The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-28
CAVE GUIDES
SKILL, KNOWLEDGE, ENDURANCE
AND CONVERSATIONAL POWERS,
All Are Necessary to One who Would
BE Observation-Disclosures of
Some of the rirst Explorers.
Kansas City Star Special.

Kansas City Star Special.
One spring morning in 1909 a hunter of the
name of Hutchins came upon a bear in a
thicket on the banks of Green river in
Edmonson county. Kentucky. He shot the
animal, but did not kill it. The bear was
hit hard and made off through the brush
with the hunter Hutchins in close pursuit
The chase led along the banks of the wind
ing river and ended suddenly in a cave-the
world-famous Mammoth ave of Ken
lucky.
The discovery of this wonderful cave, and
the fame it afterwards gained, created a
novel calling which has been followed by
a class OF men for years-that of guiding
people through the intricate and bewilder-
ing 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 il. They
spend months of apprenticeship in acquir-
ing a knowledge of the work before they
enter upon it. 1t is no small undertaking,
this being a Mammoth Cave guide. To be-
gin with they must be thoroughly con-
versant with the history of the place in
order to give the tourists they conduct
liIOuSH dn lnltlllScHl dCCOuHl VI IL. OOi-iC
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 its acoustic
properties. After he starts the ball roll
ing the crowd takes it up and he gets a rest
for awhile. He has plenty to do on the
- IL -.--:-- "
manage a large boat. OF the scow variety,
containing from five TO twenty people, and
TO do this requires no little amount of
skill and muscle. He does not use an oar,
but he carries a s-harp-pointed 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 member of his
party to see that none Of them violate the
conventions of the trip by endangering
themselves or the rest OF the crowd.
The Sharp-pointed stick Is utilized by the
guide for several purposes other than steer
Ing the boat. He carries across his back
a pack of Bengal lights, and kerosene
soaked twists Of cotton waste, which he
uses to illuminate certain portions. of the
cave. The manner of using these lights is
TO ignite them from the ever present lamp
everyone in the cave carries, and after
l. gets well started to burning, place it on
the sharp end of the stick and fling IL to
some ledge high overhead or some distance
beneath. Sometimes the distance is twenty,
thirty, or forty feet up. or probably fifty
feet down. In either event the object place
is in utter darkness. He has nothing by
which to gauge his aim except his knowl-
edge of the exact location of the ledge. He
seldom fails to make the first brand stick
in the right spot. This performance of the
guides never fails to arouse the wonder of
the people who see them do it for the fist
time.
The guides have a great deal Of endur-
ance. The long way through the cave is
about sixteen miles, and the short way
seven miles. They never miss a day TAX
ing one or the other and sometimes both.
Children WILL often he0onQ exhalSrad and
have to be carried by them. Sometimes
women give out and have to be assisted.
heeled shoes gets her ankle turned under
her. and an accident OF this sort means
some heavy lifting for the guide.
They go with all-sized parties from one
person to $50. As many as 300 have been
taken through the cave in a single day.
There have been a great many ankles
rocks, but there has never been a serious
accident Of any character. -Four people
have died In the cave. Three of these We're
consumptive men who went there to live
i'm the hope that the pure. light air would
benefit their lungs. The stone houses which
they erected and lived in for five months
before they died are daily viewed by people
who go in. The fourth person to die was a
man who dropped dead from heart disease.
He had just been married the day before
and was taking a trip with his bride.
A great many people have been married
in the cave. There is a natural formation
resembling an altar, and as many as twelve
couples nave been united IN a season at this
point.
The journey across the underground river
Is one part OF the trip that tries the nerve
OF the tourists. 1t Is $50 feet below the sur
face. The darkness is dense. the stiffness
profound. Awe is written OH the faces of
most people who see 1t for the first time.
Yet two fellows decided recently that IL
would be a great lark to go swimming
down there. and although the guide protest
ed, they went In and remained long enough
10 establish the claim of being the biggest
FOOLS who ever Travelled that way.
on another occasion a party OF ministers
held prayer meeting on the river with all
lights out. They tell il that several OF the
brethren were so scared that their pray
sts were very short. and their voices very
shaky.
TIL guides get 10 be good judges of hu-
man nature. Some Of them nave never
have seen and talked with more of the
worlds great people than the average per-
son who lived in the cities and Travelled
through all the counties. This is because
tinguished person Is not at the cave. They
tell some good stories. They say Car
negie gave 80 cents and Tom johnson.
the mayor of Cleveland. SIS. Tom said that
TO stumble around in the dark place. He
wanted to know how much wages they
got. When they told him SO a month and
board, he said II wasn't enough for such
in good fashion. Helen Gould remembered
them handsomely, but William Jennings
Bryan limited his tip TO 30 cents. BY
way of explanation and suggestion IL Is
stated that so cents Is about what is
expected from the man or woman in ordi-
nary circumstances, and a. dollar and up-
ward from the well-tO-Go. Don't expect to
carry out any souvenir rocks unless YOU
remember the guide for at least 80 cents.
The guides OF the present day nave q much
a aalar ffvrS Of IL than fhroa Of yauru 40