New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1892-02-03
BATTLING WITH BATS
FIERCE STRUGGLE IN A CAVE ALONG
RockcAsTLE RIVER.

Drove Away asHorde of Hungry Yam.
pire Shaped Creatures.
Near Rockcastle river is a famous proup
q wild, rocky, pine covered hills, locally
known as Round Stone Knobs. A couple
OF days ago DR.. J. j. Kite, prominent
young dentist, went with dog and gun into
that locality to shoot quail, and for time
he had excellent sport. About noon, how.
ever, thunderstorm came up and he
entered deep. rocky gorge with the hope
OF finding shelter from the menacing efe-
ments. Seeing an aperture in the cliff on
eis LEFT ne entered it, and was surprised to
ind himself in large winding gallery with
steep and craggy walls on either side and
with roof that rapidly assembled to a con-
siderable height. About twenty-five feet
from the entrance was an object which ar
rested his attention. 1t was a gigantic
bowlder, oblong in shape and weighing
hundreds Of tons, lying in an .obliuue, DO
sition on high jntting ledge with it's
huge crest upreared awfully into gap in
the cavern's roof
1t looked as though slight shock or the
touch Of a meddlesome hand might displace
It and cause it to come crashing down. In
deed it was one of those frightful death
traps OF nature, grim and sinister some
times found In subterranean passages or
upon jagged precipices.
Dr. Kite Is OF an adventurous disposition;
also he Is naturalist and geologist of no
small repute. The novelty and excitement
ieit In penetrating the unexplored, so
fascinating to daring spirits, allured and
embroidered him. Believing that he should
make some interesting discoveries he ad-
vanced resolutely into the cavern. AS he
dld SO his faithful dog suddenly curled its
tall between Its legs and made q speedy
exit At the same time the doctor saw two
dery eyes glazing from dark corner.
ATTACKED BY BATS. 49,.
Hastily raising his gun, he took deliber-
ate aim and let go both barrels simulta-
neously. He never knew what the animal
was or what had become of it, for the tn
fernal din that beloved and rebellowed
through the cavern was followed by an aw-
ful crash, suffocating columns of dust and
dense darkness, and he was thrown Violent
" forward and almost buried beneath
masses of falling sand. r FL ~
He scrambled to his feet again, BLEEDING
and gasping for breath. Terror struck and
appalled,, he realized that the huge bowlder
above had been precipitated into the pas
sage, completely blocking the corridor and.
shutting him, like the doors OF ponderuus
tomb, forever from the light. He saw no
way Of escape. A Plutonian darkness en-
veloped him. Moreover, a vast tribe Of
bats, disturbed by the defamation of hts
gun and the shifting sound, began to
swarm along the passage, numbers Of them
alighttng on his person. They were of 70
markable size and flerceness and seemed
disposed to attack him. So vicious did
they become that he was forced to fight
them of by swift movements of his hands.
They swept forward in enormous focks,
as II to escape, and that quarter OF the cav
ern was quickly alive with them.
Stunned and only partly aroused from
their stupor, thousands precipitated them
selves against the jutting rocks and fell
upon the floor dead or Tapping awkwardly
about IN their wounded agony. They
swarmed on the doctors back and neck
like huge bees. They dashed against his
face and chung to his clothes, his hair and
his beard, and their whirling wings. bel
lowslike. whirled the dry dust of centuries
about in clouds, grievously irritating The
hunters already exhausted lungs.
SET FIRE TO nv" re
.--...., upon the earth and
trampled them under his feet. The cav
ern's rocky bottom became SO slippery
with the blood and scattered entrails OF
mangled bats that he could scarcely keep
his footing. That he should preserve his
equanimity under such torture is wonder
+ full, but that he did is manifest from what
now transpired.
Shaking off his fierce tormentors for
moment he pulled off his coat and pouring
over 1t the combustible contents of whisky
bottle which he carried in his hip pocket,
he 1gn1ted It with match, and as it blazed
up he began to whirl it, circle Of Kissing
flame and pungent smoke, about his head
The effect was magical. The bats, unable
to bear the light and the fumes, spread
their wings and began a precipitate flight
to other parts of the cave
Surrounded by panic stricken BIRDS even
under the spectral light of the torch, Kite
presented the appearance of something in
human, ghoulish, demoniacal. Issuing
from the pockets of his burning coat could
be heard the sound of bursting shells.
which mingled strangely with his unearth-
~ cries. Yelling and rushing from side to
sideo the cavern, his hair tumbled over
his forehead in tangled masses and his face
distorted with fury and despair, he whisked
the fiery brand about, soaring, scorchinR
and burning many alive, until the vast
army OF horrid creatures had been driven
back into further recesses of the under
ground chamber. T@a. 4
HARD WORK FOR LIBERTY.
Nearly exhausted, his clothes and body
wet with sweat and blood, he began to con-
slider the possibility of escape from his
prison house. If any avenue OF escape
over the stupendous bowlder still existed,
which was uncertain, it would have been
I madness to attempt to scale it in the deep,
reigning darkness. He therefore aban-
doned q hopeless idea, and sought to find
some vulnerable point at the side Of the
seemingly impossible stone barrier.
By the light of sickly blaze which
played over the smoking remnant Of his
still burning vestment, he picked up his
gun and thrust the barrels into the c.um-
bling earth and stone at one side Of the
huge rock. The, mass yielded by piece.
meal to his exertions, and with the energy
ola man entombed alive and desperate fn
liberty, he worked heroically, digging up
the earth and prying away great hao.
ments OF rocks.
Hope never forsook him, and after seven
hours Of incessant labor, during which the
work Of a Titan was performed, he sue
l e.,