Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-12-16
AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY


i'm the Cheat River District.
Special TO the Register.
! OAKLAND, Nd, December 15.-
Tol Frank, the French geologist who
is studying the formation of the AL
leghany mountains under the auspices
of the Institute Geologique de Paris,
has recently made a very remarkable
discovery in an exploration of a cave in
the mountain east of Cheat river, and
few miles north of the Baltimore &
/ Ohio railroad. The cave has long been
/, known to exist, but till recently has at
| tracted no SPECIAL attention.
Its opening, being email and at first
difficult of descent, has discouraged any
attempts at a thorough exploration. NJ.
Frank, however. was not 10 be checked
| in his investigation so easily as those
less interested in the geological forma-
| ton of this region. 1t was with diff
ficulty that he could secure a guide at
| Terra Alta, town near to lead him to
the cave. When seen at his hotel in
Oakland the next day, he expressed him
self as very much interested in the cave,
| but gave only a short account of his
| experience in it.
He had with him relic which he had
brought from the cave that will be of
great interest to all interested in the
aboriginal Inhabitants of this region.
At first sight it seems to be a rough
| hewn stone the size of a peck measure.
1t is nearly round and has a fat bot
tom. There is hole in the top extend
! ing down half way through the stone.
From these appearances NJ. Frank at
| first thought it kind of mortar used,
propably, to crack corn in; but when
he examined it at the hotel the next
/ day, he saw what the dirt prevented him
! from seeing at first, that the lining OF
the hole was earthenware while the
outside of the stone had every appear
ance of having been subjected to much
| heat.
! After considerable cleaning away of
| the sediment that had settled in every
crevice, he found that the earthenware
| lining was loose and could be removed
! from the stone. 1t fit the hole in the
stone exactly. Upon examination the
jar or cup holding about a quart
, proved to be of unburned clay, but
very firm from its great age
! Two theories as to the use of the
whole were suggested by those who
saw it. One that it was kind of
stew-pot lined with earthenware; the
other, that the stone was a kind of
mould in which the clay was first
pressed into shape, then burned.
Upon both the outside and inside of
the cup were plainly observable sew
! eral rude pictures. These pictures, in
black and red, were of men with long
black boards.
| Mr.. Frank refused to give his opin-
ion as to the use of the apparatus far
Their than that the rude pictures of the
men with boards, since Indians are al
| most beardless, proved the apparatus
to be the work of a race possibly an
tedating the Mound Builders. The
relic was found on the nearly smooth
floor of a large chamber near the edge
of a lake that stopped his progress.
The cave is, in common with other
caves of this region, in limestone
formation; but excels all others, he
said, in apparent size and peculiari-
ties. The great amount of water pre-
vented his going more than half
mile from its opening. The walls are
in many places decorated with beauti-
full white spongy columns formed from
the lime in the water trickling down
for countless ages. In many places
| light, graceful stalactites hang from
the high roof; and beneath them equal
! ly white stalagmites rise like statues
from the floor.
NJ Frank said he would write full
description of it for the Rome Scien-
tifique upon his return to Paris.