Omaha daily bee., 1884-12-10
MOONSRINERS' RETREAT.
Exploration Of Two New Mammoth
Caves in WRat Virginia.
Wandering TWO Miles i'm n Mountains
Hcnrt-Thc Lower Csve-A
Succession Of Chambers
-- Fish - Bats a
Hidden Shrine,
Correspondence st. Louis Globo.Domocrat.

hidden Shrine,
Correspondence st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Kingwood, w. ", December 4 4-For
several years there has been existing In
this county rumors of two wonderful cav
erns in the mountains on the east side OF
the Cheat river, about seventeen milea
north of Kingwood. One of these cav
erns, known as the lower cave, which ia
In Mononaglla county, was said to have
been entered a distance Of several miles
without finding the end. The other cav
ern, which is in Preston county, known
as the upper cave because 1t is nearly
up the river from tho lower cave--had
been explored, probably, the distance OF
only few hundred yards. A, the rurnors
grew in age and circulation, ,as a matter of
course, the caverns grew in wonder and
dimennions. Accordingly, q party of five
young men of KiDgv ood, consistingl of
Mel j. Fortney, j Ed Kildow, james w.
White, Ial White and Ii. Clay Hyde.
made the necessary preparations and
started on tho morning of the 3lst ult.,
for the "Beaver Hole" tho name of a
place in the Cheat river near the caverns,
for the purpose ofexploring the caves. The
party arrived at the "Beaver Hole"
about o'clock p. m, and made it's head
quarters at the residence of Col. Rohn,
who lives there. He pointed out to us
the location of the lower cave, which we
had determined to visit first. Immedi-
ately across the river the eye meets the
broad, rugged face Of the mountain, from
the bed of the river to the top of which
is about three .fJurths of a mile.
THE LOWER CAVE.
About half mile up the side, or
more properly the front, of this noun
tain, is the entrance to tho lower cave.
Here the lanterns were lighted, and the
party entered the cavern. The entrance
is large, being about 20 feet In height
and feet In breadth, which gradually
decreases until height of 10 feet and a
breadth of feet is reached, after having
entered the opening about 100 yards.
Here the cave--or the crack in the rock
is divided Into two passages, an upper
and lower passage. 1t is shaped like
the figure 8, with enough of the middle
part of the figure worn out, from some
cause, to enable a person to climb from
the lower part to the upper part, or vice
versa. The lower passage was followed
the greater part of the way as 1t waa the
easier travelling, and one csatld sec what
was above by the light of the lanterns
an oaiar than ono copld non w NJ xuou halnuu
However, there was considerable of
distance that the party was compelled to
take the upper passage, for the lower
passage in several places appeared to
have no bottom. In these places we had
to work along In the upper passage with
both of our hands and knees braced
against either side to keep from falling
into narrow chaam which was hundreds
of feet deep for aught that We knew; and
slip, or misplaced hand or knee
would, in all probability, have been fatal.
TEDIOUS JOURNEY.
As near as could be estimated from the
crude data at hand, we entered the noun
tain about two miles and half. Our
entrance was entirely through cleft in
in the almost solid limestone rock of the
now and then turning squarely
to the right or to the left, without dis
covering u single room outside the main
When we came within probably half a
mile of the end of the cave, we noticed
in the atmosphere. We could
not breathe with ordinary comfort, but
we pushed on, determined to find the
end. The great rift in the mountain had
como to an abrupt stop. To say that we
were profoundly thankful would only be
putting II mildly. We rested for few
minutes before returning. All were well
nigh exhausted, but not one of the party
in the least, although we could
see, by the light of our lanterns, clouds
of steam; or fog, rising from our heavy
boots or clothing.
We started back, knowing 1t would be
a long road to travel before we could get
out Our short rest had served to stiilen
our joints somewhat, and the prospect of
our back travel with its attending fatigue
and dangers was not pleasant to con-
template. For more than two hours, in
single file, we crawled and walked and
stumbled, until we could see the stars of
the armament winking "weloome to US
as we merged from this monotonous hole
in the mountain.
1t was now dark and we had the de-
scent to make and the Cheat river to
cross. We could not walk down. Now
and then some one of the party would
slip and slide down the mountain side at
2:40 speed, only to be caught by striking
against some solid object or slipping
astride grape vine. He would then
cut himself loose, and away he would go
until checked as before. Our guides
kept us from the cliff, and gullies, and
we reached the river in safety. We
crossed II, went to our boarding place,
where We were Hospitality entertained,
and then retired for the night, feeling
that We had visited the lower cave-or
"Mopnshiners Retreat" ss we named it
for the first and last time.
THE BREATHING CAVERN.
The next morning we arose early, and
proceeded to the upper cave, which is
nearly mile up the river from "Moon-