Arizona republican., 1901-01-11

'lplt ldHlUuS Wllt taNt, otutcu upous twelve miles southeast of Custer, s. D.,
 Is to be examined thoroughly by spe-
 clal agent and geologlst, according to
 orders recently issuedby the secretary of the interior department. Wind cave
 was examined uhis past summer by two
 government geologlsts, who found 1t to
 be wonderful place, and recommen-
 dalton was made to the secretary to
 have 1t set aside by the government as
 a national resort. For the time being
 all lands around the cave have been
 withdrawn from entry and it is expect
 ed that the findings of the expert and
 geologist will be sufficient to warrant
 the government in setting aside the
 place as a government res0rt
 Wind cave Is destined to become as
 we'll known as the famous Mammoth
 cave of Kentucky. It has been explor-
 ed for ovrr 1G0 miles, and hundreds Of
 caverns have been opened up and
 named. One of tho latest ded.catory
 exercises held in the cave occurred re-
 crn;ly when one of the most magnfi-
 cent chambers was named after Mrs.
 Ellen A. Richardsln, founder and pres
 ident of the George Washington Memo
 rial association. Richardson Wash instpn Memorial chamber" has since become famous. On one side of the chamb,r there is an opening which goes into a smaller room, none the less
 grand. however. This is dedicated to tie daughters of the American revo- Int nn ha to edo ic ha D niflcent Hall of the Tabernacle. Prom inent orders of the state and nation are l represented by chambers scattered | throughout the great cave.
 It is the desire elf all thn Black Hills | people and the thousands of tourists | who have come to love the dark recess es Of Wind cave to have the govern
 mrnt take control cf It. There has been
 more CT less vandalism in the past few l years, and many of the finest crystals ! have been broken off from the walls and ceilings and sold.
 The Black hills has two other caves I that are ccming to the notice of tour ! ists.. Crystal cave is situatrd only a | short distance southeast of Deadwood. l It Is believed by some that this cave | and Windy cave are connected by sub- terranean passa ageways. although more | than forty miles apart. The formations | in Crystal cave arn very similar to | those in Windy cave, being perhaps a | l!ttle coarser in texture. There are a great many beautiful chambers in | Crystal cave that rival in grandeur | those of Windy cave. Thn most remar- | kable chambers are the "Klondike," :" | Worlds Fair" Whale" room, the Chamber of the Gods and the "Cita- l del" This cave, too, has a number of
 noted chambers. which have bepn dedi-
 cated to societies and orders of the
 state. over fifty miles of passage ways have been opened up. there being over
 200 chambers. The de pest chamber is | about 300 feet below the level of the little creek which flows down the deep | gorges of Crystal cave district.
 About sixteen miles west of Custer
 a new cave has just been discovered.
 which has promise of becoming a closr rival of both Wind and Crystal caves.
 Two young Frenchmen, while prospect | ing Tor gold. came to an opening in the | llmestono formation of that district, which they at once commenced to ex- plCre. Ten miles of passageways have | already bern opened up and some of
 the most beautiful crystals of lime in all the different degrees of hardness
 have been taken out. One chamber 300 | feet square has been found. This cave
 Is being opened up this winter and will | next season be opened to the tourists.