The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-10
CAVE OF THE OZARKS.
IS ONE OFTHE WONDERS OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
'"' ... ~..

scription as Given by Paris PubIica-
 tion-
 The fame of an Ozark mountain cave
 has reached France, if we are to judge
 from a somewhat lengthy description
 of it published in a Paris periodical.
 The great cavern is beneath tract of
 land well known for it's picturesque
 ness and beauty in Camden county, Mo-,
 and is owned by Major D. R. Kellogg
 of 2600 Forest avenue, this city. The
 descriptive article was written by Miss
 Agnes l.. Owen, American member of
 the International Cave association.
 "In the region of the Ozark, on the
 picturesque river, the Niangua, is To-
 cality six miles above the junction of
 the Osage, and thirty miles northwest
 of Lebanon, are the caverns of Ha Ha
 Tonka, which were discovered by the
 Count oe Camden. The site is a natu
 ral park of twenty six hundred acres.
 The name was given by the Osage In
 dians at a time anterior to the eXplo-
 rations os La Sale, of Father Henne-
 pin or, the greatest of all, the Baron
 Hontan. Lately these caverns have
 been rediscovered and some marvellous
 details have been found in the inte- rior,
 There are five caverns and natural
 bridge, besides two marvellous amphi- theaters, one of which is magnificent affair of calcarian rock through which percolates water which, as little stream loses itself in maze of luxuri- ous growth of vegetation. The other, called the Coliseum, has in it natu- ral bridge. The walls which surround these theaters are about two hundred feet in height and are adorned with glorious trees In them are sink holes of such immense size and absorbing grandeur as we'll as of such profound dimensions that they alone merit the attention of a special study. One of these is of such magnificence that it is noteasy to describe. To say that it is profound is enough, without going fur ther because of it's depth of three hun dred feet.
 'The magnifcence of the natural bridge we are able to describe sim ply through the kindness of M. R. G. Scott, civil engineer residing on the property whose survey we are permit
  The arch is fifty-three feet span, forty feet in height and at it's widest part in the opening eighty-fiv feet. Thearch is composed of three feet of granite eighteen feet of limestone and the rest of calcarian stone. In the Coliseum small river is to be found. One could write lengthy report upon the caverns themselves and upon their decorations. but the mention of but a few of the most important attractions will serve to establishtheir value.
 ''The Cave of the River, as it was named by the Indians, possesses a heart of water. This river does not | get as far as the exterior The en- trance to the cave is grand to the last 1 extremity. The descent is abrupt, down a natural incline through masses of shrubbery leading to an opening about fifteen feet in height and thirty feet across the threshold. Near this opening is to be found a startling wall 1 of calcarian magnetism stone one hun dred feet high. Near here we find the river spoken of, and along it's course we made the journey in a small boat The entrance is, as has been described spacious, the course serpentine and the view which meets the eye is unnatural. The water is cold, the earth is strange ly adorned everywhere in the inches there coming to view astonishing ob- jects of natural a6ornment After leaving the river parts of the cavern may be explored on foot to great length, the numerous passages offering q variety of natural life and color and large and small chambers, with all of them of different form and of different dimensions. But the most important feature of the cavern and that which givesit right to a place in the list of famous known caverns is the marvel ous mound of white and yellow onyx. That mound, according to a recent measurement, is twenty-five feet in circumference and twenty-five feet in height. This onyx monument is found regular in form and itsapexpenetrates a second chamber above. A gentle sprinkling of water from above shows the chystallization still in action, and l at the same time it makes the clothing l of the visitor glisten with it's spark ling drops.
 ''The course of the Ha Ha Tonka can 2 be observed in the river cavern and it I IOfnlS CHe STeHleI part or d HICIe gorge. N Later on in it's career the river be- comes gorge which, while always | calm, at the same time flows rapidly. c Its volume Is estimated at twenty-five y million gallons per day. The water is Il found to be absolutely pure, maintain Il ing an even temperature of forty-fve d degrees Fahrenheit throughout all sea Il sons of the year. At one hundred feet II from it's source this river runs through a lot of detached rocks, and then finds it's way to what is known as the Onyx 1T Isle, for the reunion with the main river, the two larger forming grand lake with a surface measurement of seven acres.
 "On Onyx isle there are two beauti- W rul caverns, probably connected by @ n corridor which has not yet been discov- = sred The one which we visited is, lit- erally, a mass of onyx. The quality is u If the best and the color principally, n different shades of brown, white and a yellow. ",The interior of this cave is one tis n ,ue of natural crevasses, which run to r he water and up to the dome. Great fl three to six feet in length ir md six to thirteen inches in diameter a Ii, ,1nJ1 tnpn h