The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-08-20
A BOTTOMLEss PIT.
Tho Mysterious Hole in West Virginia.


Tho Mysterious Hole in West Virginia.
| PARKERsBURG, w. Va, August g.
One of the most pleasant Of midsummer
recreations is trout.ishing among these
grand West Virginia mountains, and
here, along the south branch of the
Potomac aud the innumerable runs aud
creeks which empty into It, the sport
may be enjoyed to perfection. So vild
and picturesque Is the scenery, and 90
primitive the surroundings, that although
the traveller is but twenty -four hours
from Cumberland aud thirty from
| Washington City he seems, when once
In these mountain Businesses, to be quite
on the extreme limits of civilization and
far removed from the te6caing population
which in reality swarms so closely around
! him.
The country hereabouts is very thinly
settled, the inhabitants being mostly
gathered along the line Of the new rail-.
road being pushed into the heart of the
mountains by Senator Henry g. Davis,
James G.. Blaine, Secretary Bayard and
other capitalists and politicians, or are
scattered in the few small villages which
are to be found at long intervals in the
river valleys. The area Of cultivated
land is extremely small, the vasl major.
| i!y of the territory being clothed In o
dense growth of black walnut and other
valuable hard woods. Game of all
kinds, including deer and bear, Ia plen-
tifui, aud no uncomfortable portion of
the scanty revenue of the people Is de.
rived from the hides Of wild animals.
Strange as 1t may seem, the population
OF this region is Intensely Republican,
Eror nj Io, e.
given two:thirds majority for the can
didates of that party, although tho coun.
ties surrounding It on three sides are IN.
tensely Democratic. The people, rude
and uncultured, though they arc gener.
ous 60 u fault, and milk and honey.
6guratively speaking, arc showered upon
the stranger who may happen to be
within their gates in way not to be
despised.
There are many natural wonders in
this out of.the world region, and yester.
day the monotony of camp life was
varied by visit to one of them, the
locality known far and wide throughout
the South Branch country az the He'll
Hole. This Is an uncouth name, but to
visit the spot justifies the title in the
mind of the beholder. This terrible
| abyss Is on the North Fork, of Ritenour,
| at the side of a little stream which
gurgles musically down the mountain,
and Is to the lower or left hand side of
the road which leads through the Harmar
Hills. The chasm, circular in shape, ia
about fifteen feet in diameter, almost
perpendicular, and is believed by tho
inhabitants near by to be bottomless.
It's situation is at the bottom of deep
rocky gorge, and the scenery Is unusually
wild. Many attempts to sound this
mysterious well by lines, some of them
thousand feet in length, have been
made in days past, but as yet without
arail, and lighted lanterns and torches
lowered to a depth Of many hundred feet
have revealed naught but rough, irregular
walls of solid rock. Provided with q
stop.watch, dropped heavy fragment
of rock over the edge of the yawning
gulf, aud the last faint sound which
came back to my ear was at the expira.
ton Of fourteen seconds. From this,
making due allowance for the resistance
of the air, the transmission of eound,
and the impediments to the stone caused
by the uneven sides, calculated depth
OF 3,l52 feet Inches, presuming, of
course, that the last audible sound was
caused by the rock striking the bottom.
The people, who have for many years
regarded this gigantic we'll with some.
thing akin to awe, tell many stories of 1t
and OF the objects animate and inani.
mate, including ct least one human
being, which have been swallowed up in
its inaatiable NAV. A fine white.pine
tree, with slender stem, straight as an
arrow and over one hundred feet hight.
stood on steep slope few dozen yards
from the mysterious hole. Two of Isaac
Harmar's sons concluded to venture up
and cut the tree for troughs,, It fell With
the top up hill, and starting 70 slide,
disappeared bodily into the He'll Hole
and was lost to view, the terror stricken
young men, who peered cautiously over
the edge, being unable to see the slight
est trace of the tree except few bits OF
bark and branches clinging here and
there TO the Jagged rocks.
but other and moro serious accidents
have occurred at the He'll Hole. About
ten years ago partially blind peddler,
who was making his way south along the
North Fork from Martinsburg to White
Sulphur Springs, disappeared suddenly
In this vicinity. A search was made for
him and his trail finally struck ard fol-
lowed up to the very brink of this fearful
pit. The supposition Is that, in the dusk
Of the evening, the old man walked to
the mouth of the hole, all unconscious Of
danger, and stepped off, to fall TO as YET
unknown depths.
There Ia also q legend current amonp
the good people of this portion of Grant
County that, away back in the early
days Of the century, when the red man
had not long been gone from the North
Fork Valley, q young girl, disappointed
and heart.broken at the cause of lover
had made her way to the mouth of Hell
Hole, and, depositing in little pile on d
fiat rock the few simple love tokens
received in happier times from her be-
trothed, had leaped into the fearful
depths before her.
On another occasion valuable horse
fell into the pit, and last winter q dog
while pursuing rabbit, took the direc.
tion of the hole, aud, catching his prev
on the edge, lost his footing and both
animals were engulfetl. Tourists have
dropped tons of nicks into the hole, but
its dark secrets are still unrevealed, and
probably will ever remain unknown, an
object of mystery and wonder to the
paseing stranger and of terror to the In
habitants of the region in which it is
situated. q s
humanity Demands II. ,y