Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-11-01
THE MAMMOTH CAVE.

! We were crowded last week, and on ac.
count OF lack OF space we had to leave out the
| interesting article written by l.. l.. c., ON
| the Mammoth Cave. We publish the whole
| of il this Week.-EDS.l
We took the A. NJ. train sOuth
from Louisville, over beautiful coun-
| try for about fifty miles, then we came
in the great range of mountains be-
tween the Ohio and the Cumberland
rivers, over high trussel bridges, through
tunnels for about thirty miles, when
we came out on the Southern slope of
the mountains, dotted all over with the
typical Southern houses, commonly
called "shacks," orchards, loaded with
apples, enough to make Northern
lowan's mouth water. Soon we find
ourselves at Glasgow Juction, 90 miles
from Louisville and eight miles from
the mouth of the Mammoth Cave,
then over "a very crooked track and
up steep grade all the way; arriving
there about l o'clock p. NJ, tired and
hungry, found large, plain hotel.
with charges for meals and lunches
enough to scare a silver mine.
After two hours of tedious waiting,
a company of 40, after paying 81 each,
with two guides enter the cave at 4
p. NJ. Now the scribe begins to want
for words to describe this wonder
full subterranean passage. On entering
the cave, we go down "a steep decline
for about forty rods, and come to the
r3tunda of the cave, u circular space.
about 300 feet long and sixty feet high,
the overhead artistic enough for the
handy work of man. At this place we
are directly under the big hotel to the
left we enter the Broadway, so called,
Of the cave. I'm this passage it is eight
miles to the underground lake.
At a point two miles from here is the
place called the Chapel, because some
minister preached sermon there to a
company. About three and one-halfI
miles in this avenue is the Bridal
Chamber, sO-called from the fact that a
couple were married there; the lady
promised her mother that "she would |
not marry him on the face of the earth
WOman's genius helped her out. So
got the man and kept her promise.
At this point we leave the Broadway,
pass through one of the many narrow |
passages to what is called Prospect
avenue, beautifully festooned with |
stelacti. This avenue is twelve miles
long. We kept to the left i'm this one
about one mile and came to u drop of |
about thirty feet, called the Lovers
Leap. Here we commenced our re-
turn trip, passing to the right about
two miles through the wonderful But
ter of Nature. At this point we turn
to the left down steep decline to what
is called the Bottomless Pit. We 90
down for one-half mile and come to
two round holes about ten feet across.
a torch dropped in goes and goes until
ii is out of sight, without touching bot
tom. After passing these about ten rods
we came to the crystal drops that fail
from the ceiling like large drops of
water. They are searched after by
visitors for relics, as they are the ONLY
things that you are allowed to take
from the cave. The guide tells us he
has never been to the end of the pass-
age from this place, although he has
been showing people through the cave
for thirteen years.
On retracing our steps the points of
rock form Martha Washington's statue
by going back of them with q light.
On entering again Prospect avenue
we come to the two stone houses built
for consumptive people; great mis-
take, as the air is very damp and
heavy. After passing these we enter
the rotunda again.
We visited many places of interest
n this mammoth wonder, and started
for the outlet, having walked 81 miles
"a four hours, getting back on the face
Of the earth at s p. NJ, and after waiting.
ired and hungry, one and half hours
or the return train, and almost fight
ng for standing room, to return to
glasgow, where, at colored gentle
mans hotel, wegot supper at 10 O'clock.
At III 30 p. NJ, we got train for Louis
Vile, arriving at 3 A. NJ, well pleased :
With our side-trip to the Mammoth
ave, i'm Kentucky. l.. l.. G.