The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-06
WYANDOTTE CAVE.
A wonder of Nature which 1T Took
Countless Ages to Create.


This way. please. This path leads to the
cave on the south side OF the hill" The
guide who spoke to US was a young man
who was to conduct US through the famous
: Wyandotte cave that winds off in subter-
ranean Dassageways beneath a hill which
lifts its head four hundred feet above the
placid waters of Blue river. Half way
down the slope cool draught of air fans
the cheek and you turn aside and enter
the dark yawning mouth of the cave. What
relief it is that the guide. in telling of the
wonders of the trip. does not drift off into
that dull. grating monotonous tone of the
professional panoramist. Fanuei Hall,
Twilight Hall, Washington avenue, Ban
dith Hall, Monument mountain all are
mentioned by the guide with their different
interesting associations, and you feel from
the tone of your informant that he is speak
ing to YOU not telling an oft told tale
to the rocks that would fall from their
fastenings were ii possible. l speak of this
to relieve myself of consuming desire to
bring deserving wrath upon the heads of
those public executioners who gain the
hdence of strangers lure them to some
famous object of interest and then inflict
upon them a lecture. changeless, meaning
less. an enduring agony that forever haunts
the recollection.
Wyandotte cave is inferior to Mammoth
in length, and yet a walk through its
twenty-three miles of avenues and cham
bers convinces the visitor that there is
enough and to spare. OF course he usual
ly takes only the three routes-twelve
miles-and is satisfied. AS is the case with
all other caves that are in business, bear
bears the credit of discovering this natural
wonder. 1t was in this way: In the early
days of this State hunter one day saw a
bear and shot but did not kill it, where
upon he gave chase and was in close
pursuit, when. 10 and behold, it disap-
peared. This much puzzled the seasoned
hunter. and he stood in amazement, but
finally summoning his resolution he went
to the spot where the animal had vanished
There a large opening in the side of
the hill. Investigation revealed the exist
ence of this vast underground possession.
So much for Tradition. The same thing
occurred with every other cave, and why
not with this?
The existence of this cave has been
known for years. AS early as 1912 it was
owned by white man who gathered salt
peter in its chambers and made gun-pow-
der-a precious article in the backwoods.
The early settlers worked the cave that
way for years, going further and further
from the entrance in search of this min
erai Finally ii ceased to be necessary or
profitable to make their own powder, and
the owner of the cave abandoned it. and
the land reverted to the general govern
ment. In 1S49 or 1850 a man named Roth
rock bought the land and explored the
cave. AT that time only four miles were
known, but by chance a small opening was
noticed and an investigation revealed the
TACT that a 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 oc-
CURED to him that he had a bonanza The
new find brought the cave into notice and
subsequent discoveries have placed it
among the wonders of America
1t was forty-six years ago that Mr. Roth
rock. then young man, commenced acting
as guide among the labyrinth of passage
ways under the hill Now comes one of the
most. interesting features of the cave
When he began his visits here, he
heard the drip drip of the waters
that never cease and saw the sta
lactities little fingers of stone
which had been made by the dripping
waters To test the growth of the stone
stems he marked one with the smoke of a
candle and awaited results. Almost fifty
years have elapsed and he returns to-day
to the stone timekeeper and measures the
growth. Three-sixteenths of an inch
There are columns here seven feet high
formed by the constant drop of water
Only few feet from the To-. 4ul pass from
the known to the prehistoric.
Wyandotte is beautiful in sediment
ormation-stala gmites and stalactites that
form from floor and ceiling. growing
scarcely a hair-breadth in year. but
gradually lessening the distance between
their crystal points until in time they meet
and form columns of translucent stone
beautiful and chaste in design, the despair
of architects, Fancy a chamber of i'm
posing dimensions, the lofty ceiling sup
ported by these divinely wrought pillars,
the concave walls veneered with a coat
ing of sparkling diamonds the delusive
glitter of gold and silver in boundless
wealth, and you have Aiaddi,'s cave, as
rich as the avaricious vision f the Arab
ian dreamer. The new routes reveal the
beauties of crystal. the OLE route presents
the tumultuous. the f-f5,.-ls.- Mo passages
and chambers are rocS -,ks the bar
rem ruggedness that at phl .j.cughts
to grandeur. This roa' termina IS IN the
climax of attractions. This is the Senate
chamber. and rom It's confer seem
ingly out of "a boiling chaidron of molten
lava that had been chilled and left i'm
movable. rises the Pillar of the Constitution.
1t stands alone, the grandest column ever
erected by man his Master. Thirty feet
in height. seventy-five feet in circumfer-
ence with futed surface and unbroken
body il stands in perpetual darkness no
ray of light ever gliding its sparkling ex-
terror save that from Pickering candle
Let us take out our noe b :csz and
calculate the age If tbs ven"rabia pile
The gray bearded guide has told us that
the fragile finger of stone grew three-six-
teenthS of an inch in nearly fifty years
one inch in 245 years. This pillar is
thirty feet high three hundred and sixty
inches: two whole centuries and forty-fve
years to one single inch. But then it forms
from floor and ceiling. that two inches
are formed in that time According to our
calculation, il has been "a 100 years since
the foundation of this column was laid
But we have omitted one factor. The stone
finger would have formed in shat time, but
this is 600 times a great in diameter. Our
pencils and books again-vbu. this is be-
wildering. We cannot conceive of the
lapse of time contained in the A. coo years
why go on piling ages upon ages? Who is