The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-08-17

ii to 8 friend, he. srrs told by him thas41
thought the place meant was Dungeon fves
Lynn. Marble, upon hearing the whole -.
tory Of the rock, became interested, and yistee9
the spot He discovered . largo open seafn Il
the rock, which he thought would lead g
cave. and that same year, with his son EdW0
and two other men, he began . determtned g.
sault npon the mass of stone, which neathse
he nor his son ceased to continue until dsa14
prevented. For q year all hands lsbored hAr9
on the tunnel they had made, which WAS y
lead to the cave, but the two men became az.
couraged, lost faith and stopped work. Be9
the Marbles we're not disheartsned in the leaste
on the contrary, they redoubled their exertuaD
to secure the treasure.
A SEARCH.
They purchased the entire rock aud SUE
%roundlngs of the then town OF Lynn, Aad stsed-
cavations. It was hard work, and few mon
would have persisted in the undertaking. e
father and son die. The rock is of the hardest
kind, and abounds in crystals and ield1paz.
They hadsnothing to work with but . drill os
two and a sledge hammer. The son would
hold the drill while the father welded the
sledgc, relieving each other at intervals. Ar
or a blast the fragments Of rock would 10
shoyeled into z basket and then one or the
and uneven path they lad made With il upos
MS shoulder, and dump it outside.
something occurred which gave them nsv
hope and increased their faith. It was the
regular intervals, who directed him in his
work. On one occasion he Was told tha4
within q certain number Of hours he would
find something in the rock that would greatly
encourages him to proceed. Four days laterAn
ancient.looking, rusty sword, with ) leather
wound haft and q brass bound scabbard Wa
found in alarge seam inside the rock. Soon
after being exposed to the air the leather
upon the handle crumbled away. and the
on. Father and Son worked on sum
mer and winter, year In and
year out, living in . small Int near
the mouth Of the tunnel. and subsis6ng upon
Of money presented them by visitors. Maya
time hunger stared them in the face, but
thing, providentially, always turned mp to pre-
vent them from starving. Five long years they
tolled together, then i've more without making
the discovery they expected. The ten yesrS
changed to fifteen, and still no treasure. But
the wonderful faith of the Marbles was not
shaken ir the least Two years later, Nov. 10.
after having labored increasingly for seventeen
three, without having laid eyes upon the silver
and gold he had dug SO deep into the heart Of
the rock for, To the very last he
believed that treasure Wis buried
be found. But Edwin, tho son, continued The
work upon the tunnel alone. He drilled,
blasted and carried out rock unaIded. f~ncress.
ing its length from year to year. but never
reaching the pirate's cave or it's treasure He
was . apirituallst, and believed everything
about the cave that came through msdiums
He was avery patient worker, cheerful and
hopeful, and determined In his object Neither
argument or criticism moved him in the least
and for eleven years longer he continued -
his reward, aud died Jan. 1G, 1880, OF par
alysis, brought on by hard and persistent
labor in the dark damp excavation
when but twenty. Weird and solemn services
were held by the spiritualis,s over tho remains
within the silent depths of the forest near ths
opening of the tunnel, surrounded by anow and
was Inferred near the foot Of Dungeon rock on
the southwest slope, close TO the Scene OF his
life's hopeful, but ~fruitless labors. Bnt when
the s!edge and drill WAS laid down forever
BY Edwin, there was no one to take 1t up, and
the cavern has not been invaded except by
visitors. The female Marbles who livedin the
hut near the tunnel through all the long years.
were as strong in their faith tas the men,
and have not yet deserted the rock. Az oue
party. approached Dungeon rock We could
plainly see the effects OF the ancient eArth-
quake in the massive fragments Of rock soat-
tered about, the huge powders and the riffs
and chasma in different parts. We were
taken in charge byoneo OF the relatives of the
0duutless uiSkcIb Sou6 DeiUIe, WIZ tOtu uS LILO
history of the rock and showed rs the old
sword and scabbard found within ii
For o small fee we were taken into
the excavation, through 8 winding paasage
eight feet in height, eight in width aud
seventy oight in length, the walls OF which
were moist and cold and the pathway ragged.
The tunnel winds around as II descends, aud
the end, where the Last blow was struck only
three years ago, is sixty-fye feet IN perpendic-
ular depth from the surface and direetiy under
the spot where the first blow was struck thirty
one years ago. We were also shown the crew
ics where the sword was found, but the i'm
preston it had made In q clayeyi soil, which
had hardened into rock in the nearly 200 years,
was not to be seen as it had been
destroyed in q search made for more
roles. The visit we paid the
excavation was a most interesting one, and
when sixty-fiye feet beneath the surface Of the
earth, surrounded by the rocky and threaten
ing walls, I could not help shuddsrinR and
thinking whatif the malicious spirit OF the old
pirate, Thomas Veal, should bar our pasaags
back to the open sunlight, or should drop 8
huge powder from above. and thus 3entomb rs
alive, rs he himself was entombed.t But there
We're no spirit manifestations of any description,
and we reached tho surface in safety.