Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-01-02

fore. and which was incurable. II was
that of a woman, who had been craZed
By waking uD at night and discovering
a rattesnake in hsr bed. she had lain
n mortal terror all the night, with the
reptile coiled near her head. afraid 10
move In the morning the snake glided
through a chink in The logs near the
bed. from where e had come. but the
woman los, her reason and never re-
gained e. Her c3se, the doctor sad,
and that of K-tsmLler were strangely
similar.
Occasionally Kitsmiler appeared 70
have lucid moments and during these
Hardr.ck would stand at The bed and
ask l.m.
TEL us what yer seed In the cave,
Hansc and msbje t- VII help yer. Tell
rs what yer seed. Yer know we IS all
yer Friends"
Once be looked about him az if try
ing to raccllect. and half muttered:
II hev been IN the h. hoe Itself.
Their wuz q place full Nv rattlers, and 1
tried 10 keep EN- of.
This was an that could be gotten from
HIM, for the recollecttons Of this appear
ed TO have a bad effect on him. and ne
had fits Of Terrible madness. during
which he almost broke from the bed.
SEVERAL REASONS GIVEN.
Several reasons are given for the Pc
cul.ar efIec, Of Inc cave on persons en-
tering It. One Of these IS that the mad
ness IS caused by the presence OF thou
sands of ratJesnakes, which the noun
/ taineers claim at this time Of the year
enter It 10 spend the winter. 1t =
I thought that the terror inspired by their
/ presence in such great numbers drives
( person crazy, or, perhaps, it is the smell
Of the reptiles. More than once a blush
sort Of v8por has been seen coming from
the mouth Of the cave, and mountaineers
happening TO pass up Gauley river in
! dug0uts al such times have been made
/ deathly sick by 1t.
A scientiJ. from Washington some
( years ago IN Webster advanced the
| theory that the cavern contained a
/ poisonous gas. emanatng from the bed
/ of some mineral. which was responsible
! fer the effect. He had too much respect,
| however. fer the stories told him of the
place by the natives 10 go into it, and
so the real reason has never been eX-
planned.
I About seven years ago party OF rev
I enue officers, on the hunt for moon
| shine" distillers. came to Webster In
some manner they we're led to believe
/ that the cave was the resort of the
"pine-top chaps" and two of them made
an inspection. much to the delight OF
/ the moUntaineers, whose hatred of q
''revenoo" IS even worse than that Of a
/ rattlesnake The two officers went in
/ side and only one ever returned. lie
/ was raving mad, and it was supposed
| he and the other, in their madness, had
/ attacked one another, and the one who
/ had disappeared had been killed
1 The cave stands back from the Gauley
river about $50 feet 1t enters the al
most perpendicular mountain side,
which rises several hundred feet to the
/ top, on a level with the river bank. The
entrance is somewhat checked with
/ stones. T his is from the fact that years
/ ago mOunt2ineers went On top of the
ridge. as close 10 the edge above the
/ cave as they dared. and pushed the
]
filing the entrance, but the attempt was
not successful. The mouth of the cave
is hidden by these rocks, which lie in
front Of it. 1t Is about ten feet in
height, and IS probably six or seven
n width. A short distance in the cave
makes a sharp turn, and it is a we'll
! known fact that when anybody has
/ once passed this ne or she has never re-
turned in sound mind.
What was Hanse Kitsm:ller's expert
enca during his journey through the
mountain from the Big Buck beds to the
mouth of cole Loouy Cave" only he
could tell and ne is not competent. It's
secrets, e he realized them, VIII not be
I d;yulged by him, and will remain safe
for the next, as they have for the past,
/ century or centuries. That his stay in
the cave was horrible in the extreme
cannot be doubted, from the look Of ter
ror which has never gone out Of his eyes
since his return. No man who has not
/ met death face to face and q death of
some terrible description has ever had
/ such a look of fear impressed upon his
/ features. The remembrance OF what he
Witnessed mus. have been too awful 70
have ever left his brain or faded from
I his c0un-enance.
AN day long the hunter lies on his
rough, low bed, on the uneven shack
/ floor of che cabin, raving and mutter-
. ing. The awe-sTuck m0untsineers
/ come i'm. take q look at the figure with
our speaking and after having been sat
/ .shed with seeing one who has been in
/ cole LOoney Cave" they pass cut ST.
/ len-iy. The only noise Is that made by
The maniac father and the sobbing of
I the little chaps and the mother.