The bee., 1883-06-02
A CAVERN OF CURIOSITTES,
The Sepulcher Of Shawnee Braves, Wherei,
Befeathered Ghosts Dance ut Ml,lnfabr.

The Sepulcher OF Shawnee Braves, Wbersi,
Befeathered Ghosts Dance ut Miduiqht.
One of the most remarkable caves
on the continent is to be found seven
miles southwest of Equality, in Gala.
tin county, III. 1t has long en;oveI =
local fame. but strange to sav, its in.
terror wonders have never been do.
scribed in print. Absolute darkness
reignS within, and explorers are pro-
Vided with lighted CandIfs.s Iann.
going out too easily From the open
ing there IS passageway forty fe
long and six feet wide. The wallsarp
Of sandstone that appear to have been
subjected to intense heat. The ceiliDp
is not over eight feet overhead. but in
the second pas5agewav, running at
right angles to the first, it is fully
twenty-five feet to the top. Here ara
series of corridors, laid of with fba
regularity of city thorougIfares and
leading tO.all points of the compass.
The floor is Of dirt mainly, but here
and there long slabs of burnt sand
stone make a secure and easy path 4
distance of 500 feet is trdycrsed be-.
fore the first capaciou5 apartment is
reached. Here a natural grotto abort
seventy feet in length and breadth
presents wild and weird Appearance
The ceiling, forty feet above. is studded
with. stalactites, many of them pend.
ant like ieieles and rejecting a brilliant
light where the rays from the candles
fell. The walls are of light yellow
sandstone.
Further on, in an apartment nearly
as large as the foregoing. the visitors
attention was directed t. a lgrta IN
ScriptiOn on the wall, cut deep in the
rock, which read ; ''Sepulcher Of Shaw-
nee Braves" The guild. in explain
ing this inscription said that the
Shawnee Indians once inhabited the
region surrounding the cave, and il
was q legend that this particular
cavern was used as a buri&Iplace for
the great chiefs of the tribe. No
mounds were visible on the surface
of the floor, but it was re-
lated that an early settler
once brought spade, and on digging
a foot below found a regular charmed
house. and the guide said there could
be no doubt that this pJrticula' part
of the cave was full of hun an bones.
The guide related the adventures of ii
man who had gotten lost in the cave
and spent two nights near the burial
spot of the ShawneeS. The man, who
lived in the neighbOrhOod many years
ago, went to the cave alone and de
termined upon an exploration by him
self. After he had proceeded few
hundred yards his cand e went ont
He did not have any matches, and lost
his bearings while attempting to re-
turn. 1t was then 10 o'clock in the
morning, and for three days and
nights he wandered through the cav
ernOus corridors, being finally res ucd
by a party of explorers, who came
upon him and found him exhausted
from hunger and fright. The man
gave Il thrilling account of the horrors
that he had seen and heard in the
Shawnee catacomb. While sitting on
q stone in this apartment the walls
were suddenly illuminated as it by
lightning, and l00 ghostly warriors
painted and befeathered, flashed into
view and began a war-dance in the
middle Of the cave. They danced and
yelled like so many fierce fiaEd', and
bTandished tOmahawkS that seemed to
run with human gore. Their whuops
sounded Ike tie cry of enragrd de
mons, and a hundred different walls
answered. with wild e.hoes. This
frantic reyel was kept up for hours,
when the light was suddenly cXtIn-
guished, and stygian darkness fell
upon the cave.
To substantiate this story the guide
said that during the war men who
wanted to escape the draft made the
cave place of refuge, but many of
them retreated with terror after
spending night within. declaring
that they would rather go to the war
and get killed than stay Wetk in
such a den of horrors. Three men
who lived on the Saline creek had,
however, remained i'll the cave over
six months, only stealing cut occasion
ally to obtain supplies of food. About
fifteen years ago d young man wan
dered into the cave and got lost. He
was many days without food, and
when found was so weak that he
could not speak. He died within
few hours after being taken out.