The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-03-09

ameter. The floor strewn with the re-.
mains of watts, pipes, and other utensils of
the saltpetre miners who worked here in
1912.
Near by are the remains of several cot
tages, built for consumptiYes in 1916, who
hoped that the perfectly dry air of the
cave would cure their malady, but the abb
sence of sunlight proved worse than the
effects of the outer air, and, one by one,
they died or were removed. 1t is a cur j.
Gus instance of what men will do for life.
It seemed strange to find here house in
all its detail of rooms and doors, but with
neither roof nor windows.
But space would not allow even an
enumeration Of all the strange and beau
tiful things in this underground world,
nor to tell of the weird, new sensations,
our day in the depths Of the earth caused
us. We can only notice, here aud there,
some striking features. f
-Four miles from the entrance is Echo
River. And here we arc at the bank of
this su6terranean stream, which is destin-
ed to leave with US some of the most sin
gular and haunting sensations Of our trip.
The boat win not hold US all, two must re-
main behind and await its return. Two
of rs take our seat and watch the others
embark. In silence we see the skiff with
its dancing lights glide out iato the dark
ness. They go behind erag and we are
alone. Darkness on earth is only COM
parative; here it is absolute. Silence on
earth is only approximate the voices of
nature are never entirely at rest Here
the only sound is our own breathing, or
when, once or twice, drop of water falls
from the roof and echoes for a momento on
the rock below. The stream is silent. A
feeling, half of awe, half of pain, comes
over us. We are in a new world, with
none of the things of earth to remind us
of its hopes, its toll, and its sorrows. We
are separated by a wilderness Of pits,
bridges, halls, domes and chambers from
the entrance to our old life, four miles
away. We are about to cross the stream
that shuts out from our vision five miles
more of beauty and wonder. A sense of
loneliness comes over us and in the black
ness we are drawn closer to each other by
the cords of sympathy and humanity.
Suddenly ray Of light heralds the return
of the boat, We embark in silence, and
listen quietly to the splash Of the paddle.
The ceiling is now ninety feet above us,
and now so low that we have TO stoop to
avoid it. At point. midway across the
river our guide paused, and set up q plain
tive, weird chant, Of a few notes, and
ceased. Suddenly, from out the darkness
an answering voice took up the refrain and
with clearness and sweetness surprising,
repeated the notes; and then passed them
on to another spirit-voice, then to a chorus
Of many voices, some near, some distant,
now loud aud startling, now weak and
low;-tiIl, almost with tears in our eyes,
we heard it wall itself out in some distant
cavern. g
Glow beautiful! !" we exclaimed, await
a moment ~ said the guide
To our surprise the echo we Thought
gone, began again of itself in new d.
rectiOn and went through the same phases
of tone as before, the echo Of an echo.
Words fail to describe the beauty of
Clcveland's Cabinet, tie crowning wonder
of the cave. An avenue two miles long,
"a perfect arch and foor,-sides and cell
ing Of alabaster not mere smooth, polish
ed stone, but alabastsr, festooned and
chiseled into exact imitation of all the
flowers Of. the world above. / will not
attempt description, but quote from the
journal of that graceful writer, Bayard
Taylor:
"This is the browning marvel of the
cave,-the prideand boast Of the guides.
Their satisfaction is no less than yours, as
they lead you through the diamond grot.
toes, the gardens of sparry effiorescence,
and the cleaning vaults Of this magical
avenue We first entered the SNOWFALL
room, where the gnome-childreu, in their
sports, have peppered the walls and ceiling
with thousands of sn0w-Yhite projecting
disks, SO perfect in their fragile beauty
that they seem ready to melt away under
the blaze Of your lamp Then begins the
Cabinet proper It is subterranean con-
filed with the flowers of all
zones; for their are few blossoms expand
ing on the upper earth that are not MINI
micked in these gardens Of darkness.
''In many places the ceiling is covered
with mammillary capitalization, as if
myriad bubbles were rising beneath the
glittering surface Even on this jeweled
soil, which sparkles all around you, grow
the lilies and roses, singly overhead, but
clustering together toward the base Of the
vault, where they give place to long,
snowy, cactus flowers, which droop like a
fringe around diamonded inches. Here you
see the passion-hower, with its curiously
curved pistils; there an iris, with its lance
olate leaves; aud again bunch of celery,
with stalks, white and tender enough for
n fairy's dinner.
"What struck me most was tho evil
dence of design which l found everywhere.
Why should the forms of earth's outer
crust, her flowers and fruits, be SO wonder
fully reproduced What law shapes the
blossoms and the foliage of that crystalline
garden What is it that lies behind the
mere chemistry Of Nature, impregnatiug
her atoms with such subtle laRs of SYM
metry? What but the Divine win, which
gave her being, which is never weary of
multiplying for man the lessons Of inf
mite wisdom?"
Cur party returned in time for supper,
weary with their long subterranean jour
ney, but filed with wonder and amaze
ment at the vastness Of this underground
assure, and vainly specializing upon the
causes which produced it but finally ascrib-
ing it to some rude shock or convulsion,
and probably to volcanic upheayal of the
earth beneath
Whining.