen miles from this city While
beating about for game upon the lands
of s. K Veach, a well-known farmer
Of the neig ghborhood, In dense thick
ct of young elms, upon the side of one
of the bills, their dogs suddenly dis
appeared through an opening some
three or four feet In diameter, which
proved upon examination to be the ex-
treme to cavern that promises to rival
in magnifcance and grandeur the
world renowned Mammoth Cave Of
Southern Kentucky.
The mouth Of this cavern appears
to have been covered W th large, fat
rock that slipped away from the open
ing, together with large mass of earth
and this accidentally indicated the ex-
istence Of the cave This stone, which
evidently answered for front door to
dwelling Of some of the mysterious
people who lived and had their being
in the Ohio valley an erior to the ad-
vent of the modern Indian, was nearly
overgrown with moss, and measured
five feet OF more one way and a little
less than four feet the otner Under
Meath the moss has been traced hier-
oglvphical inscription, which 1t is not
improbable to suppose may have been
made for the purpose of sisnltylng to
the passer-by, as our modern door
plates,do, the. names of the dwellers
inside
The characters occurring most fire.
quently in this symbal writing are a
circle divided by perpendicular line,
representation of double lodge, and
irregular, wavy lines, supposed to indi-
cate water Some of our local anti
quarians have deciphered the circular
figure to signify unity or the union Of
two branches of the same family. Yhe
idea appears to be strengthened by the
rude drawing of the united lcdges
From this Interpretation, it is Inferred
that two families, possibly connected
by tries of consanguinity, lived togeth-
er in this prehistoric dwelling. The
lines that are supposed to represent
water are similar to those given by MIR,
Schoocraft in his Antiquities of Amer
lea as meaning fluids. 1t is not un.
likely that the figure may have some
association with the Ohio river. which
is distant from the spot not more than
half mile.
The young men, who stumbled, as
it were, upon knowledge of the ex-
istence of this underground wonder,
were too much startled and awe-strick-
en- to attempt at that time the explor-
alton Of the unknown regions, to the
brink of which accident had led them
But Oh the following morning they
procured supply of candles, ropes
and other articles used in cave explor-
ations, and headed by an intrepid
young fellow named Stephen Wyratt,
repaired to the entrance and began the
descent At the beginning the avenue
of entrance dropped perpendicular!y
four feet, when it sloped gradually at
an angle of fortv-fve degrees, varying
in width from four to twelve feet, for
a distance estimated at about one hun
dred yards, terminating abruptly in a
chamber about eighty feet square and
thirty feet or more ic height.
The appearance of this room is des.
cribed as being peculiarly grand and
impressive. Immense stalactites droop-
en- from the ceiling, and glis.ened in
the light of the candles like masses Of
solid silver. The floor was covered
with clean, white sand, such as is
found upon the sea shore, to the depth
of ten or twelve ainches. The young
men, who had never witnessed such a
sight as the interior Of this cavern
presented were lost in wonder and
amazemont. and were eager to return
to the surface, but one bolder than the
rest urged a further exploration, to
which the others reluctantly consented.
1 An examination of the chamber re.
vealed the fact that there was no mode
of continuing the journey, except
through small opening near the floor,
that required the party to proceed on
their hands and knees.
A distance Of hundred feet OF
more was accomplished in this way
when the leader was startled to find
himself at the brink Of a precipice
overlook pit of Stygian blackness.
He was SO shocked by the discovery Of
bis danger that he lost his presence of
mind, and would have toppled over
into the abyss had he not been seized
I by one Of his companions and drawn
back. The party were again tempted
to return, but Wyratt insisted with
frmness upon pursuing the journey as
far as 1t could be accomplished with
safety. A strong rope was then fas-
tened to projecting crag, and one by
one the young men dropped into the
pit, which proved to be about twenty
feet in depth. At this point they en-.
countered slope or incline, composed
Of confused mass of roof-rock, down
which they scrambled to the bottom,
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