The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-04

terranean Echo river surpasses them
all. After the beautiful, we had an eX-
hibition of The sublime in sound.
Kentuckian in our boat fired revolt
yer. The sound which, in the open air,
would have been like the transient
crack of a whip, here reverberated with
a deafening boom, like the roar of great
peals Of thunder, lasting fully minute.
1t must have astonished the blind
fishes and crawtish that inhabit the
river, SO We fancied, but the guide said
that these creatures seemed not to
mind noise any more than light, unless
accompanied by a disturbance of the
water. We did not succeed in seeing
a blind fish, but one of the party
caught a crawfish The river was very
gentle and pleasant while we were on
it, but the guide said that sometimes,
when there are heavy rains outside.
Purgatory is changed from q great dry
hall to the bed Of a rushing torrent,
in which it is difficult to prevent the
boat from being dashed against the
rocks. 1t Is only quite recently that the
source of this water has been traced to
the Green river, whittier 1t flows is not
yet known.
OF the fifty or more kinds OF animals
mostly of the lowest orders-which
are known to exist in the cave, casual
visitors are not apt to see more than
three or four. The most abundant are
a sort Of long-legged cricket, somewhat
resembling a spider. These are every
where, and when they die they remain
where they happen to be on the wall,
while a white fungus covers them
with a thick Shroud till they look like
snowballs with legs. In one of the
vaults there are also mineral SNOW
balls" the ceiling being covered with
1.r.ND I,{ 90
stalls. Farther on the gypsum takes
the form of flowers, chiefly marguerites,
sunhowers and regal chrysanthemums
though roses, too, may be found and
the graceful forms Of celery tops.
THE VALE OF DIAMONDS"
and the Jewel Chamber scintinate
with sparks both on ceiling and walls
Hours might be spent admiring and
describing all these details but 1 can
mention only one more-the Mammoth
Dome, which is not included in either
of the regular routes, but can be add
ed to one of them If the party Is not
too large. 1t forms fit climax to the
trip, and, though somewhat difficult to
reach, should be missed by no one. In
this dome there are magnificent col
umns, which have been fifty named the
ruins Of Karnak," for their perfection
and symmetry suggest ancient ruins,
the work Of human hands rather than
of water. From below one of these
columns is seen to be cut across as
straight as a tree cut by saw. In
looking up, one thinks Of great ca
thedralS, or even Of the perpendicular
sides of some Western canyon; and al
though the dome is only $50 feet high,
1t looks far higher.
Before leaving the cave by way OF
hn oYNfIx oa6 owl tAd
awhile In the romantic Bandits hall,
watching the gambols of the rats, Of
which there are great numbers In the
cave. Sometimes, in skipping about,
they turn over a stone which echoes in
a way that would be most uncanny if
one were alone In the dark. A man
was lost in the cave some years ago,
and when found again, two days later
he was a raving maniac and remained
so. The cave is a perfect labyrinth,
and every guide is obliged to serve an
apprenticeship of several years before
he is allowed to take charge Of visitors.
Should anything happen to a guide, the
only safe thing for visitors to do would
be to sit down where they were, with
out moving a step from the regular
route. Our guide, Bishop, though his
uncle was one of the first explorers Of
the cave, and he himself has spent the
greater part of his life in it, even now
d:slikes to be left alone in it's dead
silence in the dark on account of the
strange whisperings and mysterious
sounds that seem to fill the air. When
we came out Of the cave we seemed to
step from an ice cellar into Turkish
bath. and the pure air of the Kentucky
forest was as laden with rich odors as
the exotic atmosphere of a greenhouse.
We had never before realized what an
abundance and variety of odors exist
in ordinary air. 1t does not seem prob
able, however, that, as is often assert
ed, there is anything especially exhil-
arating in the cave air ITSELF as there
is in mountain breezes. 1t is simply
the purity and the GOODNESS Of this at
mosphere that enable one to make the
seventeen mile trip underground with
out special fatigue. The cave still con-
tains the two stone huts that We're
once occupied by hopeful cOnsumptives.
When one of them died the others
abandoned the experiment.