Evening star., 1901-03-09
DEAD II MANS CAVE

I'm Harlan county. KY" said . man
from that STATE, s'the mountains rise az
high as 4.5O0 feet, and thousand-footer
Is considered, mot much OF q rise. On one
OF these lower hills is o hole in the ground
which for forty years has been known as
Dead Mans Gave. This holes diameter is
about ten feet at the top How deep 1T is
Is not knowns butostones dropped into 1t
have never been heard to strike bottom,
and spool sdf thrsad 200 yards long has
been unwound into # and still did not reach
the end. ReeentlyGsome interesting facts
have developed concerning it, and the story
that goes with it.
"The storylnais, and It Is evidently true,
that not long before the war mountaineer
was guilty of some offense which deserved
lynching, and as hanging seemed to be too
good for him and burning had not yet be-
come popular. 1t. was decided to let him
down into this cave In full possession OF
all his faculties, so he might think over his
crime and die of his own accord, thus re-
ilev1ng the community of the killing. Be-
ing duly tried and found guilty by Judge
Lynch. ne was taken to the cave and care
fuily let down until something like 200 feet
OF clothes line had been used uD. Then
those on top let go the rope, and 1t disap-
peared down the hole. Naturally enough.
no more was heard of the offender after
that, and the community settled once more
into peace and quiet The hole up to this
time mad never been given name, but In
honor of the event Just narrated it was
called Dead Mans Cave, and the story and
the crime and the one inhabitant of it be-
came tradition
Now for the denouement. Three months
ago was down in that country setting up
saw mill for a lumber company, and it
became necessary for us to sink well to
get a regular water supply. The mill was
,oeated .se3 IN valley on the other side OF the
about 300 feet below it. When We had sunk
the well fifty feet or more our drills one
day surprised US by dropping through the
meant cave below a not unusual condi-
ton In cave countries. and, thinking we
might nnd water, we opened the hole and
proceeded to get into the cave. It wasn't
more than a dozen feet in depth. and seemed
TO be narrow passage leading back toward
the mountain and ending about 500 feet in
the other direction The passage was
smooth and dry, and, providing ourselves
with lights and leading strings to find our
way back, We set forth on an exploring ex-
pedition. Within 100 yards Of our starting
prints of human feet. or what looked more
like them than animal feet. A mile further
In, the footprints growing more numerous
as we proceeded. we came to the skeleton
o. human being, with the clothes still on
1t, though they crumbled away at our
touch. The cave had become much higher
mere, and not far beyond the skeleton We
caught a faint gleam of light from above.
NoAiS Aol " dIu cautiously, dS there were
Indications of break, we came out upon
shelf hanging over a chasm at least
twenty feet wide. Looking far up could
see a faint light, and lying on the edge of
the shelf was rope about fifty feet long.
which crumbled at the touch, as the clothes
on the skeleton had done. We got around
the chasm by side passage. but found
nothing beyond except spreading Of the
cave into branches and large chambers,
and these We We're afraid to explore, as we
might get lost.
we told our story outside, and after the
skeleton had been brought to the surface,
or such parts of it as did not crumble. the
OLD settlers examined the connections Of
the cave that we had discovered with the
Dead Mans Cave, and at once concluded
that we had found the remains Of the
man who had been lynched SO long ago,
and they promptly buried the bones in a
field far removed from consecrated ground
Coming to such conclusion the facts
seemed to warrant, it was believed that
victim was near the shelf on which we
found his. skeleton. and had dropped to 1t
without injury. With such light as the
hole above afforded he had evidently tried
to sound the depths below him, leaving the
larger part Of the rope hanging over the
brink where 1t had rotted and dropped
down; the sectlan va had found remaining.
The footprints indicated that he had felt
his way back and forth along the passage
through which We had come for mile or
more, and had at last in despair lain down
forever, where he would be cheered by
even SO little as thes faint stream of light
coming down ofrom above to be with him
| until the end. He may have. taken his
own life. but there was no sign that he
had, and he,ono doubt Starved to death
1t was pretty hard lines, and burning at
the stake would have been less lingering
but the way of the transgressor Is hard,
and it Is Of his own choosing
did you find water?" inquired a prac-
tical-minded man.
Yes" responded the story teller, show
ing pleased appreciation OF the inquirer's
interest, I'VE found 1t in another well we
sank"