Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-12-29
80 alAnns i w.l1s.
- lat,sssti.s Writs-.p .s rA.s. wen.
derfal sights.

- z aAlalesssstans Wrlts-ap sf IAsss Wen.
derfsl sishts.
ttecently two ten ,erteet started out
with the mild determination to ilnd the
Sonken wells. IL they didn't get tired
oetssre getting the,e. They learned that
the said wells were on the peaks south
OF town. and this general idea was the
most definite they could gather from
the general public. Choosing at ra,,-
dom the fourth peak from the east they
made TIE assent, amusing themselves
now and then by II slip or u fall ON the
hard, Icy north slope of the hili--an
Amusement that seemed entertaining
yet inclined to make one remark to him.
self In q low tone. full Of meaning some-
thing deeply Confidential in regard tn
Ice In general AMI that ice in'particular
Rather Unexpectedly they came upon
the larger Of the wells II little to the
southwest Of the highest part of the
peak. The first sight Of the wells di-
menstons was only Il moderate surprise,
"a surprise. however. that gradually
grew rs a brisk attempt to toss u stone
across the top sent the stone only well
out into the clasm-and il began to
dawn OH them that they We're near ~
remarkable sunken we'll. OH the .d.e of
sheer drop of one hundred feet that
formed one side of q rcul,r depression
seventy-live to ninety yards across. and
one hundred and Iifty feet IN depth.
The walls are of an almost white sand
stone. with here and there a tinge of
pink. peculiarly deepcned at one place
1ntO q solid red. In places the wall is ot
immense blocks of sandstone unbroken
by rift OF isSure; in other places the
wall Is SO regularly traversed by lori
zOntal aud vertical lissures that it seems
to be the masonry of skilled human
hands. From the lowest part of the
edge little climbing and considerable
slipping lands one with rather marked
emphasis OH the bottom of the cllasn
amOng a growth of grass. weeds and
brush and a few scattering pine trees Of
respectable size. Around are pi ces of
all shapes. sizes and sorts of sandstone,
white or colored with red or IRON brown
tlnts. some half buried, others seeming
ly Just tallen. A glance upward shows
that the walls overl,ang in All uncom
Portable way thirty or forty feet from
the perpendicular and the qu .-r feeling
some of those masses hundred feet
above, tissnrrd off from the SIDES and
apparently ready to drop. might start.
strangely increases ones interest in
something toward the center. A sharp
tap of the hammer breaks off variaga-
ted specimens of the rock and in places
the tap is answered by distinct double
aud triple echoes. To the south of this
well aud separated from it by a wall
twenty or thirty feet thick is another
similar we'll. somewhat smaller. In the
middle of the bottom of this there is an
immense lib of rock that seems to
have fallen from above and pulsed up
right OIL its edge as it struck. This
we'll Is at the head of ravime that
seems a perfectly smooth avenue twen-
ty feet broad, running up toward the
well and ending in the pile of earth and
stones that forms one side of the cl,asm.
Shape. size and tins avenue, together
with the other strange features render
the origin of these wells an object
worthy of considerable romancing.
The walk back. down one of the ra-
vines with its banks of dark red earth,
lntersected ut intervals of two or three
feet 10y the narrow streaks of solid gyp-
sum. was itself interesting to thos-
easily interested tenderfert, and it was
decided to imtiict their interest upon the
Innocent. unsuspecting aud nninterest-
ed public. NJ. $. ID.