Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-09-27
WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.

~>~s~>~>3eeSssA SASS AOSS
ted on Duck Greek, in this county. In
the said item yod mentioned the fact
that it would not be supposed that the
ssGreat American Desert" would fur
nish a tree so massive as to favorably
compete with those (Which have made
Colorado and California so famous
And now let me say that, upon the
same principle, neither would anyone
for moment entertain the idea that
the Arkansas valley, at this point, would
produce cave or underground cavern
which will equal if not surpass, in point
of beauty, those yet known in any part
of this continent. As one of the little
party making this wonderful discovery,
I will endeavor to give to the public
every fact concerning this cave, which
promises to prove invaluable in more
ways than one to Dodge City and the
state of Kansas.
On Sunday morning last myself and
two companions, whose names it will
not be necessary to mention, were walk
ing south along the north side of the
river when we we're suddenly confronted
by boy of perhaps fourteen years Of
age, who hastily Informed us that boy
companion had fallen into hole near
the river and had entirely disap-
peared. The boy by his manner of
speech evidenced the fact that he was
very badly frightened and astonished at
the singular fate of his young friend.
As matter of course we became much
interested in the youth statement and
at once requested him to point out to
us the location of the "hole" into which
his friend had fallen, that We might at
least make an effort to rescue him.
By following the boy we were soon
at the desired spot, and found, as
stated, hole in the earth sufficiently
large to admit the body of an ordinary
man. The surface of the ground about
the entrance gave evidence of having
been freshly broken. Our interest at
this point became intense The boy
was dispatched to the railroad shops for
a rope. While awaiting the youths
return, and while sitting near this en-
trance discussing between ourselves the
probable termination of the new-made
discovery, We were surprised and at the
same time glad to hear youthful voice
from the bowels of the earth exclaim
"Put down a rope, you 'fellers, an
pull me out of this yer hole T. By
few minutes later the boy with thirty
foot rope arrived, which was without
delay lowered into the dark. entrance
A few moments of suspense, during
which time there was continual shak-
ing of the rope from below, and then
again came the voice: "All right, pull
'er upr' Strong arms soon brought to
the surface the boy who had unwillingly
and unwittingly opened the entrance to
a cavern of untold splendor.
The boy seemed not frightened, and
was loud in his praise of the cave,
which, though seemingly to one looking
into the entrance to be utter darkness
below, yet he declared the cavern was
brightly Illuminated by some peculiar
substance.
We were now determined to make an
exploration of this mystery. Acting
accordingly, we made fast the rope to
small tree near by and one by one we
three descended to depths delow. After
going down about twenty-five feet we
were landed upon a solid, granite-like
stone floor. The sight which met our
eyes is indescribable. What splendor !
The ceiling of the cavern, which was
found to be nine feet from the floor,
and the sides, were covered with
phosphuretted substance that shone with
soft, mellow light, thus affording US
ample light for further explorations.
We found this cavern to be 36x20 feet.
At the north end of this apartment We
found doorway leading into an adjoin-
ing room. The second apartment prov
ed to be of less splendor, though of
about the same dimensions as the first.
Here We found two shields, much bat
tered, one whole and tire, broken spears,
one cutlass, badly rust-eaten, three he'll
NETS beautifully surmounted in silver
and gold, and two large-sized skeletons
in remarkable state of preservation.
There was some clothing or wraps, too,
which returned to dusty substance on
being touched. In the southeast part
of this room, near the wall, we found
an elongated stone slab lying on the
floor, which we raised to its side, and
on looking underneath we were aston
ished at the sight which our eyes beheld.
There, in a tomb cut in the solid stone
floor lay the remains Of human being,
enwrapped in pallium, after the style
of the ancient Romans. The body, to
our utter establishment, proved to be in
state of petri6cation. On its breast,
just over the heart, lay four by six
inch plate of tombac metal, on which
we're neatly engraved letters of date
of antiquity. As one of our number
was paleologist, we were not to be de-
prived even of the meaning of the words
engraved on this plate. Our learned
young friend carefully studied the an
cient lettering for a few moments and
then, producing pencil and paper, gave
us the Interpretation, which read: "Here
lies the body of the mother Of gambling
and prostitution in Dodge City"