Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1879-10-25

! SfS"'S 10 PN'iSN'l. iS'eI, duo Sit''
sliding about ten feet, we came into a
room, not so large, but in point ofbeau-
I ~, far exceeding anything which we
/ had seen The whole interior Of this
room is complete lustre or surface Of
shining spar! In this room, about three
feet and half from the floor, is com
plete waiuscot or chair boara, with all
its mouldings and curved work, in com
plete relief. and extending in one entire
and unbroken circle around the room.
In the centre Of the floor arose three
candlesticks of mammoth size-these
candlesticks arose from the floor Of the
room, with various swells and diminiShes
resembling carved work, until they
reached the exact level OF the chair
board or wainscoting OF the room, when
the spar which resemtled the candle
seeming - be set in n complete socket,
lun up about two feet. AS il TO make
the copy more exact and the resenb-
lance more palpably striking, the candle
stick seems to be OF dusky or bronze
colour, and the candle or spar arising
from il OF clearer white. From Ger
tain emblems which il contained, We
called this room the .Eason!c Hal.
One fact here presented itself too
palpably to be mistaken; this room had
evidently been at one time filed vi b
water, To the height of the chair board,
which by gradual petrifaciion had been
Ii. L
for its being SO perfectly level and regu.
lar The candlesticks too had been
formed in the same way, by the drop.
ping OF the water from the arch; which
being as We supposed, of greater specific.
gravity than the water into which 1t
fell, gradually formed the large spars
that resembled the candlesticls, even
with the level Of the pool, after which
the spar became Immediately small aud
clear resembling candle. The petri.
faction on the wall OF this roor,, was in
beautiful waves and folds resembling
drapery. At one end OF the room, Il
large spar resembling bed post, stood
out in beautiful relief from the wall,
aud large folds and waves OF drapcry,
resembling curtains, seemed to hide the
rest OF the bed.
Here then, our admiration and aston
ishment were At their height t---our feel
ings had been wrought up TO n degree
OF almost painful intensity. Here wo
stood hundreds of feet beneath the sur.
face of the earth and full halt milo
from the first misunderstanding upon
a spot and breathing an atmosphere
which had not been disturbed since tho
creation OF the world a place in which
the human voice had never before been
heard, and on whose beauties the hu-
man eye had never rested. There vas
in truth, an awful sublimi,y in the state
OF our feelings, supcrinduccd in part
perhaps by the consideration of kind
of contingent danger TO which we were
exposed; the falling Of the arch-or the
rolling Of single rock into some Of the
narrow passes which we had TO retracc,
would have'shut us up in eternal dark
ness in this mysterious region OF won
ders
Why nature should display those va
rious and astonishing beauties only for
herself, aud place them thus in a region
of darkness aud danger, is marvellous
and incomprehensible Or why she
should thus, in a capricious or wLimsi-
cal mood, group together objects tho
least resembling each other in their ma
ture and uses, is equally strange. A
bedstead, drapery aud candlesticks--a
conch shell, birds foot and human
heart:-strange and mysterious assocla-
tons we cannot describe nor compre
hend them; and all we could do upon
viewing them, was to exclaim "woBder-
ful, wonderful!
From the room last described, we re-
tnrned 10 the mouth OF the cave, aud
found that We had spent nearly four
hours in examining lis beauties, with
out however discovering their full ex-
tent. We determined 10 defer fur
ther search to some other occasion.
This cave is situated on the lands OF
Mr.. Isaac CoflmaD, aud was first discov-
cred and partially explored in the fol
lowing manner. Mr. RufIner who was
nearly as much celebrated Tor deeds OF
sylvan proves as the renowned Pot.
nam, in passing this cave some twenty
years ago, conceived the bold and haz-
aIdous design of entering il alone and
without light. lie accordingly plac-
ed his rifle across the mouth, 10 denote
to bis friends il they should happen 10
see il, that ne was in the cave. lie de-
scended, aud as might have been *
pected, was soon bew:id,red and los, ~
its labyrinth OF passages. IL bapprnrd
that some OF his friends 10 passing The
cave, discovered his gun, and rightly
concluding that be bad gone into The
cave, they procured lights aud entered
in search of him, and found and brought
bin out again, after bis having been in
three days. This fellow was among the
pioneers who were foremost in explor-
ing and settling our western frontier;
and was al las: killed by The Indians.
after having performed deeds OF yalor
and daring proves, which would bavs
done honor TO the character VI hero.
Yours, &c"
Luray, May 4, 1925.
W- The foregoing letter, We are in
formed by gentleman here, vas writ
ten by The Hon. WIN. 4. Harris, of
Virginia, who was q member Of Con
gress from 1S4l to lS43, Charge d AZ
fairs 10 Buenos Ayres from lss5 until
1851, and who after the election Of Mr.