Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-01
CAvERNoUs GEORGIA.
Graphic Account of Some Wonderful
Caves in south Georgia.

Caves in south Georgia.
Baia6ridge CA Cor. A ugtstI Egeain0 Ne1os.
herewith render an account of re-
cent visit to Mitchell and Decatur coun-
ties. l arrived at Pelham, Ca, on March
10 and was kindly welcomed by j. l..
Hand, of whose hospitality was the re-
ciplent. While there Mr.. Hand kindly
furnished me horse and buggy, and /
visited Decatur county to see one of the
worlds great wonders. | arrived at
Thomas A. BarrOws', who was on the
lookout for me, and after doing justice to
a good dinner, Mr.. BarrOws and
| struck out for two points of interest.
We first reached the Blowing Cave in
Decatur county, Ga, it is situated in
large plantation on a hill, surrounded by
broad valley, with the exception of the
east, which is a little higher than the rim
OF the cave and ten miles from Pelham.
The rim of the cave is 80 feet east and
west and 20 feet north and south, funnel
shaped, about II feet deep from surface
of rim, and has two openings or mouths,
through which it breathes. Its suction
is In the forenoon, and it blows out in tue
afternoon, and the draught is sufficient
in the morning to suck in leaves,
pocket handkeTchiefs, or anything Of
light weight. In the afternoon it blows
Ouh WIN CHudi GuAbus BldNNN
my head to one Of it's mouths and heard
a noise like the roaring of distant wind.
This cave must have immediate cOnnec-
ton with the Gulf of Mexico, which one
would reasonably conclude is the cause
of its resDlratiOns. This cave is the
property of Thomas A. Barrows, and he
says that he often goes to its mouth Of hot
evenings in summer, and gets a refresh
ing breeze, for II the weather marks 30
1aa-
Of the cave a0d it will fall to - degrees,
which shows 1t has no connection with
the dreaded place, and then the breeze is
pure and healthy,
South of this cave about one mile Is q
beautiful waterfall. the rim OF which is
about $40 feet IN circumference, funnel
shaped, and is the tunnel that receives a
stream OF water which approaches through
a narrow channel, at a depth of 20 te et
from the surface of the land, and pOurs
over a rock into the funnel about 40 feet.
The bottom of this funnel is % feet across,
and there have been seen in it an alligator
and arattlesnake. The water is conveyed
from the funnel bya su6terranean passage.
the funnel through which the water falls
has on all its sides beautiful growth con-
sisting of the fir, oak, hickory, beech, pine,
maple, dOgwo0d. magnolia, and all are
beautifully draped with gray moss that
waves in every breeze. This place pre-
sents beautiful sight-One which l en-
joyed hugely. Next l visited the great
| lime sink, about 6 miles from Pelham,
and belongs TO L. O. jackson, of Balm
bridge. This sink is the receptacle of a
large creek, and the bottom is about 200
| feet below the surrounding country.
There is grist mill on its verge, and the
natural water power would run a vast
amount Of machinery. The fall of water
into the sink is 80 feet, which presents a
grand sight as it falls. One can easily go
down into this sink, which is the approach
to a great cavern over 100 feet under
ground. You have to humble ones self
to get IN by crawling about 10 feet, when
you can rise to your feet and walk through
a great cave or cavern. For quite us
lance there is pretty stream Of water
running through this cave that keeps the
air cool and nice, but don't you forget you
are down in the ground. 1t would be a
good place to take oyster suppers on a
cold winter night.
On my return to Pelham Mr.. Hand pro-
posed to take me to another cave in Ia G
miles OF Pelham. This one is on large
plantation, and is a beautiful funnel
shaped cave about 225 feet in circumfer-
ence and 20 feet deep, and has two mouths
to breath through, and 1t was blowing out
strong while we were there. Like the
other cave, it sucks the air IN in the MORN
ing and blows it out in the evening, and
the air is cool and pleasant, as at the cave
in Decatur. The trees of this cave are
pine and magnolia, and make a beautiful
shade. This cave is accessible, being
only two miles from Pelham. The
mouths Of both these caves are well pro-
tected by phosphate rock. There is also
beautiful waterfall within two miles OF
Pelham.