Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-08-12


Clothed with ''fungoid" stalacttteS which our
guide Informs us is the Vegetable Garden. NJ my
OF tnese excrescenceS have quaint anc sug
gestfye appearance, and would no doubt help
point, by well-built stairway. we reach the
Muddy Lake, which has been carefully bridyed
We pass the Bear Tracks and the Theater, aud
6sceLdlpg TO the left. reach the Fish Ma ket.
Vh.ch, 10 my mind. is one OF the IN pSt natural
and unique sights In the cavern. The stalac.
utes habg IN a long row upon the wall They
aie OF various sizes, from eight 10 fifteeu inches
ia length and beyond any question are as n ltu
raj, In contour and general resemblance. "a
though they had been reproduced from life
The illusion is so absolutely perfect that one
almost exps cts them TO Hop ami wigyle
about II touched. Leaving the Fish Market we
ascend s9 The stairway on our right and enter the
Elm k&mhle, a low open chamber from one 20
ten feet high, by six hundred la length ana
three bundled In breadth.
A PLUTcNIAN SHORE
We cross the Ramble by deep trench cut
through the solid earth and the superiaculnbeut
derosit of strattfied salts and stand upon the
piink or Plutos Chasm-an astonishing INT
i've hundred feet long, seventy-hye feet deep.
snd nom ten to fifty feet across the top. This
Is, nsufatlveiy. the underground railroad bv
which Pluto carried ProSerpne TO his ls!ar-
renoan home ! now understood what Poe
cant when he spoke OF the Nights Plutonian
shore. We follow the guides down a lon.-
ROCKY descent which bears away to the right
aiong the shore OF the chasm-we have no ear
alhai POINTS here, except ''right" and "lef,'-
nom hich We are protected by Stout baluS
laGe OF wood. At TIE bottom or the pass our
attention Is directed TO the Spectre-a tail snow
whlte staiagn!te which looms IN IN the darn.
ness IN khCStiN, mysterious manner. Near ny
stands lICSerrlle, hcrself-the .mother OF IN.
hume Iabie ;eafs," the 'chaSte daughter Of
JtNt, NnCse never ending embrace was the
t&Le OF lie Greeks. Retracing cur steps. lest.
IbeGNtItu!e, INDUSTRIOUS Proselpine should
stl Golech head Of a terrific monster from
Olcus, We ascend from his 'Maiaboge" Ike
gloGpe OF paLtesQue souls driven about in
q purgatorial wind. We slowly climb
this narrow pass In Indian fi!e Little
talking is done, for silence is more suitable
than speech In place so uuspeakably grand
lamps dimly burning" until the Fish Market Is
regalnCd: We pass lake set breast higa ia the
wall, AID studded with snow white CRYSTALS aud
transparent StalactiteS. II is filled with water
NAieil, oy evaporation, continually changes into
crystals which buldup the wall aud prevent an
OVei lloW Near By. we cross the ChaSfn and pass
~ tne Giotto or ob1ron-a miniature fountain
guarded py forest OF IilHputIan stalactiteS-
ana enter lie Bridal Chamber. Continuing, We
emerge through wall OF solid marble into the
marvellous Giants Hall. We are shown Titan
Ia Vel Diana's Bath, and many other spland-
obs which had no time TO note. At last we
reach tie SaraCen'S Tent which has a decidedly
fakish and Enmadic look. We next approach
Tie Organ In the Cathedral, but the "archifec-
lure" has been spread about With such a lavish
hand that il is difficult TO say whether it is in
me nave, tIanse pit, or what particular part il
Il
formation, about ten feet long by eight or nine
feet high. The nucleus is an old tlme-Wogn
stal2ctite Oh which the water has fallen and
Crystallzed into drapery and pipe-ke stalactiteS
Which taH gracefully TO the ground on every
size, and possess the singular power OF giving
cut itch, sCnorcus sounds when the hand Is
swept lightly over their rfbbed and fluted sur
face.
THE PRBADAMITE COLCMN.
We low approach the sanctum but are
stopped by the Fallen Column, which lies ike
some Egyptian colossus, forever at rest To
reflective mind this is one Of the most striking
creations Ia the cavern. 1t is about twenty feet
ID length by fourteen ia diameter. Its weight
is one hundred ana SERENITY tons. and as it now
lies, Is a Segment-a simple fragment-of the
ancient pillar, before IL fell. Gauging its prob
able length by the pillars now standing its
original height could not have been less tnan
nfty 1eet, and its entire weight f0ul' huaIred
ana t,celty-Ete tons. Think OF that, and then
reject that there is ,rbole forest of them here
with millions In it, and you can dimly i'm
aglne what load" the proprietor has on his
The Column is in a recumbent position with
the smaller end resting against the wall about
four feet from the ground. From this end
transverse StalactiteS have formed; and now
comes the science, or the romance, or both-or
Whatever you may please to call it-of the age
Oh lhelr formation. Prof. Collins, OF New York
cry, now on the .'Gulnare" In search or polar
stalacuteS), has riSked his scientific reputation
upon the assertion that 1t took f0ttf' thousand
Tears JOI these transverse StOIdCtiteS to form,
Hence, lt follows that period OF more than
1orty centuries have passed since this protean
column WreStled with the powers OF afEesiOa
and was oVerthrOWn.
A strangely solemn feeling came over my
mind as l leaned against this mutilated fraC-
Inent and unused upon the meaning OF time
Its fall resOupded through these mysterious
halls away back In the earths history when
lie angels OF God were still walking and COM
m1niLg among the sons OF men" F3rty cen
tof1tH ago! The worlds history-Sacred and
nr0iare-lieS almost within Its extremes Even
EgL pt. the mother OF civilization had scarcely
ais n IRON her barbaric sleep, to loom I'D as a
sal lng point liz the young worlds progress. |
u'd s. arcely think the idea sane that it FELL
TWO thousand years before The Birth OF Christ.
hat since then
ages have gene and creeds aud dynastes
fEd a new order leit us DER al the earth
Ne TGN approach the age OF the Fallen col
ulnn, ard | must confess that all my -precon-
celNed Ideas or time are utterly stranded. am
not familiar with the hypothesis upon which
the calculations are based. but when the Sdrant
assert hat IL required Serell millions or 0r,.s
TO given this fallen column its present diameter
L feel Ike putting Oil my shoes" and standing
on the sloppy stone, for 1U certainly must be
holy ground" where stand. This stupendous
array OF figures-thts almost eternity OF centu-
ries is too beW1dertng 10 be considered when
cur basis OF comparison Is summed UP in
three score years and ten." Figures like these
are TOO lofty to be INDUCED In anywhere outside
OF the realms OF astronomy.
Dropping over the column, to the right is the
Angels wing, an alabdStar- white formation
nearly ten feet high by seven In breadth. It
shows 10 the best advantage before passing IN
der the column. Ii is perfect wing la general
outlines, and as ilossy and pinnated as the ap-
pendages worn by any OF the Fra Angelica's
sublime creations. Its position over the column
is poetica! and highly appropriate. It seems as
though placed there as a sentinel 10 note the
flight OF time" Old Father Time may have
lett IL there in diSmay. when he found thai, In
age. he was only the brother OF the column: Or
perhaps, some young time" may have dropped
1t Icharus-l like, when he looked In the dooms-
day book and found on comparison, that he
was only secondhand time" after all.
The next points TO receive passing notice are
the Throne Room and Throne. Chapmal'S Lake,
the Tower or Babel, and katie'S Secret. The
latter opens into the cayernS high up on the
left. 1t is uncovered in StalactiteS and S)me-
what resembles the aTched and retreating door
way OF a cathedral With Poe's Wierd tlgrIe
sounding IN my ears would have given IL far
different name. II looms up high In the wall
Ike some armorlal hatchment, or
THE door Of a legended tomb"
WONDERFUL SCENE.
Another move onward ana We have reached
the chef d'aurre-the ultima thHle-of this
whole wilderness OF fairy-lik structures. We
stand on the verge of towering cliff facing the