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

See and Hear In the Great Cavern
-DOmes, Pits, Star Chamber
The Woman in White.
A cooler place OF refuge than the
Mammoth cave of Kentucky could not
be found outside of an ice house,
writes a correspondent Of the New
York Evening Post. It's invariable
temperature Is "a degrees, summer and
winter, and is enjoyed by about 5000
people annually, though many more
will visit the famed cavern when its
ownership is settled and the hotel and
transit facilities OF the vicinity are i'm
proved.
Such trifes however, must not pre-
vent any one from visiting the Mani
moth cave, which certainly deserves all
the fame that has accrued to II as a
rival, in its way, of Niagara, the Vel
lOwstOne and the Yosemite. Nor should
any one neglect Though many dO) to
take both the routes, known as the
long and the short trips, or the River
Route" and the Route of Pits and
DOmes." The shorter trip is easily
made in an afternoon or evening,
while the other takes from nine to fif-
teen hours or more, according to the
size of the party and the behavior of
the subterranean rivers, which some
times rise suddenly and oblige the
guides to take their parties out of the
usually spacious and comfortable main
route 10 the upper levels Of the cave
through a four-mile passage in which
visitors have to crawl on hands and
knees, or sQuirm and wriggle along as
best they may between rocks whose
embrace is far closer and more impor-
tunate than that Of the stretch no.
toriOus as Fat Mans Misery"
a strong current of cold air constant
ly comes up from the cave, which has
been greatly widened at the opening
After a few dozen steps 1t narroWs
again. and here it has been found nee
essary to put an iron gate to prevent
Vandals from carrying off the beauti-
full formations inside. At this gate the
current of air Is so strong that it is
apt to blow out the lamps which about
half the visitors have TO carry. These
lamps bear most unpleasant witness to
the mlsmanagement of the cave. In
stead of getting portable electric
lights. or at least odOrless lanterns,
visitors are supplied with the most
primitive sort of miners lamps, whose
smoke and vile OdOr Vitiate the deli
ciouS air of the cave. and make one
long 10 return and get away from
them. This drawback, combined with
see, made us think, after the first TWEEN
ty minutes, that the cave was a grand
humbug, not much better than an or
binary railway tunnel 1t seemed
hardly worth while to come so great a
distance to see an indefinitely elongat-
ed cellar, with here and there some
point Of merely human interest, such as
the well preserved wooden water con-
duits and the watts put in by the min
ers who worked the cave for saltpetre
during the war Of 1872; or the piles Of
rocks OF various sizes built up by hui
man hands all along the route-piles
which suggest the monuments gradual
ly erected by Spanish wayfarers at
places where a man was murdered, but
which here have a less grim signif-
canoe, each pile representing some
state, country, society or individual.
Judging from the size Of these piles,
New York has sent more visitors to
the cave than any state except Ken
lucky itself. Admiral Dewey's pile is
already quite large.
DOMES AND PITS.
The impression that the cave is not
specially remarkable for its natural
beauty or sublimity gradually wears
away, and gives place to one of a very
different kind when the big domes and
pits are reached. These vary consider
ably in size. while otherwise reSembliy
one another. The dOmes remind one
remotely Of Moorish architecture. The
pits have at their bottom more or less
debris, consisting Of rocks of all sizes,
which have been loOsened by the water
that drips necessarily down the sides
of the well, cutting them into a beauti-
full cOnv0luted and f1uted surface. One
of the most gruesOne pits-suggesting
an ideal prison for medieval torturers
is seen through a sort OF window
about half way up the side of the prec-
ipice while the "Bottomless Pit" IS
seen best from the bridge which crosses
it. The guide rather damages the rep
utatiOn of the "bOttomless" pit by
throwing down a cotton fuse dipped In
ell and lighted, which brings the bot
tom into clear view. All the pits and
domes are thus lighted by a dexterous
toss Of the fuse from the end Of a stick
which the guide carries for this pur-
pose. 1t WhizZes up towards the dome,
illuminating that a second, and than lies
burning in the pit for minutes, lighting
thoroughly the dripping walls of these
underground wells, which reverse the
usual order Of things by having the
water come in at the top instead Of the
bottom.
At one place the guide takes all the
lamps, and bids the visitors to sit on a
bench and listen to the silence while he
prepares a surprise AS he disappears.
Egyptian darkness closes in upon the
scene, but presently, as If the eyes
were becoming accustomed to the dark
ness, 1t seems as if the vault above had
been removed, revealing the skv with
stDeaks Of cloud and beautifully twink
ling stars. The Illusion is perfect and
the cave trip seems ended, but pres
emily the guides light (Which, reflected
from = distance he
ceiling, had created the appearance of
starry SKYE becomes brighter as he
approaches, and the fairy scene van
ishes. This is the famous Star Cham
Der An even more startling illusion Is
created at another place Again the
guide leaves the party alone and goes
ahead. All at once a statue Of a wom-
an is seen ahead, as distinct, as white
and as solid, apparently, as if chiselled
out Of alabaster. 1t proves to be a
silhouette of light formed by the two
sides of the Cave coming together at a
certain angle. The discovery of +his
statue was due to an accident. Two
parties were in the cave at the Same
time, and luckily happened to be in
the exact and only spots where the
statue may be produced and seen Tho
ccoIored guide who first saw it supposed
1t was an apparitiOn, and was SO fri
ghtened he refused to tell any one
about 1t. Subsequently it was discov-
cred that 1t can be produced at will nro-
Yided that two persons are in those ex-
act two places at the same time hut
1t is obvious that this might not han
pen again for a century.
THE RIVER OF ECHOES
But the greatest curiosity Of the
longer route is the Echo River" which
is naVigated on dat-bottoroaH hoo+c g.