The Washington times., 1901-08-11
MAMMOTH CAVE GUIDES.
The Numerous Requirements of a
Peculiar Vocation.
Natural Wonder Was Discovered by
Hear - Experts Arc Now Familiar
With the Cnverns King Edward
VII Followed william Gnrvin,


| VII Followed William Garvin.
one spring morning in 1900 a hunter by
| the name of Hutchins came upon a bear
in thicket on the banks of Green River
| IN Edmonson County. Ky. He shot the
animal, but did not kill 1t. The bear was
| hit hard, and made of through the brush
| with Hunter Hutchins in close pursuit
| The chase led along the banks of the
winding river and ended suddenly In
cave. the world-famous Mammoth Cave,
which is undoubtedly the most remark
able hole In the ground the prying eyes of
man has yet brought to light.
The accidental discovery of this wonder
fui cave. and the fame it afterward gain
cd. created novel calling. which has
been followed by class of men for years.
| that Of guiding people through the intri-
cate and bewiidering passages of this
wonderful underground wilderness The
old maxim. Every man to his trade" fits
| the cave guides well. They must know
their business thoroughly or they are not
allowed to work at their trade They
spend months of apprenticeship in acquir-
ing a knowledge of the work before they
enter 1t. 1t Is no small undertaking. this
being Mammoth Cave guide. To begin
with, they must be thoroughly CONVEX
SAINT with the history of the place in or
der to give the tourists they conduct
through an intelligent account of it. Some
of them are better story-tellers than 9TH
ers, but they all have had enough expert
ence to make it interesting for anyone
In addition to talking a great deal the
guide has to sing on the Echo River In
order to show off to good advantage the
acoustic properties of one the greatest
wonders in the world. After he starts
The bail rolling the crowd takes it up
and he gets rest for a while.
He has plenty to do on the river be-
sides singing. however. He has to man
age large boat of the scow variety,
containing all the way from five to twen-
ty people. and to do this requires no lit
tie amount of skill and muscle. He does
not use an oar. but carries a sharp-point-
ed stick with a metal tip which he digs
into the mud banks or the overhanging
rocks. He has to keep his weather eye
on the members Of his party to see that
none or them violates the conventions CT
the trip by endangering themselves or the
rest OF the crowd. The Sharp-pofnted
stick is utilized by the guide for several
purposes other than steering the boat
he carries across his back pack of Ben
gal lights and kerosene-soaked twists of
cotton waste, which he uses to illuminate
certain portions of the cave The manner
OF using this light is to ignite IL from
the lamp everybody in the cave car
ries, and after it gets well started to
burning, place it on the sharp end of the
stick and fling 1t to some end overhead
or some distance beneath Sometimes the
distance is twenty, thirty, or forty feet
UP, or probably fifty down. In either
event the object place is in utter dark
ness. He has nothing to gauge his aim
by except his knowledge of the exact To-
cation Of the ledge. He seldom fails to
make the first brand stick in the right
spot This performance of the guides is
one of the most skilled things they do
and never fails to arouse the wonder and
admiration OF people who see them do it
Tor the first time.
The guides have to have a great deal of
endurance. The long way through the
rave is about sixteen miles, and the short
way seven miles. They never miss day
aking one or the other, and some times
10Th. Children will often become exhaust
ID. and nave to he carried BY them
sometimes women give out and have to be
assisted Frequently girl or woman
With high-heslsd Shoes gets an ankle
urned under her. and an accident OF this
orJ means some heavy lifting for the
,uide.
They go with aII-sized parties from one
'erson 10 30 As many as 800 have been
AIKEN through the cave IN single day
There have been Z great many ankles
prained in the cave on account OF the
Ocks. but there has never been serious
ccident of any character. Four persons
lave died in the cave Three OF these
we're consumptive men. who went in there
0 live in the hope that the pure. light air
g0uld benefit their lungs The stone
ouses which they erected and lived in
or five months before they died are daily
-iewed by the people who go in The
ourth person to die was Il man who
ropped dead from heart disease. He had
ust been married the day before and was
aking trip with his bride.
\ great many couples have been mar
led in the cave for he novelty OF the
hing. There is natural formation re
embling altar, and as many as twelve
ouples have been united in a season at
MS point. The guide gets off little joke
II his parties here every day. After he
as told them about the people being mar
led here he adds that it is not allowed
ny more He hardly gets it out of his
SIX in the same breath. Why not?' He
apiies: Because the management de-
ded that it was running marrying into
lie ground" And then everybody laughs
nd the inquisitivc ones are not heard
ON for some time.
The journey across the underground riv-
is the one part of the trip that tries
lie nerve of the tourists 1t is $50 feet
,lCw the ground. There is no darkness
the world so dense. No stiffness so
rofound. Awe is written on the faces
most people who see it for the first
me- Yet two fellows decided recently
at it would be a great lark to go swim
ing down there and although the guide
otested. they went in and remained
ng enough to establish the claim of be-
& the biggest fools who ever travelled
at way.
in another occasion a party of minis
rs held PRAYER meeting on the river with
lights out. They tell it that several OF
= brethren were so scared that their
ayers were very short and their voices
ry shaky. The guides get to be very
cd Judges OF human nature. Some of
IN have never been out of Edmonson
UNITY but they have seen and talked
tn more of the worlds great people
an the average person who lived in the
les and Travelled through all the coun-
es This is because there is hardly
Y that some distinguished person is not
the cave. They tell some good stories.
ey say Carnegie gave 80 cents. and Tom
lnson the Mayor of Cleveland SIS. Tom
d that a man certainly had to know
business to stumble around in the
rk place He wanted to know how
ch wages they got. When they told
n $50 per month and board he said il
sn't near enough for such expert ser
e and sweetened the boys mp in good
hion.
ielen Could remembered them hand
nelly but William Jennings BRYAN limit
his tip to 80 cents. BY way of eNplana-