The Osceola times., 1881-01-08
A BllgIED SHIP.
Marvellous Discovery Made by Two Miners
In "a Colorado Cave.


A little less than week ago two wan
dering prospectors, while sinking a shaft
near Red Cliff, made discovery so mar
velous and astounding as to seem more
| like a tale from the Arabian Nights than
a sober nineteenth century reality. I'M
agination never pictured wilder or
more desolate spot than the western
slope of Red Cliff. The ragged rocks
and pine clad gorges are in as native sol
ilue as if the eyes of man had never
looked on them, and the tertuous
streams, the steep descent, torn by some
fierce upheaval of nature, and the gran
| ite hills combine 10 form Il scene behind
| which the weirest imagery of Dore would
fall far short. 1t was in this place that
two miners, grub-stakcd by a Denver
Spectator, found their way. The names
of these men were Jacob Cahee and
Louis Adams, the latter a resident OF
Lcadville and the former from some
locality in Southern Colorado, we believe
near Alamosa. Both were mining eX-
perts, and finding favorable indications
on wide plain, at the foot of quite a
steep hill, began to sink a shaft, first
passing through 80 feet of wash and then
striking lime formation stained with
iron and evidently not in place. They
were on the point of stopping work in
despair, but thus encouraged pushed on
their digging with renewed activity until
at a depth of 10 feet Il hollow sound re-
spending TO the blows of their picks gave
warning tina; they were nearing some
subterranean passage or gallery. I'm
willing to give up what appeared to be
so fine a prospect, they secured them
selves from the top by ropes and pro-
ceeded very cautiously with their work.
After a days digging, the bottom, which
had been constantly growing thinner,
gave way with a crash, and the two adj
venturous miners found themselves sus-
pended midway in what appeared to be
large, irregular cave, some 240 feet
long and about lS0 feet wide at Its
broadest point. They had pierced the
cavern in its extremity and had no
difficulty in swinging themselves against
so t of natural stairway of granite
boulders heaped against the sides.
Down this they scrambled, impelled
by curiosity and n spirit of adventure,
holding their miners lamps above their
heads, and soon stood upon a tolerably
level sanded floor, with here and there
a huge crystal OF quartz, while from the
roof, which arched overhead at a dis
tance of about fifty feet, enormous stala-
cities depended like lcicles, and catching
the feeble rays of Eight, threw them back
in a myriad of rainbow hues. The cave
seemed at first empty, but as their eyes
gradually became accustomed TO the
deep gloom, the men saw in the further
extremity huge black object, which,
not without some trepidation, they APP
preached.
As they neared it, TO their unbounded
amazement they made out the outlines
of some sort of sailing craft, but the idea
of a ship fifty feet under ground was SO
preposterous that they thought it some
fantastic mass of rocks, and not until
they fairly touched the timbers would
they believe the evidence of their own
senses. A shin it plainly was or had
been, but a snip different from any that
the eyes of the astonished miners had
ever looked upon. 1t was, as nearly as
they could Judge, about sixty,feot long
hv some thirty feet wide, and lay tilted
forward at an angle of about fifteen de-
grees over rough pile Of stone. The
body of the craft was built of short
lengths of some dark and very porous
wood, resembling our black walnut if it
could he imagined with the grain pulled
apart like sponge or piece of bread,
and made perfectly square. Both ends,
(it was evidently intended for sailing
either way We're turned abruptly mp
like the toe of peaked Moorish slipper.
The planking was apparently double
invited on with nails Of extremely hard
copper, only slightly rust-eatcn, and with
the heads cut or filled in an octagonal
shape. while along the upper edge of the
ship eleven large rings of the same met
al, and evidently for the securing of rig
ing, were counted. At the bottom
edges OF the craft and running its entire
length were two kcels some four and a
half feet deepand six inches thick, hung
on metallic hinges, and at the ends were
fastened rough copper rods, extending
upward and bent over so as To attach to
two masts rising from the upper edges.
If the cross of an inverted letter V be
conceived to represent the deck lines,
the two stems are at about the angle and
position of the masts. These were up
ward of twenty feet long, and, as evil
dence that sail was at one time
stretched across, some ragged remnants
of what appeared to be canvas were
found clinging TO. the inner edges.
The ends of the masts were secured in
pivots, and il was evident that in tack
ing one could be moved forward and the
other back, thus bringing the sail at an
angle with the body of the ship-an idea
which it might not be bad for our mod
ern navigators to emulate. This, it is
believed, also explains the copper rods
which move the keels so as to recipro-
cate the position of the masts. While
the whole ship was intact, the wood
crumbled like dust beneath the finger
touch, and fearful of trapfalls the two
prospectors did not venture to explore
the interior Lying on the ground near
by, however, was discovered a gold in
strument bearing a rude resemblance to
the extant of the present day and posi-
bly used TO calculate the longitude. No
trace of any writing was found save at
one end of the ship, where about md
wav on the bow of the ship, inclosed in
metal ring, were twenty-siX copper
characters rivited TO the wood and bear
ing much resemblance TO the Chinese
hieroglyphics of the present day. No
human remains of any sort were found,
although il is possible that search in
the hold will reveal something of thi
sort.
without pushing their investigations
further the two miners, lost in wonder
ment, retraced their steps TO the upper
air, leaving the CHASTITY ship once more
4 Ill