The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-01-16
MOI Mn I.E AXIS HONEY
"a Natural Storehouse OF Sweet
ness ia Pennsylvania.
On Warm Days the Rocks Drip with
the Sweets Of the Great Beehive
Within Stories Told by
Hunters, SD

i :
Pennsylvania. More than one ex-
perienced hunter and woodsman has
lost his way in these mountains, and
spent weary days wandering around
before he found his way to civilization
! again, and some even failed to return
to it, and it is the general belief thai
their bones lie bleak and bare in some
dark ravine of the Tussey range.
Years ago current report said that
in one of the least explored of the man.
Businesses of these mountains the1,.
was bee hive in the rocks which cor
tanned enough honey to make a man
rich. The story was in effect as fol-
| lows: Some eight or ten miles north c s
The gap is one Of the deepest rayines III
closing the widest spot in the entir<
chain Of mountains. Precipitous cliff
TO the height of several hundred fer
rise on either side, the whole almos
completely covered with a dense growt.,
of small shrubbery and trailing vines
while away down at the bottom, so dee
that the sun hardly penctrates, owie,
to thc'narrowness of the gorge, trickles
| a small stream or rivulet. - s.-.
On the north side of this gorge, about
half way up the rock side of the cliff,
| is a fissure in the rock presenting an
opening perhaps 20 feet long and vary
ing in width from two to five feet.
Though there is no accurate way of
| knowing the depth of this assure or
cave in the rock side, it has been es-
| t'mated at anywhere from so to 50
| feet, perhaps even more, and possibly
with the dimensions of large cham
Der. "a So. g. r.! ~
In this rift in the rock a swarm Of
bees years ago made their home, and
| there they have continued to abide,
multiply and store up honey until three
years ago, when the last report of them,
as given by a lost hunter, stated that
so numerous had they become that
there was one perfect column or string
of bees fully a foot thick continually
| going and coming from the stone hive.
Parties who claim to have seem it
aver that on a warm day the sweet
fluid, melted by the hot rays of the
sun in the brief time it's rays penetrate
the opening, would trickle down the
side of the cliffs and fall in pools at
the bottom. -.
Several parties attempted to dis
lodge the bees and get at the hive of
honey, but owing to the difficulty in
getting at the opening they were never
successful, as the bees always drove
them away. s5ss s q ss
| A few days ago d stranger, who
claimed to hail from the eastern part OF
The state, and who had been trudging
these mountains in quest Of the outloo.l
for game on several of the game pre-
serves located here, stopped a few min
utes at the gap, and while here told Of
seeing the beehive in the rocks. The
man was so excited over the discovery
that he could hardly tell a complete
story, but the facts related by him are
so closely allied to the current report OF
years that there is no doubt that he
found therwonderful honey deposit.
The man averrod that the bees co.
ing and coming looked like an immense
tar rope at least two feet in diameter.
and so constantly did they keep at their
work that in the hour or more he
watched them there was not one brea'o
in the flying string of bees.
To dislodge the bees and secure the
honey would, however, be an almost in
possible task, at the very least Her.
culean one. From the bottom of TIE
ravine to where the rift in the rock oc-
ours is fully Is feet, and from the ton
down to the rift is almost an equal dis
lance. The rocky side is very nearly
straight up and down, and the small
brush and wild vines with which tho
side is almost entirely covered are not
embedded securely enough in the rocks
to admit of one climbing either up or
Town them as support.
There is only one way by which the
cavern could be reached, and then it
would be at the risk of destroying the
cch store therein, and that is to blow
the mountain side up with Dynamite
But even this mode of attack would
not rid the place of all the bees, and
when once their home was destroyed
al interlopers would want to seek some
secure retreat. The stranger averrcd
that he would find way to get the
bees out and get at the store of honey
He declared his intention of return
1 ing to make the attempt, at least, and
what the results will be remain to be
seen.
Five, four, or even two tons of honey
is large pile of the sweet stuff, and
the smaller amount, if it could be put
on the market in anything like a. good
i n1n1Stior o% kIn ~ =