The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1897-03-19

A Natural Storehouse Of Sweet
a. ness in Pennsylvania
On Warm Days tho Rocks Drip witt
the Sweets Of the Great Beehive
Within - Stories Told by
Hunters.

one of the many breaks through this
wild chain OF mountains leading from
Penn's. valley into Stone valley.
The Seven mountain range is per-
haps the widest eystem in the state Of
pennsylvania. More than one ex-
t3erienced hunter and woodsman ha /;
lost his way in these mountains, an
spent weary days wandering aroun.
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 there
was a 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 rorth of
The gap is one of the deepest ravines in
closing the widest spot in the entire
chain of mountains. Precipitous cliff;
10 the height of several hundred feet
rise ON either side, the whole almost
Of small shrubbery and trailing vines
'vhile away down at the bottom, so dee
hat the sun hardly penetrates, owi1,e
% the narrowness of the gorge, trickles
I small stream or rivulet.
On the north side of this gorge, about
half way up the rock side of the cliff,
S fissure in the rock presenting an
opening perhaps 20 feet long and vary
rg in width from two to five fee.
hough there is no accurate way OF
moving the depth of this assure OF
ave in the rock side, it has been es-
mated at anywhere from 80 to s.
ieet, perhaps even more, and possibly
it'll the dimensions of a large cham
er.
In this rift in the rock swarm
ees years ago made their home, an
here they have continued to abide
cultiply and store up honey until thref.
ears ago, when the last report of tler1
given by a lost hunter, stated tina
, numerous had they become tha'
here was one perfect column or string
f bees fully foot thick continual
Ding and coming from the stone hivt-
Parties who claim to have seen j.
yer that on a warm day the swee
iuid, melted by the hot rays of the
I'm in the brief time it's rays penetrate
he opening, would trickle down the
ide of the cliffs and fall in pools at
he bottom.
Several parties attempted to dis
iodge the bees and get at the hive of
2oney, but owing to the difficulty in
citing at the opening they were never
uccessful, as the bees always drove
hem away.
A few days ago a stranger, who
claimed to hail from the eastern part Of
The state, and who had been trudging
these mountains in quest of the outloo-1
for game on several of the game pre-
serves located here, stopped few MN
Utes at the gap, and while here told Of
seeing the beehive i'll the rocks. The
man was so excited over the discover
that he could hardly tell a complete
story, but the facts related by him arc
o closely allied to the current report Of
ears that there is no doubt that he
found the wonderful honey deposit.
The man averred that the bees 60
.ng 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
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 a Her
'ulean 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.
''rush and wild vines with which tho
side is almost entirely covered are not
'mbedded securely enough in the rocks
70 admit of one climbing either up or
Town them as a support.
There is only one way by which the
cavern could be reached, and then it
would be at the risk of destroying the
-ich store therein, and that is to blow
y
BUT even this mode of attack would
not rid the place of all the bees, and
when once their home was destroyed
II interlopers would want to seek SOM
secure retreat. The stranger averrcd
hat he would find a way to get the
bees out and get at the store of honey
He declared his intention of return
10 k1,<,o @@ ~ OF
THAT the results will be remain to be
ccen.
Five, four, Or even two tons of hone.
is large pile of the sweet stuff, an
the smaller amount, if it could be pus
on the market in anything like a GOO
condition, at the present price of X
cents per pound, would realize just $coo
for the successful bee hunter, very
clever sum to pull from a rift in the
'rorrtoin Philadelphia Times.
Queens Domestic Correspondence.
One pleasing feature of the queens
busy life is the keeping tip with her
own hand of a correspondence with q
her children and grandchildren, b.
sides many other relatives and dea,
friends, such as, in the latter cas-
x-Empress Eugene. This corresrol
nee is particularly large when she
8 at present, in retirement in her Hir
and home. Perhaps the most interes
'ng letter her majesty ever penned was
that written to the prince Of Wales
many years ago announcing his eman
cipation from parental authority and
control, when, after warning him