Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-15
A COUNTRY OF CAVES.

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| tsrannean River Under It-How a Brave
| Girl Saved Her Fathers Life-Reminis-
cences Of War Times.
The little town of Union Depot Tenn, is
built over cave. During the war, when the
Confederates held undisputed possession Of
this section of the country, 1t was named Zolli-
koner, in honor of that brave commander who
lost his life at Sinking Springs. The feeling
among the Inhabitants at Zollikoffer was de-
cidedly against the ordinances of secession, and
when the Federal army marched into upper
tennessee, and the Stars and Stripes foated in
every direction, the patriotic Zollikonerans
held meeting in the town hall, and unani-
mously agreed to call the place Union Depot.
Union Depot it remains to this day.
II is on the southern bank Of the Halston
river. and is what in the parlance of that coun-
tryfs denominated at ''string town." There is
one principal street. and at the lower end,
where the bluff on which it is built slopes
toward the river, is a spring Of water. This
spring furnishes the town with its aqueous
supply, and early in the morning and late at
dren, wend their way toward the water works.
with buckets, barrels and frkins.
They Cannot Sink Wells.
Several of the inhabitants have attempted
to sink wells on their premises. but they have
their drills have suddenly sunk out Of sight,
and through the aperture thus made could be
heard the gush and gurgle of a swiftly running
stream. Union Depot rests on thin stratum
OF soil and rock and underneath boils and
tumbles gigantic underground river, which,
uniting its waters with the Halston, swells that
stream below the railroad bridge to volume
tnat admits OF partial navigation where the
stream is up to Prather's dam.
This is country of caves, says q corre-
spondent OF the Philadelphia Inquirer. Five
miles to the south. ana the probable source of
the river that flows beneath the town, is sue
cession OF caverus that hold in their depths i'm
mense deposits of saltpetre, which were util-
ized during the war by the Confederate Gov
ernment for the manufacture of gunpowder.
Near these caverns are the famous 'bat caves"
which give shelter to millions of these noe
turnal flyers: For hundreds Of years the bats
nave made these caverns their abiding place,
and the guano deposits are a great source of
profit to the owner. In these caves during the
war hundreds Of Union men found shelter,
while being pilored through the lines by Don
Ellis, the famous Union scout.
The Scene of Many a skirmish.
All this section of country was distracted
with feudal troubles during the war. Colonels
Snap, Ledhetter and Leith, Of the Confederate
forces, with their partisan hands, rayaged the
country from one end to the other. and were
met with stern resistance by the Union home
bridge across the Halston, above Union Depot,
was fixed upon for destruction by the Confed-
crate officials
A band of men under Colonel Ledhetter were
sent up from Knoxville to fire the structure.
They arrived In the town Just after sunset, and
proceeding to the bridge found it guarded by
two men One OF these guards ran away when
the Confederates began to smear the bridge
with coal OIL, but the other remained, and,
shotgun in hand. opposed the marauders. As
they advanced he retreated, fighting them step
by step. and several of the guerrillas, shot
dead, fell from the bridge into the turbulent
stream and were carried on down toward the
Tennessee.
Defiant to the Last.
Finally the brave defender was overtaken
and one of the Confederates, who knew him,
cried out with musket cooked and presented
at his heart:
Surrender, or you are dead man"
"NeverP' cried the watchman, and he dis
charged his shotgun full at the advancing
mans heart.
The Confederate fell upon the ties, and his
body, resting for q moment, finally tumbled
into the river below The burly wa.chman's
gun was empty and he had shot away all of his
ammunition. He clubbed his gun. and in the
lurid light, already 1aring about him from the
fred bridge, he faced his enemies, resolute, de-
fanr to the last They rushed upon him and
ne was oVerpOWere0. his gun was Wrested
from his hands. and stout rope was wound
about his body, fast inclosing his arms
They Would Lynch Him.
what shall We do with him?" asked the
leader.
HE should hang! Hang himr' echoed the
chorus.
ITO the cedar grover was the order, and
those grim guerrillas with the bound watch
man in their midst. marched back across the
bridge. now q sheet of flame, and through the
town. to dense grove of cedars on the ridge
beyond.
Here they halted, and the leader OF the band,
addressing the prisoner. said:
"Its the verdict of the crowd that you be
hanged. Have you anything to sayf"
"Nothingp was the defiant answer. "You
are whelps and 1 am Union man. DO your
worst"
"String him upr' ordered the leader, and a
rope was produced and knotted about the
patriots neck.
He was allowed minute for prayer, and his
white lips were inaudibly voicing last petition
to the Great Father. when a slender, girlish
figure, attired in snowy white, burst through
the grim throng and threw her arms around
the doomed mans neck