Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-09-19
AZ Described BY that Gifted Liar,
Joseph Mulhattan.
THE LATEST KENTUCKY SENSATION.
Reaching the Shores Of a Frozen 0,ean
Thousand feet Beneath the Surface Of
the Earth--.leebergs, Sharks
and Whales.
IS 1RUrHAr THE BOTTOM OF wELLs'

miles wide by one hundred long that marks
the line Of some gigantic upheaval Of the
earth, which was the primary cause Of tho
origin of Kentuckys grea. natural wonders.
Ieiichfeld is the nearest point on the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad to tho Mann
moth Cave, the Grand Crystal Avenue"
Diamond" Hundred Dome" "Huadrsd
Room" Evan Rodgers" and numerous
other caves Of less note.
New and wonderful discoveries Of caves
are constantly being made in this vicinity.
yet
Excite Only Passing Notice
among the inhabitants, ss caves are 90 COM
mon with them; indeed, they seem to think
the crust of the entire globe is as hollow -
their own little world around them. The
last discovery, however, is Of more excit-
ing nature than anything heretofore. In
the Grand Avenue cave, discovered about
two years ago on the Rodgers farm, there
is bo,tomless pit-at least a pit that until
few days ago was considered bottomlcss,
and out of which poured forth mighty vol.
ume Of cold, frosty air that would freeze .
teef solid before morning If placed over tho
I il the night previous Mr.. Sisk, the butch
.r Of the town has been allowed TO use il As
a sort of refrigerator, and had the advan.
tage OF being able at oil times to furnish,
Even In the Hottest Weather.
meats frozen solid. No one dared to at
tempt TO descend into this bottomless pit
lest the cold should overpower him, and the
mystery has remained unsolved until few
days ago. A party Of scientists decided TO
ut least make an attempt to solve the mys.
terry. A derrick was erected over the pit and
two coils Of rope were wound around tho
windlass; TO this rope cage made OF oaken
planks Vas attached. A system Of signals
was also arranged with wire and gong
bell.
The Exploring Party.
consisted Of eight. four only Of which could
| be lowered nj time. They consisted OF
| Col. James Alexander, Of GallAtin, Tenn;
Hon. Hunter Wood, Of Hopkinsville. Ky;
| Col. John p. Barrett, Of Hartford, ny, and
tie writer Of this article. Those who were
10 follow, should the first party get through
| all right. were Mai. George NJ. Proctor.
State Geologist; Dan Z. OSullivan, Esq,
managing editor Of the Louisville Courier.
Journal; b. F. Ridgely, Esq, city editor Of
the Louisville Commercial, and j. +. Yea.
ger, Of the Litchfeld Sunbeam. The cold
was intense, but with IN abundance OF
heavy, warm clothing We decided that We
could certainly brave that very
| Peculiar and Mysterious Cold
fully as we'll as we could on the carth's sur
face. We were well supplied with torches.
matches, etc rs well as . basket OF pro-
visions. q few tools such a. picks shovels.
etc We entered the cage and gave the
order TO lower away amidst the cheers OF
the great crowd who had como into the
cave to see us of on our journey 10 the iu.
terror Of the earth.
Down, down, We went-3O0, 500. 500
feet. Would We never reach . bottomt
Would there be rope enough 70 rsschf
were questions that we anxiously endesvor-
ed to solve They lowered us very slowly.
very cautiously. Twice We sigpslsd them
10 siop until we could remove projecting
rock from the path Of the csgs
or push the cage around
-. tI,I2O feet-as We afervard ascer-
rained-we struck the bottom. We dig.
allied the joyful intelligence 10 thoes above
nd had the satisfaction Of seeing the cage
drawn I'D Cor the remainder Of our party.
he cold was simply intense, and Il seemed
spe ere they reached M. although not
i over fifteen minutes in sll No time vs 70
l e lost A great avenue opened before us
The bottomleu pit We bad descended vas
i -
vcr had undoubtedly flowed. the avenue
being Iis Ancient BED.
This avenue is in many places over tvo
hundred feet vide, and IL In many places
over one hundred feet high, with innumes.
sble domes extending psobsbly thousand
fest toward the ear,hs surface.
Beautiful pillars Of alabastef, millions OF
ssaiactites and sialagmites, dazzled the eyes
like 70 many diamonds, while the besuiifal
fros,vork formations assumed thousand
fantastic and bewildering shapes 20 our -
,ouished and bswihered senses. On, on
We vent for Q distance OF probably three
miles. The cold vas getting more and
more intense. A thermometer carried By
one OF our party marked eight degrees
above zero. A terrible roaring noise pro
vented conversation. Az We drew nearer
we discovered that il came from great
suberanean sea that was dnshing against
rocks with terrible fury, and that punbes
Of icebergs we're bo6bing up and down 10
the turbulent waters, striking the sSiss and
domes Of the cave.
The SGystsSy
vas nov explained 10 us. We hsd descead.
ed 10 the level Of the sea, and found the, a!I
out beyond the cave va utterly hollos.
The icebrgs hsd cut domes hundreds Of
feet high, and ve stood on The brInt of .
subterranesn sea. The icetfsp ustosetsd-
| II entered 1t the grcs4 mselsesoo - vhifi-
pool Of Norway or one Of similar nature
in the arctic regions, and sss thus 6aGsias-
" preserved In this gress subtensssAn aofe-
house Of nature IN hrge By Hhiee
ne subsequently, discovered q the 80 o.
another avenue, Who so sssal eys'sss
sharks, slso an eyeiess vhsls. shise proves
that the waters ere fall Of slnsi be CO..
responding TO The eysiss fsh q II nsn-
moth Cave. We have jast snaEsd from
the cave afier IN explOssdoa of tventy1osf
boun and I hassen 70 tsisgsPh thsss p.s-
ticula,s; win more tborosGhly sxpsoes a.
| cave 10 morrow vith quito - arIy q Gu
zens and telegrspA sddi6oaal is1onsaSa.
| Tbs ouses a ths esys, Jsdgs = = ne.
Besih, has jua rsfsssd - cdr 81 Sco:oee
forit Representative bon ~ ssnc,s