Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-01-30
THE LONG-LOST PADRE MINE.
The supposed Location Discovered
Near the Organ Mountains.

Tho supposed Location Discovered
Near the Organ Mountains.
At the base of the Organ mountains,
$50 feet down the Bennett mine shaft.
workmen in driving drift along the
ore vein sometime ago discovered a
wonderful cave, description of which,
from The Rio Grdndc Republican, is
substantially a. follows: A narrow
passage leads downward from the shaft.
through which the visitors Chamber, but
the wonderful and beautiful creations of
nature which meet his vision after de-
scending to the depths below amply re-
paw for the trouble. Following the
guide, and holding for protection the
cable which has been stretched from
the opening in the drift to the farthest
portion of these grand caverns, the Wis.,
itor goes downward through a slanting
passage widening rs he proceeds and
ending in Il large chamber, only one of
several connected together. Here, by
The dim light afforded by candles, APP
pear the first of the intricate network
Of lime formations, which invariably
cause those who have been so fortunate
as to view them to cNclaim with wonder
and delight On every hand the walls
are frosted over with the most delicate
work Of nature, on one side of a daz-
cling whiteness and on another tinted
with delicate pink or green where the
mineral from the vein has aided in max
4 beautiful effect.
Springing up from the floor or jutting
out from the wall are the same curious
,x-hi
shapes of trees, shrubbery, ferns, and
grasses, as if they were all coated over
with ice and snow, and it is easy to i'm
agine being in a frozen dell. Cascades,
with the very spray frozen, that tumble
down from the wall help to fill out the
picture. Miniature groves, with
branches INTERVIEWING, are punched to-
gether eight or ten feet high, all of the
same virgin whiteness, or tinted with
the most beautiful colors. Coral grow
ing in the sea could not be more beauti-
ful, and it resembles on a grand scale
nothing so much as the ''tree" that is
formed by suspending piece of zinc in
asolution of led. They do not form as
in other caves where stalactite hangs
down, formed by the dripping from the
roof, and a stalagmite rises from the
6oor to meet it where the drop strikes
1t, but the formation is one of crystalli-
zation. Perhaps the cave has been filled
with water, holding in solution the lime
which was deposited in such beautiful
forms.
AT the farthest end of these wonderful
underground chambers the visitor is 800
feet from the bottom shaft, and has de-
scended at an angle of forty-five de-
grees, which makes $40 feet from the
surface. 1t is not thought that all the
caverns have been visited, rs crevices
through which man can not pass are
found, and they may connect with other
rooms equally magnificent. In fact, one
passage that leads to the grandest cham
Der had to be opened with a blast of
giant powder.
IL easy of access. the cavern would be-
come popular place of resort, but the
doom of all this splendor is not far in
the future, and to see it in its glory they
must be visited soon. The benefits
that accrue to the mine by these OPEN
mgs must be seen TO be appreciated. If
the hand of man had followed them out
~ NOthu lOb haNC III Iuc
working of the mine. and indeed it is a
question if it is not the work of
human agency. The startling ques-
ton is propounded: Can it be the
lost Padre mine? 1t has been sug-
gested, not without reason, for not
only does the cave occupy the place in
the contact where the mineral usually
lies, but in several places, directly in
the ends of it, are bodies of ore Just as
if the workmen had left them. 1t may
be suggested that the formation of lime
stone would not have accumulated, but
it has been more than two hundred
years since, as claimed by the legend,
the Padre mine was closed up by the
Infatuated natives, and limestone crystal
lizatiOns are quickly deposited. What |
was called the shaft descends from
one of the upper levels strait down to a
depth of seventy feet, connecting with
the lower openings, and adding another
presumption TO the theory.