Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-05-04
A CURIOUS CAVE.
An Illinois Resort Which Claims
Attention.
A GREAT HOLLOW IN The EARTH.
The Wonders to be Seen in the Sepul-
chEe Of the ShawneeS - Some
Strange Underground
Sights.

One Of the most remarkable caves on
the continent is TO be found seven miles
southeast of Equality, Ill.,, in Gallatin
county. 1t has long enjoyed Il local
! fame, but, strange to say, its interior
wonders have never been described in
/ print. Your correspondent arrived
! there after traverSing q well-wOrn coun-
try road through good farming region,
with stretching woods here and there,
| and series of rolling hills. The road
terminates at the foot of miniature
mountain, whose crest is 800 feet above
| thelevel If the valley below, and which
everloOkS Shaneetown. Harrisburgh,
FL Dorado, Equality, and the Ohio
river for twenty miles up and down.
At the base of the hill there are some
Five sulphur Springs
where people camp in the summer
! time. There is a small grocery there,
! and rural restaurant and farm house.
| The mouth of the cave is situated about
! halfway up the side of the hill. The
! way leading up is fearfully rocky, and
! i'm places il is too broken and steep for
4 horse to ascend. On the north side,
among a grove of cedars, the opening,
about the size Of an ordinary door way,
was found, and in sort of weather
box near by there was an attendant
who charges q small fee for conducting
casual visitors through the cavern and
Pointing Dat Its Curiosities.
The entrance is fully high enough for
the talleSt man to walk erect. The
guide called attention to the fact that
the air at that point was almost treez'
ing cold, but that the temperature
would be quite warm and comfortable
when the inside was fairly reached.
He mentioned this diversity as phe-
nOmenon that is observable both winter
and summer, which had often excited
the wonder OF travellers, but had never
been explained.
Absolute Darkness Reigns within.
aud the explorers are provided with
lighted candles, lamps going out too
easily. From the opening there i a
pasSagcway ~ feet long and & feet
wide. The walls are sandstone that
appear 10 have been subjected to intense
heat. The ceiling Is not over eight feet
over head, but i'm the second passage
way, running at right angles with the
first, it is fully - feet to the top. Here
are a series Of corridors, laid oil with
the regularity of city thOgOughfareS,
and leading to all points of the compass.
! The floor is of dirt mainly, bat here and
| there
Long slabs of Burnt Sandstone
make a secure and easy path. A dis
| lance of 500 feet is traverSed before the
/ capaciOus apartment is reached. Here
a natural grottO about seventy feet in
length and breadth presents wild and
weird appearance. The ceiling, forty
feet above, is studded with stalactites,
many ofthempendantl like icicles, reflect
| inc a brilliant light where the rays from
! the candle fall. The walls are of Il
/ light yellow sandstone, and many curl
! Gus inscriptions, with names notable
! and names unknown, are cut in the
| rock.
Through this apartment a stream Of
! water three or four feet wide
TriekIes TO the SOuth.
! where il is lost in the earth. 1t is about
two feet deep, and it is said that eyelesS
| fishes have been caught from ii, a. well
as an amphibious lizard, coal black in
| color and without eyes.
Further on, in an apartment nearly
! as large as the former, the correSpon-
| dents attention was directed to large
! inscription on the wall, cut deep in the
| rock, which read, "Sepulchre of Shaw
! nee Braves The guide, in explain
ing this inscription, said that the Shaw
! nee Indians once Inhabited the region
Surrounding the Cave,
! and it was legend that this particular
] nG a hilr11I nlApn
the great chiefs of the tribe. No mounds
were visible on the surface of the floor,
! but il was related that an early settler
! once brought a spade, and on digging
! foot below found regular charnel
| house, and the guide said there could be
| no doubt that this particular part Of the
! cave was full of human bones.
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 innumerable passages leading
| to the right and left, and only
Few OF These Have Been Explored.
From q series Of yawning holes in the
west wall Of one compartment dozen
separate torrents leap down on the
rocks below and rush into a subterra-
mean channel that opens in the centre
! of the rocky floor. The wild rosr and
still wilder echoes from the cataract can
be heard hundreds of yards away, and
on a nearer approach become some
what deafeuing. The water is as clear
| as crystal
| Refieciiug n Million Diamonds
! in the light of the tallow candles, The
! underground channel here is over
thirty feet deep, - was prove d by let
! ting down a line and heavy load. The
current is so strong that it was difficult
get a perpendicular measurement,
though the lead weighed pound. One
of the strongest features to be eneoun-
tered was pointed out by the guide as he
conducted the party tos small chamber
on the east of what appears to be the
main thoroughfare of this
Great Hollow in the Earth.
In the wall, within a foot Of the sur
face of the floor, there is an aperture
three or tour feet in diameter, with torn
and Jagged edges as if the rock had been
rent assUnder with giant powder. Cam
dies held to the hole show rough in
clined plane, extending downward for
ten feet, and then an abrupt termina-
ton on the verge Of what appears to be
an
IiIimitable Cave of Darkness.
The echo of the human voice from
this inner cavern is something tesrful.
A rock rolled down the inclined plane
4 and into the ChasrN is not heard from