The morning call., 1891-02-24
A CHASTITY DISCOVERY,
Small Boys Find a Grinning
Skull i'm a Cave.

The small boys In the neighborhood of
Jones and Chestnut streets are not a little
disguised at the occurrence of the storm of
Sunday, rs one of their fayorite play-
grounds has been ruined by the damaging
shower
1t seems that shortly after work was COM
menced on the Chestnut-street grade a fall
ing in of the stones and soil on the hillside
revealed the mouth of a cave, and two adj
venturous youths, Ned Noyes and Bob
Duff by name, determined to explore the
mysterious regions thus opened I'D to the
gaze of man.
Accordingly they let themselves down
into the hole and there found things that
caused their youthful hearts to palpitate
with fear and their closely cropped hair to
stand on end. While STOPPING to pick up
what appeared in the dim light to be a lam
tern Ned's finger was thrust fairly between
the teeth of grinnng skull With con-
summate bravery he tightly grasped the
prize and bore it triumphantly to the sur
face.
In the meantime Bob had not been idle.
for he too had made find. The relic
proudly exhibited by him was a sandal of
ancient make, bearing traces of having once
incased the foot of some master of forty
wives under the tropical beams of an ORR
entail sun.
Great was the excitement in the neighbor
hood, and many and rife were the theories
as to the origin of the cave. One ancient
gentleman yentured the opinion that Sir
Francis Drake, in his early visit to San
Francisco with a ship-load of treasures
seized from some Spanish galeon, had tenn
porarly stored his ill-gotten wealth therein
while he proceeded northward or toward
the interior The slipper might well have
been obtained by him on one of his Medit-
erranean incur Sions, while the skull-well, it
was probably that of one of Hawkins
slaves, of which Drake doubtless had many
A less venerable but much more practical
inhabltant of North Beach timidly as
serted that he had heard of a band of cut
Threats and robbers who dwelt Whereabouts
in early times, waylaylug and rObbing all
those who crossed their path. Nor did they
scruple to lure vessels upon the bleak and
barren rocks of Sheltered Cove, gang
panking the sailors and holding the pas
sengers for ransom. Might not the skull be
that of one of the unfortunate passengers
and the sandal one that he wore while
awaiting the appearance of some friend to
buy his release? Quite probably.
The cave was about seven feet wide by
145 in length, and had evidently been ex-
cavated by the hand of man, there bring
pick marks on the walls and holes made 10
serve as shelves.
But there are unromantic, unlmaginative,
skeptical people in all communities, and in
the neighborhOod Of the cave is 10 be found
just such a person. This vandal declares
That, laying all superstition aside, the cave
was actually dug in his day by water
company which had located there; and
from student of archaeology it was
learned that, although the object found did
indeed resemble a skull in very dark
room, 1t was in fact nothing more than an
old-fashiOned lantern. As for the sandal,
Its exact fac-simile can be procured in i
slipper-store on Market street
The rains have caused the soil to fall in,
thus filling up the entrance to the cave, and
the little boys are now deprived of their
safest hiding nlace in nlaNinC hide and saalc