The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-05-30
Discovery Of q Mampth Cave I'm wy
oming Territory.

Last week a herder discovered cave
of a peculiar nature The entrance
| instead of being horizntal, is perpen-
dicular. Having q laiat OF fifty feet,
he let it down withou touching bot
tom. He then droppd down a stone
or two, and from til reverberations
concluded it was of immense depth.
Last Sunday a dozen Q us got together
| with ropes, a windlas, lanterns, ETC.,
| and proceeded to examine and explore
it. Having fixed a string windlass and
| attached a stout rope,a man descend
| ed with a lantern, INSECT in a loop OF
| the rope, and holdig on with his
hands. 1t is q sheer escent of eighty
two feet perpendiculs, to where an
incline of forty-fve degrees COM
mences, that upon gong down about
100 feet more becomes nearly level,
| and branches off into various rooms,
| vaults and apartments The sensation
of descending is novelas well as haz-
ardous; for your humble servant was
twirled and spun arolnd q hundred
times q guess) before reaching the bot
tom; and l was then 81 dazed and dizzy
that it was full ten ninutes before l
could preserve an equilibrium. On
feeling sure that l hd reached terra
frma under my feet, 1 speedily assumed
the undigniied attitude of . lobster
in Mysteries, or a turtle on his back,
vainly clawing and scratching gravel,
to gain a foothold. At last / succeed
ed, only to nearly butt out my brains
against cones and stalagmites be-
fore getting steady" Proceed
ing into one of the vaults about
800 yards, l came to what | supposed
to be the end. But On a closer exam
ination / discovered an aperture large
enough to admit me, and, through a
partition six feet in thickness, emerged
into a vault of immense dimensions.
Here the ceiling is fully sixty feet from
the floor, and was studded with count
less stalactites of ali sizes, from that of
a small icicle to a foot in diameter, and
from a few inches to fifteen feet in
length. The floor is also studded with
cones and s~talagmites, like inverted
~icicles, and presented a weird and pict-
uresque perspective. In many places
the ~stalactites are joined together, hav-
ing the appearance of huge hour
glasses, and forming a number of pill
lars from floor to ceiling; adding to the
grotesque grandeur Of the scene. 1
penetrated about 400 yards into this
vault, from which other vaults and
apartments led off from either side;
but fearful of getting lost, l proceeded
no further in that direction, and can
only conjecture its length. Members
of our party explored other vaults and
passages in different directions, and
from their descriptions l conclude that
the greater part of Table Mountain is
fairly honeycombed by this cave
and its numerous r~amifications. All
the passages radiate from where the
incline commences, eighty-two feet
down. The aperture at the sur
face is only eight feet long and four
feet wide. but enlarges as one de-
sends, being bell-shaped. 1t put me
in mind of entering the cupola or
dome of the Capitol at Washington, at
the top, and descending to the floor be-
low. One would get this impression
on looking upward, it being nearly
circular, and gradually narrowing from
the floor to the apex. Bones of a large
variety of animals are strewn around,
which probably stumbled into this fear
full pit years and ages ago. Buffalo
heads and those of elk, deer and ante
lope are numerous; while bones of
smaller ruminants, carnivora and ro-
dents are strewn around. Bones were
also found supposed to be those of
human beings, but in fragmentary Sec
tons. Prof. Darwin, Cope. Leidy, or an
Agassiz, might possibly classify them,
and give them lockjaw-contracting, I'M
pronounceable names. But as our
party could not be charged with pro-
found erudition, and were utterly in
nocent of many Of the "ologies.'' we
didn't attempt it. The formation
throughout the interior of the cave is
cretaceous or lime rock; but near and
at the surface the formation is granite, |
conglomerate and sandstone.
The stalactites are opaque crystalline
tions, some of them being dense and
hard, and when struck together give off
a metallic sound. Others are soft and
chalky, and at the pendant extremities
of the consistency of moistened gyp-
sum.-Table Mountain Ranch fWv.
1y.) Cor. Grand Rapids (Mich.) EAGLE. |
4 mn IN 49, |