The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-10-19
wYAND0TTE CAVE.
A PARTIAL DESCRIPTION or THIS
WONDERFUL aoRouND HOLE"

Amoax the Nany curiou. ThinEs the
Greatest Il the Pillar sf the csnssitn-
tlon-a IL $4,000 Years old or Many /
Thon.and Times That Age
wynndottc cave Is inferior 20 Nam
moth In length. and Jet n walk through |
its % miles Of avenues and chambers
convince@ tho visitor that there Is enough /
and 70 spare. OF course he usually takcs
only the thrre ruutes-ia miles-and Is
satisfied As IL tho case with all other
caves that are in business. a bear bears
the credit Of discovering this Natural
wonder. IL was in this way: In the
early days OF this state a hunter ono
day saw n bear and shot Int did not kill
IL. wheruupcn he gave chase and was In
close pursuit, When. 10 and behold. 10
disappeared. This much puzzled tho
seasoned hunter. and he stood I'm amazc-
ment. but finally summnning his reso-
luton he went to the spot where the
animal had vanished. There was a larFr
opening In the side Of tho hill Invcsti-
CATION revealed the existence Of this
vast underground possession So much
for tradition. The same thing occurred
with every other cave, and why not
with this9
The existence Of this cave has besn
known for years As early a. isi2 IL
was owned by white man who gath
cred saltpeter in its chambers and mado
Runpowder-a paecious article IN the
backwoodA The early settlers worked
the cave that way for years. going far
ther and farther from the entrance in
search Of this mineral Finally it ceassd
10 be necessary or profitable 10 make
their own powder. and the owner Of the
cave abandoned IL. and the land revert
cd to the general government In 1883
or 1850 n man named Rothrock bought
the land and explored the cave. At that
time only four miles were known. but
by chance n small opening was noticed.
and an investigation revealed the fact
that n new and greater portion had been
discovered. This unknown route was
explored, six miles more Of cave came
into possession Of the owner. and it first
occurred to him that he had bonanza
The new find brought the cave into no
tioe. and subsequent discoveries have
} placed 10 among the wonders Of America
IL was 80 years ago that Mr.. Roth
rock. then n young man, commenced
acting as guide among the labyrinth Of
passageways under the hill. Now comes
one Of the most interesting features u
the cave. When he began his visits here.
he heard the drip. drip Of the waters
that never cease and saw the stalactitcs
little fingers Of stone which had been
made by the dripping waters To test
: the growth Of the stone stems he mark
| ed one with the smoke Of n candle and
; awaited resultR Almost so years have
elapsed. and he returns today TO the
stone timekeeper and measures tho
growth-three-sixte Of an inch.
There are columns here seven feet high
formed by the constant drop Of water.
Only few feet from the top you pass
from the known 10 the prehistoric.
Wyandoste is beautiful in sediment
formation-stalngmite and stalactits.
, that form from floor and ceiling. grow.
ing scarcely n hairhrcadth in year.
but gradually lessening the distance be
tween their crystal points until in tim'
they meet and form columns Of translu
cent stone, beautiful and chaste i'm dc
/. sign, the despair Of architects Fancy {
m chamber Of imposing dimensions. th,
lofty ceiling supported by these divine
ly wrought pillars. the concave wall
veneered with n coating Of sparkling
diamonds. the delusive glitter Of golr
and silver in boundless wealth. and yoi
have Aladdin's cave. as rich as the ava
ricious vision Of the Arabian dreamer.
The new routes reveal the BEAUTIES q
= crystal. the old route presents the a.
n multuous. the grand The passages an'
chambers are rough. broken, the harryi
ruggedness that turns ones thoughts Q,
grandeur. This route terminates In tn
?. climax Of attractions This is the senai
chamber, and from its center. seeming
: ly out Of n boiling caldron of moltti
lava that had been chilled and left ina
movable. rises the pillar Of the consti
tuition. It stands alone. the grandes
column ever erected by man or his mas
v ter. Thirty feet in height. 75 feet Il
circumference. with futed surface an,
D. unbroken body. it stands in perpetua
darkness, no ray Of light ever gildin
its sparkling exterior save that from
hickering-cAndle.
Let MS take out our notebook and cal
cnlate the age Of this venerable pile. Th
q gray bearded guide has told rs that th
fragile finger Of stone grew thTee-six
teenths Of an inch in nearly so years
D. one inch in 245 years This pillar Is 3
feet high. $50 inches-two centurie
and IS years 10 one single inch Bu
then IL forms from floor and ceiling. .
= that 2 inches are formed in that time
., According 90 our calculation. it ha
been 44,iOO years since the foundation
Of this column was laid. But we hay
omitted one factor. The stone finge
wonld have formed in that time. bu
Z this is 600 times as great in diameter