Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-06-08

OH the c)liln"H' i t. h. found III
; ffai!atin county, Illinois. Ab,oln;c
! darAnes- rHi::n5 wi.hin. a'.i explor-
"r7 arr provided with lighted candles.
lamp, EuiiE "jlt toocasily. l'ro:n the
/ opening there is :. passage way Ill
fr,i long an! fee! vide. The walk
;,rr of -a'd,.o." that APPEAR t. have
been Subjected to intense heat The
| ceilin;c il Rot over eight feet over
head. hut in the second passage way.
rUnuiilr lt right angle to Tic first, il
Is fully twcIt.y five feet 10 the top.
Here are series OF corridors, laid of
with the regularity Of city thorough
faree, and leading to all points of the
cornpGss. The hoor is of ,iilt main', ,
hnt here ana thcrc long slabs of
| burnt sandstone make Il secure an.i
easy path. \ distance of 800 feet is
| travprscd hrfur" the first capaciuus
apartment is reached Here natur-
al %rutto about severity feet in length
and breadth presents wild and
weird appearance. The ceiling. forty
feet above. j.. studded with etalac'i
ties, many of them pendant like iciclrs
| and rctircting Il brilliant light where
| the rays from the candles fall The
walls are Of IA light yellow stone, and
many curious inscriptions, with
names notable and names unknown.
are cut deep in the rock. One of
tll"-a. III letters two inches long, Is
Robert }. Ingersoll, 1855 Tho ia
muus in!idel rracticcd law IN Shaw
nvrtown that year. That the cave
WAS known to the earl V settlers of
this region is shown by the trace of
"!irnry Dui;o-c. kaskaskia, 1852"
Another curious inscription. which is
dated July s. lS:2, reads:
Above youl iinl nri-!t. beaut gu, s,alss.
| Here sro:os and cav srns shastcd with hoirii
shade.
The writer las visited s,nr % the
| remarkable caverns uf his native
shore, the Pacific Coast, but the won
ders here displayed surpassed. in
| magnitude and grandeur, anything
| Of the kind ever discovered in Cali
foyuia.
In an apartment nearly a5 large
IL the foregoing. the correspond
eht'a attention was directed 20 Il
large inscription OH tho wall. crt
deep in the rock, which read, " Sep
ulcher of Shawnee Braves The
guide. in explaining this inscription.
| said that the Shawnee Indians once
inhabited the region surrounding the
| cave. and il was Il legend that th" par
ticuiar cavern WAS uSed aS bnrial
place for the great chiefs OF the
| tribe. No mounds We're 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
conld he no doubt that this particular
part of the cave was full OF human
bones The guide here related the
adventures of Il man who had gotten
lost in the cave and spent two nights
near the burial spot of the Sllawnces
The man, who lived in the neiShbor
| hood many years ago, went to the
cave alone and determined on an OK
pioration by himself. After he had
proceeded a few hundred yards his
candle went out. He did not have
any matches, and lost his bearings
while attempting to return. 1t was
| then 10 o'clock i'll the morning,
and for three days and nights he
wondered through the carernous cor
ridor5, being finally rescued by a
party of explorers. who came upon
him and found him exhausted from
hunger and fright. The man gave a
thrilling account of the horrols that
he had seen and heard in the Shaw
nee catacomb. While sitting on Il
stone in this apartment the walls
were suddenly illuminated as if 10y
lightning. and 100 ghostly warriors,
painted and befeathered. flashed into
view and began war dance in the
middle Of the cave. They danced and
yelled like so many fierce devils, and
brandished tomahawks that seemed
to run with human gore. Their
whoops sounded Exc the cry of en-
ragged demons, and Il hundred dis
tant walls answered with wild echoes.
This frantic revel was kept up for
hours, when the light was suddenly
extinguished, and Il stygian darkness
fell upon the cave. To substantiatc
this story the guide said that during
the war men who wanted to escape
| the draft made the cave a place of
refuge, but many of them retreated
with terror after spending a night
within, declaring that they would ra-
ther go to the war and get killed than
stay a week in such a don of horror.
Three men who lived on the Saline
Greek had, however. remained i'll the
cave over six months, only stealing
out occasionally to obtain supplies of
food. About fifteen years ago Il young
man wandered into the cave ard got
lost. He was many days without
food and when found was 50 weak
that he could not speak. He died
within IA few hours after being taken
ont.
From the mouth of the cave on the
north to its extreme southern limit,
the distance is two and half miles.
the route being easily passable all
the way. There are innumcrable
passages leading to the right and
left, and only ii few of these have
been explored From IA series of
yawning holes in the west wall of
one compartment ii dozen separate
torrents leap down Oh the rocks be
low and rushed into Il subterranean
channel that opens in ine center Of
the rocky floor The wild roar and
still wilder echoes from the cataract
can be heard hundreds of yards
away, and on a nearer approach be-
come somewhat deafening. The wa
ter is as clear as crystal, rejecting Il
million Of diamonds in the light Of
the taliow candles The underground
channel here is over thirty feet deep,
as was proved by letting down a lire
and heavy lead. The current is ST