The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-08-24
A WONDERFUL CAVERN.
Charles Dudley Warmers bescr'pe""
ofluray Cave.

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Charles Dudley Warmers Description
obituary Cave.
In the vestibule of Luray Cavern, VIZ
ginia, is a monster pillar, very lishiy
tiuted, about twenty-five feet IN III
ameter, called W~ashington's column
A. the chambers and most OF the Cd
iects in the caverns have been named
and generally from their resemblance 10
natural or artificial objects. From the
vestibule we enter q long narrow pas
a called the Vegetable Garden, from
its displays Of vegetable forms, very
good limitations of potatoes, carrots, ana
the like. We then enter the theatre, a
great audience hail, and thence to the
fish market. Here hang along the walls
as if for sale, but perfectly sweet in this
constant temperature, varieties Of hsh,
almost perfectly formed, even to
The white bellies and the
wiggle in the tail; one can iden'
tity the shad, the perch, the mackerel
and the illusion is perfected by th
trickling moisture, which yves a sIlmy
look to the objects. There is the Elm
RambIe, fantastically ornamented, six
hundred feet long aud three hundred in
breadth. and beyond that Pluio's
Chasm, a rift five hundred feet long, ten
broad, and seventy deep, a dive INTO
subterranean gloom. From this polntare'
wonders on every side. In the distance
is seen suspended in air, projected on
the darkness, Il white Spectre. We pass
on to a miniature lake, where the forma-
ton of crystals is still going
on, the Bridal Chambers,
with it's delicately veiled and stalag-
mites, and its long, trailing arms OF ala
baster; to the Giants Hall, with columns
of Egyptian m~assiVeneSs and SCULPTURE
ings OF G,rrcian ~tineness. And we here
pass near other ohjects-Diana's Bath,
Titania's We'd, and the Saracen's Tent,
the latter Il perfect representation oithe
folis OF n conical tent, with the curtains
drawn aside in front. Elsewhere is a
throne with a hanging canopy. These
ton to make them out. Some of the
most striking effects are of hanging
shawls, scaris and iambrequins.i in grace
full folds, and some of them with bor-
ders striped in coiors. lllumined by
placing candles behind them the illusion
Is beautiful.
One of the great sights is the cathe-
dral, a vast, lofty apartment with gigan-
tic columns and proiuse roof orn amen
tatlon. At one end is the stone organ,
with its rows Of regular pipes. When
these are struck they produce musical
notes. Striking them in irregular sue
cession with a stick, the guide plays
DAYS of Absence" without missing a
note, and a lively ~quickstep with only
the loss OF a note or two. There are up
right masses OF alabaster which sound
like drums when struck. In one place
is q vast fallen column fifty feet long and
fourteen feet thick. 1t once hung sus-
pended with its great companions, and
the place in the roof where it broke off
is still visible. 1t has lain PROSTATE so
many ages that a %stalagmite column has
one end of it. Droooing near it ia an
angels wing of alabaster wliiteness, ten
feet high and seven broad, tapering like
a wing, and finished on the surface with
feather.like sculpture.
Everywhere one ices masses of gigan-
tic glittering columns, the Tower of Ba-
bel, the leaningTower Of Pisa, the Sui
tana, the double column, Il frozen cas-
cade and a hundred wonders. There is
a very good imitation OF Ill 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
Ieet above. Near this the eye Is ares
ted by the retreating form ofan alabas-
ter lady in party toilet. Her head il
hid by the jamb of the doorway, but
SAYS truly a visitor, the rounded shout
ders, delicate arms, shapely waist, and
long flowing skirt aud train, profusely
nrnuYnnntaI " oil thara T. H. 49,
named cinderella Leaving the Ball"
Beyond this. by the way of the Bridge
of Signs, one ZONES to Skeleton Gulch,
At the bottom Of this, in narrow
trench are several human bon es more
or less imbedded in the calcereous drip,
l made out clearly an arm bone. From
the amount of drip over these bones
they have probably lain here 200 wears.
Nobody knows who left the skeleton
here or his object in leaving it here.
but the notion gains ground that these
are the bones offs characteristic much
heard of since the war, a fossil politi.
clan.
One of the minor curiosities in the
floor of one chamber is a 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 the nest and eggs were
found exactly as we saw them. When
he asked me if l did not believe it, (
told him that / believed anything he
said SO long as | wa underground with
him and he was the only man present
who knew the way out.
l understood the guide to say that the
lowest point we descended in she cave
is 26O feet below the entrance. l have
nothing more to say of il except that T
believe it is the most highly ornamented,
fantastic, b~ewilderingly bearaiful piece
of work known to man that nature has
anywhere executed unaidedA But then
we know very little more about the
earth beneath US THAI alout heaven
apoye.-Charles Dudley Warmers Lur-
ay, Va, letter in Hartford Courant.
A lIOlOrnd INocfoanE nI.