The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1883-08-30
A WONDERFUL CAVERN.
Charles Dudley Warmers Description OF tho
Wonders Of Luruy Cave.

Charles Dudley Warmers Description Of tho
Wonders Of Luruy Cave.
In letter from Luray, Va, to the
Hartford CouTant Charles Dudley
Warner says: In the vestibule OF
Luray Cavern, Virginia, is monster
pillar, very highly tiuted, about TWEEN
ty-ive feet in diameter, called wash
ington's column. All the chambers
and most of the objects in the caverns
have been named, and generally from
Their resemblance to natural or artl-
fetal objects. From the vestibule we
enter a long narrow passage called the
Vegetable garden, from its display CT
vegetable forms, very good limitations
of potatoes, carrots and the like. we
then enter the theatre, great audi
ence hall, and thence to the fish mar
ket Here hang along the walls as II
for sale, but perfectly sweet in this
constant temperature, varieties Of fish,
almost perfectly formed, even to the
white bellies and the wiggle in the
tail F.; one can identify the shad, the
ba s, the perch, the mackerel, and the
illusion is perfected by the trickling
moisture, which gives a Shiny
fishy look to the objects. There
is the Elfn ran5le, fantasti-
ca!ly ornamented, six hundred feeS
long and three hundred in breadth, an |
beyond that Pluto's chasm, a rift five
hundred feet long, ten broad, and
seventy deep, a dive into subterranean
gloom. From this point wonders open
on every side. In the distance is seen
suspended in ar, projected on the dark
ness, white specter. We pass on to
a miniature lake, where the formation
of crystals is still going on, to the
bridal chamber, with it's delicately
vei.ed sta!actites and stalagmltes, anu
it's long trailing arms of alabaster; to
the Giants hall, with columns Of
Egyptian lnassiveness and sculpturings
of Grecian fineness. And we here
pass near other objects-Diaaas lath.
Titania's vel and the Saracen's tent.
the latter a perfect representation OF
the folds Of conical tent, with the
curtains drawn aside in front. Else
where is a throne with hanging
canopy. These objects require no aid
of the imagination to make them
out. Some of the most striking ef-
fects are of hanging shawls, scarfs and
lambrequins, in graceful folds, and
some Of them with borders striped in
colors. -Illumined by placing candles
behind them the illusion Is beautiful. .
One of the great sights is the Cathe-
dral, a vast, lofty apartment with gi-
gantic columns and profuse roof orna-
mentation. At one end is the stone
organ, with its row of regular pipes.
When these are struck they produce
musical notes. Striking themin irreg-
ular succession with stick, the guide
plays "Days Of Absence" without
missing q note, and lively quickstep
with only the loss of a note or two.
There are elsewhere hollow, resound-
ing shafts and thin, upright masses OF
alabaster, which sound like drums
when struck. In one place is a vast
fallen column, fifty feet long and four
teen feet thick. 1t once hung sus-
pended with its great companions, and
the place in the roof whence it broke
off is still visible. 1t has lain prostrate
80 many ages that sta!agmite column
has slowly grown up from the drip on
one end of it. Dropping near it is an
angels wing of alabaster whiteness,
ten feet high and seven broad, taper
ing like a wing, and finished on the sur
face with feather-like sculpture.
Everywhere one sees masses of g.
gantic, glittering columns, the Tower
OF Babel, the leaning Tower Of Pisa,
the Sultana, the double column, q
frozen cascade, and a hundred Won
ders. There is a very good imita-
tion Of an elephants head and
trunk, the long neck and head of a
camel, with the dropping lip. Through
the hollow column It is said an ascent
can be made to a chamber sixty feet
above. Near this the eye is arrested
by the retreating form of an alabaster
lady, in party toilet. Her head is hid
by the jamb of the doorway, but, says
truly a visitor, the rounded shoulders,
delicate arms, shapely waist
and long flowing skirt and train,
profusely ornamented, are all there.
it has been named cinderella
Leaving the Ball." Beyond this, by
way of tile Bridge of Sighs, one comes
to Skeleton Gulch. At the bottom of
this, in a narrow trench, are several
human bones more or less imbedded in
the ca!careous drip. Imade out clearly
an arm bone. From the amount Of
drip over these bones they have proba-
bly, lain here 200 years. Nobody knows
who left the skeleton here or his object
in leaving it here, but the notion gains
ground that these are the bones of a
character much heard of since the war,
a fossil politician.
One of the minor curiosit.es in tho
floor of one chamber is birds nest
containing three small white birds
eggs, pebbles rounded by the action of
water. The guide, who is a man of
truth, swore that nest and eggs were
found exactly as we saw them. When
he asked me if 1 did hot believe it, l
told him believed anything he said so
long as I was underground with him
and he was the only man present who
knew the way out.
1 understood the guide to say that
the lowest point we descended in the
cave is 260 feet below the entrance. /
have nothing more to say of it except
that believe it is the most highly
ornamented, fantastic, bewilderingly
beautiful piece Of work known to man
that nature has anywhere executed
unaided. But then we know very
little more about the earth beneath us
than about heaven above.