Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-09-16
MYSTERY OF THE CAVE.

cutcropping 81 dslicatel y-tintsa lime
stone, which presents the appearance.
at q little distance. Of a vivid pink
ish red The country is very rug
ged. broken into valleys. sometimes
long and narrow, sometimes round
and c1P-shaped. shut IL Dy noun
tains and ellis 81 the familiar ..red
rock. a. il Is called s. the natives
Small villages. oftsatimes Of less
than ffty inhabitants each are
scattered along these valleys. ard
occasionally the cabin OF q mount
sineer peeps through the DARK pines
q some lonely hillside
Il was in the spring q 1859 that
first visited this part Of Northern
Tennessee II Tire inter est Of land
and lumber company which had Just
been formed IL Philadelphia Ny
commission vas - examine the tim
Der lands Of that section and also
its agricultural resources with view
70 possible large investments there
by lhe Company. made nv head
quarters while exploring the viein-
ity at Milnout. one Of the larger
mountain villages. which 5Jasted a
hotel public hall ami three saloons.
While I was a. Milnont q travel-
ing revivallst-1ne Of the most Pc
cu1la- individuals I lever arrived
in town and began 70 hold open air
meetings, as there was no churc1 in
the place and the fee fO- the uss Of
the public hall IS q night was far
beyond his slender resources any
thing in the way OF excitement was 2
perfect gOdsend to these secluded
mOuHtaineers. ana they thronged 10
the regiyalists meetings every
evening. much a. they wo1ld have
done TO the performances Of a dane
ing bear or the sle!ght-of-hand per
fOrmances Of travelling peddler
And for my own part l was not long
IL discovering that there was quite
as much Of the charlatan about this
shaggy revivalist a. there could have
been in any wandering tricxstsr. His
methods were such as. believe and
hope, were never before practiced by
any reyiyalist il creation, and could
have been effective ONLY with the
most ignorant. slpsrstitiols and
gullible people. The chief agent
which he enployed in producing CON
versions was ventriloquizm. This
art he used with great skill. 50 that
the results to one unacquainted with
the phenomenon Of voice carrying
must have appeared truly niracu-
lous After raising his hearers % a
high pitch o. mental excitement by
his wild eZhOFtations acI denuncia-
tiOns. be would suddenly assume
tragic attitude and exclaim: tHark.
the gates 81 heaven ana hell are
Opening." Then would follow cries
issuing from the ground as Of devils;
blOOd-curdling summons 20 uncon-
yerted individuals in the crowd to
come and be toasted upon subter-a-
mean griddles, or perhaps the mys-
FERROUS voices seemed 70 come from
above, uttsring tender and pleading
invitations TO accept the mercy Of the
Lord and be saved before it was too
late.
The effect Of these apparently
miraculous manifestations upon the
superstitious and imPressible noun.
taineers was tremendous. Some Of
them went temporarily insane
through fear and excitement. Nine
out Of every ten women became hys-
terical The children had fits and
even the babies went into commissions.
But one and all were as eager to get
over the threshold OF heaven and be
saved from the terr0rs that threat
ened them as a crowd is TO get in
doors when mad dog Is running
down the street
/ watched the unholy excitement
for three or four days, AMI then my
Indignation got the better Of my
curiosity and / drew aside big Lem
Wissell, the landlord Of the hotel
and one Of the reyivalist's most bad
ly frightened converts.
Lem" | said, Ibid you know that
that fellow is fooling you?"
"Lem's great steel gray eyes
opened as wide as saucers.
"He is foOlIng you" ! repeated
every penny that goes into his hat
goes TO an impostot. The sounds
that you seem to hear coming out Of
Gne BTDuuu anu JIle dlF are uldlD Dy
his own mouth. They are produced
by an art called ventrilo1uism, which
enables man to throw his voice to
any point he chooses and make 1t ap-
pear to others to come from there
If you don't believe me, get men to
clasp his hand over the rascal's
mouth next time the devils begin to
below for somebody to roast and see
If they don't shut up as suddenly as
his windpipen'
Lem Wissell looked at me search
ingly for full minute. Then his
big hand closed over mine. You
look squar,' he said, ''and / believe
you talk squar. I'll see some of the
boys. Be at the meetin tonight.
Mobile thar'll be fun"
l was promptly and prominently
present when the villagers began to
gather for their usual religious dis
sipation that evening. The revivalist,