The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-04-19
A CAVE OF DEATH.

From the Atlanta (Gs.) Constitution.
When, indeed, shall we cease to con.
front the evidences of our late civil
war. We cry out against the renewal
of that unfortunate strife in the arena
OF politics and we meet upon each
others native soil and shake hands in
renewed fraturnity to the glorious
music of the union. But every
day nearly we are brought face to face
with some relic, some lasting effect, or
some before undeveloped horror of
those days of bloody and destructive
war. A new and startling horror of
those times was Unexpectedly unearth-
ed in this city yesterday evening and
caused thrill of sadness to pass
through the community. We feel con-
flicting emotions in committing the
sickening story to print, for it is one
of those dreadful calamities- of
those unwritten Iliads of individual
experience in suffering woe and death
(which made our war seem criminal
and Sickened men with horror. This
latest discovery is one which suggests
more terrors than any we have ever
before encountered and will bring
home the most startling memories to
our citizens.
Yesterday afternoon a man living in
the square bounded by Rawson,
Frazier, Martin and Clark streets, and
whose name is Hokes, engaged a negro
man to bring his pillow and turn up a
small patch of ground upon which the
garden was to be made.
The negro. man came and plowed up
the lot, and had nearly finished his
task, just before dusk, when the
strange event of which we write trans
PRED. AS he was upon the last rows
near the fence, up the hill at the back
of the lot, he says he felt at one GER
tain spot a yielding of the earth as he
plowed over it during three trips
across the lot. The matter did not at.
tract his attention at these times, and
it was not until the fourth crossing of
the spot that his horses foot nearly
broke through the soil. In moment
after the point of the pillow struck
under and lifted up a rotten plank,
which broke as the plow passed on,
the man releasing his hold upon the
handles of the implement and stepping
back to avoid passing over the danger
Gus spot. AS the plank broke several
clods and handfuls of dirt fell into the
small hole thus made, but did not ap-
pear to fill it up in any degree.
The negro man stepped down to the
house and told Mr.. Hokes that there
was an old well there at the back part
of the lot where he had been blowing.
Mr.. Hokes had never heard of such a
thing before, and went out to see it.
Procuring an AK the two proceeded to
the spot and began to pry up and pull
off the planks, in order to know the
extent of the well, and what to do to
reopen it for use, or to fill up again.
The boards showed resistance, and
when one had been. broken and pulled
away it was found to be a solid inch
plank spiked down with large spike
nails. When three of them had been
removed the opening was large enough
for the light to be shown in. The ne
gro man got upon his knees at one of
the edges and peered into the dismal
looking excavation, but suddenly re-
s,coiled, and, with affrighted looks, ex-
claimed:
*'Great God, what is that. down
there!'
Mr.. Hokes knelt down and looked in,
and in the faint light could discern
what appeared to be human body.
He was startled beyond expression,
and could not think for moment
what to do But recovering himself
he called to some of his neighbors,
who came over, and together they
pulled away the boards, which slanted
down hill, very much like a country
cellar door, and seemed to have been
nailed together to form door them.
selves. They were completely torn
away in few minutes, and the light