The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-03
Mysterious Creation of Nature
In State of Missouri.
WEIRD AND ROMANTIC
STRANGE TALES THAT HAVE
COME DOWN TO Us.
Its Echoing Walls Hold Secrets Most
Weird and Fascinating-Foot-
prints of Prehistoric Man, Upon
the Floors-Piles of Human Bones
That Speak of Battles.

of Verailles, Morgan county, and is a
succession Of mysterious. ramified
chambers, says a st. Louis correspond
ent of the New York Telegram. There
is a. belief that these underground cor
ridorS are endless, and that they hon
eycOmb the earth for miles and miles,
possibly forming functions with other
caverns, being part of an underground
girdle And, aside from its attraction
as a natural wonder, there are stories
of love, adventure and death within
the stygian nav of this great cave.
Jacobs cave is remote from centers
of civilization. 1t is a commonplace
thing to those who live near it, except
when, as is now frequently the case,
prospectors for lead and zinc or other
strangers, hear of it and express de-
sire to view its wonders.
Then there are told most weird and
wondrous stories of half known secrets
that it's echOing walls hold-Of foot
prints made by prehistoric man upon
the floor before passing centuries had
hardened them into stone; of Indian
lovers seeking refuge from a revenge
full rival within it's depths; of battles
whose only records are piles of bones
and mummified bodies; of fights with
wild beasts which had chosen their lair
where they thought man would never
venture and of all that goes to in
crease the mystery of such places and
make them interesting to curious hu-
mainly
Recently your correspondent was one
OF a party Of explorers into this mighty
cavern. He found that the beauties of
it's glittering, stalactite-lined walls are
not Overdrawn; that its bigness is not
Overstated; that there are marks of the
of in n
the floors of solid rock; that in at least
one place there is a pile of bones that
may be those of the Indian lovers
around whose love tradition WeaveS a
tale of romance and tragedy; and that
the passageways are so varied in size
and conformation and 80 numerous that
the famed great labyrinths of ancient
days are simply promenades in COM
parisOn.
The party that %sited the cave was
composed mostly Of prospectOrs, many
of whom have recently invaded Morgan
county, hoping to reap a harvest of
lead and jack from the comparatively
unexplOred hills. Those who went on
the expedition were J. J. Fleming, H. Z.
Paul, w. E Fryer, Z. P. Gartrell, your
| correspondent and an Englishman. The
two first and the last represent a min
ing company of Kewanee, Ills, who
in the vicinity ana who had some lead
strikes.
Fryer and GartreH belonged to a
mining company of Kewanee, Ills,
who were working several pros
poets within a few miles of the cave.
They were in custody Of Ned Herring
/ ton, who has the reputation of being
SO far as lead and zinc prospects and
other mysteries Of nature are concerned
a directory Of southern Morgan county.
The entrance 10 Jacobs cave is about
a quarter OF a mile from the summit Of
| COLLINS knob, and we'll up on the east
ern slope of the hill. The opening is
almost completely hidden by an over
| hanging rock and by thick bushes. It
is said that the cave was first discov-
cred by an Indian, West Wind, who
had BEEN banished from his native vii
| lage. The warrior loved a maiden Of
! his tribe, and she loved him. West
/ Wind in spite Of the sentence against
/ him, lowered about the forbidden viii
Iage, calling at night TO his love by apt
| imitation Of the owls ''Te-whit-tu-
| WHO'D.
| By accident he stumbled upon the
| opening Of Jacobs cave. The place
1 offered him a secret shelter and soon
| became q trysting place for the lovers
/ But the maiden's frequent absences
| from the village were noted by a jeal-
| Gus brave, Flying Arrow One day he
] followed the girl, saw where she went
/ and whom she joined, and told the chief
and the tribe of what he had seen.
| In body the men fiocked to the
| cave. The lovers heard the commotion
and saw the chief and his braves aO-
| preaching. Escape outward being i'm
| possible, they reiterated into the unex-
| plOred chambers of the cavern. The
! purSuers. headed by Flying Arrow, fol-
| lowed after. They lost their way, but
| after many trials all save Flying Ar
row found the exit of the cave.
| Flying Arrow was seen no more, and
| the legend is that he was whirled into
a fiery dungeon by the spirit of the
cave. AS for the lovers, they were
never heard of again; but the story
has it that they were carried to an
! other land one of perpetual happiness,
beauty and love, by the very spirit who
had punished Flying Arrow.
When the eyes of the explorers be-
! came used to the dim light the cavern
shone resplendent with stalactite and
/ stalagmite Many of the former had
been broken off by previous visitors,
but large numbers remained, and the
many stone tendrils seemed like a leaf
less. limbless, inverted forest. Both
the roof and walls appeared as if COW
! cred with cleaning frost crystals. an
effect that was due to the candle light
glittering upon the damp stone.
| Ned led through this chamber into
another. The paSsageway was easy
| compared to others that followed. II
consisted Of a high vertical crack in
the limestone. There was room for the
thin men. but one heavy-set prospectOI
had extreme difficulty in getting
| through.
The second vault offered more of spe-
| ciaI interest than the first. Fewer OF
the stalactites had been broken off, and
they seemed clearer and more crystal
line In the middle Of this crypt was g
sparkling spring. A burrow which in
tersected the main tunnel at right an
giles offered an outlet for the overflow
The gurgling of the water as it flee
downward through the vitals Of Cob
lin knob toward North Brushy creek
could be heard distinctly. In the dark
dead place the sound of the water
seemed like the voice of a live thing
one could imagine it the plaintive cal
Of tortured Flying Arrow.
Going to the edge of the subterraneaT
spring, he knelt down and placed hi:
candle close to earth. Then he called
to the others to look There, as i
carved IN the rock, were two footprints
So perfect We're the impressions tina
each toe had left its mark. How Ions
had these been there? Who had troC
the spot centuries back? Was it TIT
trail of the Indian lovers in hastl
fight, or could the feet that Gauss,
them have been those of West Wind
jealous rival?
IN this chamber there was an enor
nous stalagInite and its corresponding
formation in the roof If these wer
formed in the ordinary method, by tn
continual dripping Of water holdin,
carbonate Of lime in solution, they wer,
certainly marvellous. The former wa
|