West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-02-22
CALIFORNIA; LAST MARVEL.
Tho nrccnt Discovery Ia ruoiumuc
county what Game or Rc-cnt,ag -
Squirrels Challenge.
.Tnolumne .CalAIn InAcrenasn,

a. Gardner hA discovered a man
moth cave IN the dividing ridge betweer
the South Branch and main Stauislaui
rivers, two miles above the junction and
one mile northcrly from Pine Log, at an
elevation of about eighteen hundred
feet above the river The discovery wa,
made under the following very peculiar
circumstances, in which an Insignificant
squirrel figures very eonspicuously On
the first of December, 1873, Gardner
says he was engaged in working his
placer claim, which is distant three
hundred feet from the entrance To the
cave. A squirrel perched itself upon "A
tree near by, and commenced To chatter
and spit acorn-shucks at him This he
considered "A challenge to fight it out ON
that line. 30 he repaired To his cabin.
armed himself with a double-barreled
shotgun, marched out and faced his
dimiuutive antagonist. The fight
opened with a spirited skirmish of both
parties, and ended after Gardner had
fired seven rounds at his squirrelshil-
the seventh Just as his little tormentor
was disappearing in the dark rccesses of
crevice in the ledge above his claim.
He pursued il TO its retreat, and then
commenced searching in the crevice to
discover, if possible, the hiding-place of
his vanquished foe, but failed The
search, however, resulted i'm the discov-
cry of the greatest natural wonder i'm
the county, and, perhaps, in the State,
IA future developments in that direction
may prove, in its class. so closes the
history of it's discovery
1t is adorned with decorations of daz.
zling beauty, unsurpassed in character
ON the Pacific slope. The entrance 10
the cave il situated at the base of a bluff
and eighty feet above the gulch, and
access is had through crevice i'm the
ledge, three feet i'm width by six feet i'm
length. Descending by ladder ten feet,
you reach the door of an inclined arch.
way, dipping at an angle Of thirty-fve
degrees, from twenty To thirty feet i'm
height, by thirty feet in width. De
the incline, which il one hun
dred feet in length, we reach the door
Of the grand archway, from forty To
sixty feet in height, varying i'm width
from twenty TO thirty feet, from which
radiate scores of smaller archways lead
ing TO spacious chambers, with their
ofty ceilings draped with brilliant tai
lctites, that glitter and sparkle insthe
light of n lamp like gems of ocean waves
)i which we read. The floors and walls
IF this subterraneous hall are entirely
coated with stalagmites, pure crystalliza-
ton. We can best describe this crystal
in this wise For instance, il
resembles in makeup and appears TO the
vision like a sheet of snow lying loosely
in large flakes on a pane Of glass. We
visited, under the guidance OF the dis |
coverer many large chambers, of which |
ihe grandeur and brilliancy battle de- |
Our rambles through the
archways were continued
for four hours TO give the most minute
details of what we witnessed during our
rambles in the cave would fill every page |
Of the Tuolumne IndependenL. "The |
Bridal Chamber" is sixty feet ia length. |
twenty feet in width, with slightly |
arched ceiling ten To fifteen feet; floor |
and walls crystallized; from the ceiling |
depend hundreds of stalacttes from one |
10 six feet in length. This chamber far |
,urpasses the wondrous beauties OF the |
. Cave City" Of Calayeras County. So |
says Il. Bostwick, who, in 1859, visited |
that cave. "The Crystal Palace" |
though not 10 spacious as the first-men- |
toned room, is equally "a attractive; its |
crystal formations are Of rare beauty
Explorations made of the cave extend
over an area of one-half mile. In no
direction already xplored has there been
found any terminating point 10 the cay
erD. Gardner says he will continue TO
explore till every recess of the cave
Is discovered and it's extent known
Through some system of experimental
surveys Of the surface, he determined
the extent of the cave 70 exceed four
rnilaa