Iron County register., 1883-08-30
ggnu Geuntn Reaister.
THE OREGON COUNTY WON
DER.
The "Twin Sinks or "Gulf''-An
Underground Rival of Niagara.
From the West Plains Journal.l

Inc great curiosity vi HatuiO hho"
by the above and various other loca
names, is located IN the southern par
of Oregon county, Missouri, eight miles
distant from the Arkansas State linz
and the same distance and north of tn,
noted Mammoth Spring of Arkansas
This enormous gulf and cave. Nam
moth Spring, Hot Springs, the under
ground lake at Springfield, Mo-, the
countless caverns and subterranear
rivers of the Ozark (Mo.l and Boston
(Ark.l ranges of mountains, all have
their origin in that mighty subterrane-
an crevasse described by geologists as
commencing in the volcanic region OF
South America, extending through the
Isthmus of Panama and dividing IN
New Mexico, by its corresponding up
heavals forming the "Great American
Desert" of the past or the "plains" of
the present, the basin of which is be-
low the level of the ocean. The west
erly branch of this crevasse extends
nOrthward as far as there arc traces OF
volcanic action; the easterly branch,
taking an easterly course, passes be-
meath the Indian Territory, North
western Texas, Arkansas, and has its
northern and eastern limit defined by
the Ozark upheaval and the valleys of
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
In all this region, there are numerous
sinks in the earth, either the craters OF
;all
noes or caused by fall in the roof of
some one of the myriads of caves of the
crevasse, into which are drained large
areas of land, and in many instances
streams flow to form underground bod
les of water and then burst out anew in
giant springs, rivers in magnitude, as
Mammoth Spring, or falling to the more
profound depths of the crevasse, be-
come heated by volcanic fires to boil
ing pitch and then forced to the surface
as at Hot Springs.
The e"Gulf," though long known, from
its isolated position has been visited by |
but few people, and never explored. In |
fact, it's awe-inspiring and dangerous
ration, and no one has had the temeri- |
ty to enter its mysterious depths farther
than to learn that far within the yawn-
ing chasm and down in the darkness of
eternal night, a mighty river or lake
has an existence, as yet unfathomed in
depth and unknown i'll extent. All that
is known of the wonder is the wild gran
deur OF the approach, which, COM
mencing as gentle ravine far away,
rapidly widening, sinks, until so deep
that the light of day is nearly exclud-
ed, when suddenly it is cut of by a
narrow ridge extending directly across
from bank to bank and of equal height,
underneath which q narrow, winding,
cavernous passage or tunnel finiis its
way from either side of this dividing
ridge, there being similar gulf or sink
ON both sides of it, thus forming nat
ural bridge.
On one side, this passage, though
somewhat narrow in places, is accessi-
BILE to visitors that have nerve sufficient
to enter it, but they have been very
few up to the present time. Passing
some distance down this passage, all at
once the visitor finds himself upon the
brink OF yawning gahyss-anothers step
and he would be lost beyond all human
effort to save. There is no turn to the
right or the left, while either way, above,
below, in advance, is u gloom impene-
trable with the strongest light. Faint,
gurgling, ghostly sounds well up from
the mysterious vortex; echoes, dim and
uncertain, float upon the icy air. Apis
port, and dies away in the distance like
the echoes of distant thunder. A rock
dropped over the brink reaches water
at distance variously estimated at
from thirty to seventy feet. a stone
projected to reach the roof or an oppo-
site wall, invariably gives back no 9TH
er sound than that ofstriking water far
below. All is conjecture, and the visit
or, as at Niagara, is overwhelmed with
thoughts of the omnipotent power that
framed and shaped this awful mystery
and with sense of his utter insignifi- /.
cance.
The completion of the X. c., S. & NJ. |.
railroad has conduced to bring the phe-
nomena of the Gulf "more prominent
ly to public notice, and already the pres
ent season few from abroad have pro- .
cured n guide and visited it, but as in
all wet seasons the flow of water into
the ravine is greater than the tunnel
has capacity to discharge, they could
do no more than peer down into the
dark abyss and admire the extremely
rough, wild and picturesque character
OF It's surroundings. By many it is
believed that there is here an immense
cavern filed. or partially filled, with
wnter, fed by the innumerable sinking