The Huntington argus. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1872-1905, 1880-01-28

.didlg d@tspsd slg darabs Constructed
pieces OF engineering which stretch across
the country from the head-waters OF the
Ohio 10 the mouth of the Rio Grand,
there to commingle with similar chain
q roads, mounds and Civilizations com,
ing down the Pacific Slope, and continue
on through Mexico, Central America
and the South American States, to be
finally lost intbs UNEMPLOYED barreusJef
Patagonia, will be left for the solution
of q wiser head thanyour correspondent
possesses. He simply relates the facts;
the scientests may build thereon the
.le5li5s.
IN conversation with some Of the old
est citizens Of this county, have been
enabled 70 learn the date Of the discovery
Of a cave on the old Smith farm in Tiffin
Toyrship. It's existence was proven to
ths earliest settlers, and they probably
learned OF it from the Indians. For years
i has been a place of resort for the curl
Gus, aud was always esteemed a great
natural curiosity. The. old Smith farm
is OF the Portsmouth pike, between 'fif-
teen and sixteen miles northeast OF here.
The,iarin is now owned by Mr. Samuel
Grooms, and is a fertile, well-cultlvated
body Of land About mile from the
Pike is a level plateau Of two hundred
aud odd acres, surrounded on all sides
by lofty hills. As you near the mouth
OF the cave there is gradual depression
Of the ground on all sides, forming what,
in the local nomenclature, is denominated
a sink hole" AT the bottom OF this
circular basin is q hole, three feet in
depth, at which distance from the sur
face you strike the floor OF the first cham.
Der in the cave, dry cavern thirty by
twenty feet, with smooth floor, roof and
walls of freestone. Crossing the room
YOU enter corridor FIVE feet wide, con-
Meeting it with another chamber, smaller
than the first, and this in turn is con-
nscted with third chamber by a similar
corridor. The third room is about The
size ofthe first, but it has lofty arched
dome, aud the walls, floor and roof are
oflimestone. Through this rock water
has eozed for countless ages, and formed
thousands of glistening stalactites, and
s,alagmites. Nowhere else in the cave
do YOU find the limestone cropping out,
and nowhere else do you find these slow
growing formations. To gain access to
the fourth chamber it is necessary to
climb a steep bank and squeeze through
q narrow assure in the rock. In one
corner of this chamber is an elevation,
which, when surmounted, discloses a
yawning WE'LL with mouth ten feet in
UldueleTi anu VI uhhuONh NN PNh' Apply
your ear to the edge of the we'll and you
can hear the hollow rearing Of stream
of water hundreds Of feet below. Beyond
ibis chamber are five others connected
by narrow galleries. The cave comes
to all end against a perpendicular wall
OF solid rock, in the ninth chamber, and
about five hundred yards from its mouth.
The floor CT all the chambers except the
one where the limestone crops out are
dry. All are mathematically regular in
shape except this one. They are Of
different lengths, but all are Of the same
width and height 1t is a romantic
place for a picnic, and has been given
up to such rural festivities for years.
Every corner OF the cave has been thor
oughly explored thousand times, and
stl,s Iva lIsr Of the Hmesfone chamber are