The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-05-22
SIGNS on A big gE7E
Extending Several Miles under
Ohio County Ii
REVEALED BY EXPLORATION
And tho knowledge of Old Residents
which It calls out--Thc Hole on
tho Elm Grove Road Probably \,
ono Entrance TO 1t.

80, :, ,,,.,,..
INC i''"' "ro'c is""" io'"''
ono Entrance to 1t.
------
-, 81.
Tho discovery IN ONO county Oh
cave rivaling In extent tho most famous
now known to man would be a matter oil
surprise to everybody. That such u
cavern may exist Is nevertheless the DO.
t,.f n , ,reo, many oid ros;deuts who
s' " -, .I,,.."n,. 49,, ,.,,s
arc careful opsei'e's' aiu VIM "i' II"
Tiliar with tho country lying about
Elm Grove. The theory has been ad'
vhnced by people whose opinions are
entitled to weight, that the hole In the
ground on the Cecil iarm, near Elm
Grove, explored ny TWO lSTELLIdEScEa
reporters on Monday, Is an accidentally
made opening INTO one oil the raniilica'
tons oisuch cave. >,
AZ hrst glance such theory Will
strike almost every reader as extremely
improbable. snch mn idea, indeed, was
advanced 20 IN !STELLihENpEn man lGet
Monday, but IN the account Of the visit
to the cave under Mr.: Cecil's house this
suggestion was thus dismissed:
1T might, OF course, 10 possible that
the series OF caves visited BY lSTELLloES.
CEN reporters yesterday wcro but the
Vest!ou'es anu appfoaohes Of range Of
great caVerns, put tho weight oil proba'
olllty Is all against lhls'
Why NOT? .l...
When the writer oil that article was
asked to specify some reason Tor dismiss.
ing the idea rs Improbable, he found
himself ut n loss 10 10 so. The more re.
search was made into tho subject Of
caves IN general, the more reasonable
seemed the idea that one might exist in
this vicinity: The most increduous
say, when this proposition ia advanced:
"Who ever heard OF such thing"
Wen, VINO ever heard OF the Lllray
Caverns I'LL few years ago, when hole
in aIleld was investigated, and found to
lead TO vast spaces beneath the rocks
Who eyer heard OF tho Mammoth Cave
before 1t was d'scoVeredY
These queries suggest train o.
thought when Is stimulated by The
knowledge which has come into the
Possession OF tue lETEtLiGEScER report
eis since Monday. When on that day
two reporters entered the hole In TIT
ground adjoining tue Elm Grove track
1t was with i!ttle idea that much woult
result from It. No sign OF cave in tina
vicinity had ever been heard OF by them
| SOME rooLl:lI IDEAS.
Since the Isrrt,,crycrp's nuh,ica,;o,
there has becn rreat denI of I;scnss;o,
nro md con T6e statement hss hss,
made that,ior years it has been know
that the hill was honeycombed witt
caves. Those who ought to be posted
however, never hesrd o. such thing
until the hole accidentally made by Con
tractor Harry haden's men in blasting /
bed for the Elm Grove extension, wal
entered and the cave to which it lead
partially explored.
Another IDEA ADVANCED WIS that thu
cave entered by lNTELLiGEScER explor
| ers was an abandoned ccal mine. Be
fore entering 1t the reporters themselves
Suspepsed this, but inquiry failed to de
yclop that any coal bang had eyer beer
in that hill. Mr.. Haden and Mr.. Rau
Schoen. who had been in the cave
secuted the idea. When the two re
portnrs entered tho outer room the,
found how ridiculous this theory was
The rooms are rooted and tloored Will
ao!id rock, and the caves formed by ma
ture. The successive domc.like cham
bees arc as wide as they are long, almos
circular, with aFrhed passages, not hal
the size OF coal digsings, between. TheIt
is no sign OF coal In either chamber.
no COAL pA.y THERE.
,1.nr,, .r.o,o ,o,.,our.,.,.,..
,,; ~ ~. ~ AE'I iepo't:e ,ss,.eiu"s
S ."he liz a 49, hu uS ;na a!.oihc!
,h nr a m u W rue oo ~ han iu' ~
hni ee now ursi !. az "'' 'o'' 1ant, SAf'e 'n'
"No, sir" said he: "and there IL no coaI
in that hill. On my place tho coal is
above the level OF the run. Half a mile
east, at Chambers shalt, it is eighty feel
to the top OF tho coal. The place dips
beneath the run between my place and
alr. Cecll's. Back OF his house, where
that hole is. the coal must be at least
thirty 1eet De!0W tho bed OF the Elm
Grove track"
Mr.. Hugus's two boys had crept into
the cave, and came home the color OIL
old gold. Mr.. Hugus had no. inquired
how far in they got.
Mr.. William Stell was also called on by
q reporter. He lived for years where
Mr.. Cecil now lives, and now operates a
coal bank on the Hugus place.
When asked the question Nj. Stell
said e,nphatically that there never was
coal bank ut or near the point where the
hole entered by the reporters is, nor was
! there any coal accessible at that point.