Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-07-22
4 TROPICAL CUBAN GAVE
A Queer Underground Cavity
Which Is Warmer Than the
Outside Temperature.
ONLY HALF A MILE LONG.
Formations of Stalactite and Stalag-
mite Very the Same as In Other
Caves-Captain Killed.

The Cave Was Discovered by Chi
nese In Searching For Some Stone
For His House-it Is Now Owned BY
Some Enterprising American aud
Has It's Full Share of Visitors.
A correspondent writing from Ha-
yana says "We who are here in Cuba
for short time feel that we wish to
see all that we can before returning
to the States, and this all would
scarcely be complete without including
Montserrat and the cave at Bellamar,
at Matanzas, natural formation,
which the Cubans consider one Of the
wonders of the island. 10 spend only
one day there involves the loss of CON
siderable sleep. for the ferry connect
ing with the train leaves Havana at
q o'clock in the morning, and the
train with which il connects leaves
Regia at 6.20. 1t means pretty early
rising IL one lives in Havana, but
when one lives in the suburbs, as most
of us army people do, it means rising
at or half past.
On board we found number of
American officers on their way to Ma
tanzas. Indeed, one might have al
most thought ones self in the States,
there were so many Americans on the
train. As we neared Matanzas the
country became much higher, and we
had IA near view of the mountains-the
first land one sees on approaching Ha-
yana from the United States. They
are very high and stand out in bold re-
lief from the surrounding country
We passed a number of cemeteries, in
each of which was n little chapel, and
a corner of each cemetery was "A bone
pit, or, as the Cubans call 1t, an osario.
One village of considerable size was
composed entirely of shacks of one
story each. and of probably not more
than two rooms each. This village
presented very odd appearance.
In Havana one can usually find q
cab without any trouble, and we ex-
peeted that 1t would be the same in
Matanzas, but it was not, and we had
to walk several blocks before finding
one. The driver agreed to take us to
the cave and back for the sum of So,
American money. For the first part of
the distance the road was excellent,
leading along the bay, broad drive
not unlike the famous Ocean Drive at
Newport. Then it turns and goes up
hill, rather gradual in slope at first.
but becoming sleeper and sleeper and
very rocky When the summit was
reached a beautiful view greeted US
across the harbor and out to the open
sea beyond two points of land, which
seem to almost form n gate.
The entrance to the cave is reached
through a little house of one room.
perched ON the summit of a hill. On
the door of the house is a placard tell
ing the rates of admisSion-for soldiers,
80 cents; for officers and all other per
sons, ST. all of which is in American
money. This placard is printed in both
Spanish and English. In the register
we found the names Of many Ameri-
cans from all sections of the States. A
small boy of elevn was detailed to act
as guide for us and several others who
were waiting. We came to the con-
cluson that if this child could pilot
us the cave could not be as extensive
as had been said, and so we found it;
instead of being several miles in length
it was not more than half n one.
We entered the cave from the office
by means of several flights of wooden
steps, guided 10y the boy, who carried
two long candles of wax, which, he
told us, had come from America. In
stead of finding cold air, as one does
in Mammoth Cave, we found the tenn
perature much higher within than
without. The formations are very
much the same as in other caves.
Names which imaginative minds have
suggested. cling to various parts; there
are the robe of Columbus" the
'"Twelve Apostles" the Ballroom"
H. nd half n 1Ounn or
names equally as appropriate or other
wise. Our guide showed us the place
where a Spanish Captain had met
death, whether by accident or other
wise we could not make out; at all
events. he had gone over the cliff and
his body had never been recovered.
No one is allowed to carry away any
specimen from the cave, and for that
very reason all of us were anxious to
do so: the little boy had no objections;
indeed. helped us by showing us where
we could find the prettiest ones.
The cave was discovered by a Chi
nese in searching for some stone for
his house. Whether he owned the cave
or not / do not know. but for a long
time he acted as guide. Later it was
bought by an enterprising American,
NV whom it is still owned, if | mistake
not. 1t takes only a short time to walk
through it-half an hour being ample
unless one wishes to linger along the
way to study the formations. All of
the rocks are not of pure white; in
some places they are shell pink, in
others a delicate shade of yellow.
There are two springs, but the water
from both are so warm that there is
no pleasure in drinking it,
The air inside of the cave is so warm
that when one gets back above ground
once more it seems very much as
though it were change to a colder
zone.
Several people Were waiting in the
office. and as we went down the hill
we met others coming up, and there is
little doubt that the cave has its full
share of visitors. The trip to and from
town, including the time spent in the