Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-05-02
N YSTERIES OF THE EARTH.
suBTtRRANEAN RIVERS AND LAKES oF
TnE MISSISSIPPI vAILEY-woRKs FOR
AN UNDERGROUND EXPLORER.

AN UNDERGROUND EXPLORER.
Wonderful and inexplicable physica
facts are not confined to the lowland'
along the route Of the Mississippi, aud
stranger than the works Of primevu
man, consisting of mounds, canals and
fortified slrongholds, are caveinous
depths, within which rivers flow from
the mountains TO the great drain Of
the continent. Fourteen miles south
east Of Bowling Green, Ky.,is cavern
moreexlraordiiary and wonderful than
Mammoth Cave. Not far away, on a
stonc at the entrance Of the latter, the
wonder OF a country bunpkin 10 IL
scribed in words once quoted in the
Senate of the United States.
The Msn,moh cavei what spoti
10 summer cold. and winte hot,
Y, powers above Great God wondcrl
Andrew Jacksonl hill and thunder
The entrance TO the more mystcri.
GUS pit is onthe front Of perpendicu.
lar height, made almost inaccessible by
vines, brambles and densely growing
forest trees. Trammcl's enters brakes
Creek Just above the strange aperture
to unknown depths and imleneirable
darkness below. This adytum is ten
feet long and tour wide, and the chasm
seems TO yawn and It's great mouth is
horrible TO contemplate.
Rude people in the vicinity call il
"Ilell's Mole" or the Indians Pit"
From the measureless all, ~ there is.
sues, ceasel.ss as the lapse Of hours,
days and years, u volume of mist. On
cold, clear. frosty mornings il rises in
spiral columns far above the tree tops
aud whl,ened us il asccnds and CLEAN.
ing in the sunlight. il Hoats away and
is lost in the clouds. At some un.
known period in the worlds history
mother earth brcathed heavily, and
great boulders, worn round and smooth
as ii ground by friction when unheld
by currents of air and falling back
again and again, lifted M and rubbed
by other stones. cover the hillside and
have rolled from ,he cavern's mouth
into The valley b,.low. peoule dwell.
ipr near by tell that in fall and winter
the heavy stentorious breatbinys from
The cavern are mucb warmer thnn
harm bhsts sweeplpg the de,.p gorge
while in summer ihe misty vanot. from
within is rool,r than tbe exie,inr nj.
mos,bere. This fntbomlees nil grows
wider in it's dow inward conrsc. and
nubinn living or Illuminate that has
entered ever found exit. No, The fni.,t
e.t echo was ever hcnrd when yrcn,
stones have been rolled into the awinl
drn,h nf mi. dcsccns,s A,rr, II snch
na.siv. boulders had encountered an,,
nbi.c, v,,Lin miles of IN. entrance ,Le
.onud produced vould have been snre.
/, hnnn,. 10 lis,.n,.rs abnv, ~ s,rnn,,
steady air current
'rb. ;,,,,.s.;,,, =; v.d f,o,, childhood
+, are ,La, ,he snlid ea,,h n,ns, f..
tnrever immovobl, ben..,b our foe, n.
snrelv and ,mmovable as The snn and
Stars and blue vault above our heads
/. rud,lv shaken when one stands in
the presence of such demonstrable hoI
lowpess and empt,pess as this. Verr
murb the snme SENSATIONS are excited
when standing at the pits mouth AZ
when an eartbouakc shakes land and
sea and makes men and women sbud.
der.
When. not long aro, il was sonpht
ia ascertain the depths of The cllasm. n
heavy weight was attached to q strong
cord. the lead went down. down. ill
The line of the plummet bad measured
the greatest possible depth, but no
sound came ba,l< 10 tell Of the end Of
unutterable hollowness below. The
weight, when withdrawn. was unsoil.
ed. and by the moisture ON the surface
showed that in its descent and ascent.
il touched nothing but mist and dark
ness.
The very hollowness OF lie and it's
evanescent pleasures are almost illus
trated in physical facts discovered
everywhere in Kentucky and Tennes
see. The river, down in the depths of
Mammoth Cave If il find It's way to the
green fields and Sunshine, is never rec.
ognzed above as the stream noted for
It's eyeless fishes below the earth's sur
face, aud though the great cavern bas
been explored twelve miles from its
entrance. those who have travcrred its
depths and labyrinths concur in the
assertion that there ARE other caves
beyond the rcmoteAt vet explored. and
grander and deeper than those that
attract the curious from all lands.
Near Union City, in Tennessee, and
near the south hwestern confines Of Ken.
lucky. is ReeIioot Lake. Here the
root ui mighty cavern was shaken
down by the earthquake Of l81l-l2.
Lulty forest trees, the tallest that
tower above the lowlands, disappeared
with the land on which they grew, and
sea. broader and deeper than that of
Galilce, was out-prcadin crystal clear
ness in the midst Of the luwlands.
Ducks and geese feck its surface and
trnut nbolud In ihr modern lake that