Telegram-herald., 1888-04-22

IA Sstarsl Bridge u Virginia Il vas o1t
ths sorx Of fes nllnalss 70 discover that
the earth sss solid saoagA 70 hold me Il
cut ths inches dsep s8ouga. sad sishin
half noaF I sss mere than nsif Nsy cut ot
the cave and then. being satisfied that l
BAD ous fss minutes more work before |
would De on terra hrm1-if. Indeed, there
wax xny terra 6flaz thereasoats. decided
70 return and explore tas hols | had oesn
thrOsa into. Back zssia on eas eed of
moulding az3 rotten leaves. l twisted
haadkerchisf sT0Cuf the end Of my gun
barrel and set it on IRE win q MACH
Wifh thlz smproVised torch made ray way
some hitesn Or tweEty fset into the cave.
becoming more and more satisfied Al every
sep that - a sn sacient mine OF some
kind The door w4s slrssn with leaves
b0t httle distanee. aud alter SIX
o. eight feet It began 70 descend at an angle
Of about forty degrees. tie door grew harder
Al every step and tie roof above grew lower
so that my feet made hollow sound that
made me extremely nervous. Suddenly.
soms ten or twelve fee. IN front Of me.
heard sswishing noise. and poking my
torch a. far into the darkness as possible
discovered four or i've OF the most curious
looking sn4kss IL was ever my disagreesbls
misfortune % look upon. They had large.
buloous heads and their bodies seemed 70
taper down TO . threai-like TAIL that beat
the air continuously. Ia fact they seemed
-. nrfr fhsf~ xHa
which had great. red. shining eyes. had
but little time-Or inclination either-to
study the horrible creatures for my i'm
promptu torch want oct 81 the moment
and shuddering l hurried back TO the en-
trance. leaving the suishing noise behind
me.
Hsrriedly strapping my rod and
qua to my back | dug my way out of
the mine and rcgaining the surface once
Tnore found that the wind mad died away
and tns sun setting low in the West was
glinting the tops of the trees. | got my
bearings aud WAS soon rewarded with the
sight OF Wolf Lake. which | reached Just
at dusk had little difficulty 10 finding
the Asnistee road along which / toiled
patiently until near midaight. The
thoughts and fzncies that haunted my brain
90 that ionely tramp may be imagined but
they cannot be described. How was l 10
convince my skepticsl and practical friend
OF my most strange and improbable sd-
venture?
How was I ever to tell anybody OF those
round headed snakes and that awful, soul
thrilling. swisAing noise which the
noisoms creatures made as their tales
whipped the sir2
Most wisely resolved 20 keep the strange
story to myself until the opportunity for
investigating fully the country taereabouts
presented Itself.
l found my friend asleep by cosy fire
which ne had built on the bank of the
river at the old beaver dam. The only ex-
plsnstion I made to him was that | had
been delayed by falling into slough near
the lake. ! never made an attempt to tell
the story OF the mine and the snakes but
once, and that was in party of fishermen.
When I got ss far as the snakes eech and
every one of the four who were listening
pulled bottle out of ais pocket and walked
out Of the old log cabin in which We were
encamped and threw the bottles into the
grass. / noted. however. THAI each man
selected a soft spot for his bottle to light on.
I Then they stood out there in the rain 10 ok
I ing At M and winking 81 each other.
+ Bat then. whoever beard of anybody
listening to a ishsrman's story2
Il il now nearly dine year, sine I have
visited The Little Msnistes. and nad almost
come 70 believe my experience in the old
mine in Lake county a. . sort Of q vagsry
of the mind. The story most assuredly
would never have oeen put IN print but for
recen. discoveries near Luther in that
| county. / refer my sxepsicsl readers TO the
/ following article. which appeared in the
/ Luther Lqsce Of the 10Th instant:
Luther contributes some rsrnsrkso.e facts
/ about The work OF the people y no in nhaoi-
ta;ed this section Of country many years
. before America was discovered. ana the
I knoWled xs Of these facts cal up numerous
/ Supposi tons as % who and what these in
| habi;ants we're. Could they have been
( Toiiscs. Aztec. mound builders, or semi
7 civilized lndisnsi
Ats point on the southwest quarter Of
the northeast quarter of Section ID. on =
farm Owned bv ar. b. I. Ward. ABOUT one
and hall miles from Luther are to ba
/ found ancient f0rtihcations. A large cir
r1iar earthH0rk can easily % traced
through tie woods There has been a
trench dug and the earth thrown up. on
the ouustde 10 4 presuma5le height OF i've
Or SIX feet. bus time and sac elements have
lsvsled & dova 80 ihst ths aghes. place 20
b seen n0w = probably s5ous two feet.
II = spout thirty rods across the orcle.
which - D8dE upo0 a hill that Gem nmsnds
the country for a considerable distance In
fact. i - = strong position ard EASILY forth
bed. plsiaiv ssowing thar the builders
/ thoroughly understood the tschnicsiisies Of
warfare. = better position could nos have
been found 70 rspsi attacks. In the csnter
81 ne enclosure there fs a lsrge mound
which resembles those erecsed By the
uaou0s builders of Ohio and which prob
abiv contain relics Of the defuncf race
whii- Iarve trees are nov growing from tne
sTnaankment showing ia great age
In the sarroaading cogntry numerous
pieces ef handmade pottery have been
farnesi % bv the Diow, and they bear the
imrr,ut ~ inz-r marks ground ~. rim
whiie if = 1nsts freuosnt that stone are.
and hammers ar discovered NJ Lon
Wsooruf las iE his posssssscn ~eil worn
milestone which hrs urdoEh t>,lIr been
ased sr laese neor4e. Everything tends ca
saoT fas. a. soa,s FORMER perioo 81 ths
Z warl3 ~ sfe7ce tals TInfsg vas iuhs1i-
faset bv 8 rfce ~ peups wbo were mors
eu shrenel tasn TIE 7srieen ineisr-
tH afaar noFtions ~ rse township ara -