Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-03

| citrate, but II is in sight for more than
seventy feet The pipes are attached to
| the wall their entire length. The represen-
| tation Is further carried out by the largest
| pipe being in the center from which the
| smaller ones taper down for more than
| thirty feet each way.
| Dome and Chair.
The Arm Chair is another unique feature
The entire formation is stalactte and sta
| lagmite in combination. and at the base the
| pillar Is almost as large as an average Call
| ifornia redwood. Some twenty-five feet
| from the bottom, however. the huge mass
forms what might be called a plateau, il
| on larger scale, and it Is on this rough
| plateau that the Arm Chair, which is mere
~ a continuation Of the formation is To-
| Gated. Above the chair the column again
| broadenS. forming a sort of canopy for the
! chair. The Columbia Dome is roughly sim
liar to the dome on the Capitol at Wash
| ington. from which it derives it's name Ii
| Is set close to the ground In narrow hall
way.
Two lakes are found in that part of the
cave which lies south Of the entrance; one
called Blind Fish lake, from the fact that
several blind fish. similar to those caught
| In the Kentucky cave, have been taken
from its waters; and further one of I'M
known extent. which marks the limit of ax-
ploration In that direction. The course of
travel to the north Is along a lively brook
of pure. cold water. No thermometers were
taken along by the exploring party. so the
temperature OF water was not obtained
but It's Icy GOODNESS Is vouched for by one
of the travellers. who slipped on a ledge and
fell in 1t was three days before he had
sufficiently recovered from the chill to be
about again. In one cavern there is a
twenty -hve-foot water fall, which fills the
air with a cold mist.
Wonderful Carving
That feature of the cave which is likely
| to arouse the greatest interest among scien-
| tific men is the mural carving found in the
southern part of the cavern. just before the
unexplored lake There are three charac-
tiers. each about one foot high, cut into the
wall, and they resemble writing of any
known Indian tribes. The first is like a
distorted capital Z: the second is a curve
Joined to vertical line which forms a
right angle with another line, terminating
in sharp curve, the third Is a half circle.
! from the right end of which extends YER
tical line. All the characters suggest short
| hand chirography. These curious signs are
clearly chiseled in and bear no resemblance
to the marks caused by erosion. But who
could have made them there. miles from
| the light of day? 1t Is hardly to be sup
posed that any Indians of the tribes inhab-
iting that region in historical times did the
chiseling; for the North American aborig-
ines were not given to exploring caves. but
rather to stunning such gloomy and unin-
vting places.
The first exploration of the Red Bud cav
since, far actual results are con-
cerned. William c. Heining now postmas-
ter at Red Bud. and Jacob Helber. who
died eighteen years ago. We're picking dew
berries near the home of farmer named
Voldane, when they came upon the mouth
of the cave covered with logs and brush TO
keep the cattle fl ON falling in. Although
there was almost sheer descent of fifty
feet, the walls were so rugged that climb
| ing down was a matter of no great diff
Guilty. OF this trip and subsequent visits
Mr.. Heining says:
An Underground Lake.
eve entered a large room at the bottom
of the shaft, from which halls ran in three
directions. A lively brook rippled through
this room, running almost due north. As
we were tired and not prepared for explora-
ton, we made only short trip up stream,
and then returned to the surface planning
to return the following Sunday. This time
we took a thermometer, which showed a
difference of fifty-one degrees between the
surface temperature and that or the cave.
On our second visit went south again,
and began to get an idea of the magnitude
of the cave: so we decided to spend every
Sunday in further explorations with lamps
and compass.
1.-The southern part we explored first. 1t
was muddy and each wore hip boots.
When we struck the lake where we caught
the blind fish tried dozen ways to cross
1t by wading, starting from different points,
but no matter where l stepped, as soon as
1 got yard from the shore the water
surged into my boots. Swimming was out
of the question, for we had no idea of the
lakes extent, and again in those days it
was not known that yenomous reptiles and
dangerous fish do not inhabit underground
streams So we built Skin big enough to
carry one per son. We dragged that boat
through five miles Of cave. and finally got
1t into the water Then we drew lots to
see who should cross first. and it fell to
me. We had had handles put on each end
of the boat. to carry 1t.
'"To one Of these HELLER tied a rope and
set out he paying out the line About mid
way I tried to find bottom and dropped 400
i feet of line all had with me. with no sue
cess. I don't believe there is any bottom
to the lake. The lake is much longer one
way than the other. but luckily crossed
the short way and on the further side
found a continuation of the tunnel. When
1 reached land tied my line to the other
end of the boat: yelled to HELLER and he
pulled the skin back. Then / guided him
across with my line. he leaving his tied to
a projection from the floor.
In the Grand Room.
Then we rushed on for two miles more.
only to be stopped by second lake at the
end Of the grand room, where We found the
marks cut into the wall. The boat had
been left behind. We were tired and We
knew that IL we went back and brought it
we would have to take 1t back again, 50
to cross the first lake. So We decided to
J..
We had made about seven miles in all. On
the following Sunday, however, We decided
to try to find another outlet to the cave,
and we followed the stream down, intend
ing to find it's mouth. Week after. week
we visited that cave and continued our
ploration Of the northern end Sunday be-
ing our only time. and on each visit hav-
ing to retrace our steps. 1t was slow work
We also fully intended to go some day and
find out about the second lake to the south,
and also to see IL there were any more
carvings on the walls; but Mr.. Helber's
death interviewed. and Ieould not get any
one to go with me. didn't care to 60
alone. and have been there but once since
to get the boat, which has been long de-
stroyed.'
A number of st. Louis business men have
become interested In the cave, which is
only forty miles distant from that city,
and have leased u with a view to lighting
and exploring 1t thoroughly. II win prob
ably be made a sort OF side attraction to
the st. Louis exposition Of 1903.