Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-06-21

If they had been chiseled; but their
vastness precluding even the sugges-
ton Of any human agency. The open
space showed cleft from top to bot
tom, with one wall extending suffi-
ciently beyond the other like the en-
trance to a circus tent, and shutting off
a view of the outside opening. The
tunnel through which we had entered
the amphitheatre was artificial, the
construction being necessary because
the natural chasm is little out of line
with the straight Natural Tunnel
through the balance of the mountain.
The railroad people have erected pa
vilion in the open space for the benefit
of sightseers. The creek comes under the
mountain along the railroad, and fol-
lows the foot Of the semi-circular wall
to the left, passes under the trac:: at
the mouth of the artificial tunnel and
passes out through the chasm already
described. In the wall to the left of
the track, looking in the direction we
were going, is an opening about large
/
knees, and said to have been explored
for several hundred yards without
reaching the end. There is no eXpla-
nation for this hole, except that it has
been suggested that it was probably dug
into the limestone by some kind Of a
varmint. Having spent some time ad-
miring and trying to comprehend the
amphitheatre, the party, still on foot
following the train through the Natural
tunnel. The distance Is about a quar-
ter of a mile; but the opening can be
seen all the way through. There was
stop about midway to explore cavern
that was formerly used by a railroad
watchman, and the exploration was
made with the aid Of flaming torch.
At length we emerged from the noun
tain into a deep gorge, and turning
about we could see the top of the
mountain five hundred feet above us.
In the gorge some Of the ladies found
wild Strawberries growing in great
clusters, and in few minutes the
party picked enough Of this luscious
fruit to fill a bushel measure.
| 1t is a strange fact, but true, that
in the train load of editors l was un-
able to find one who had ever heard
of the Natural tunnel before. Every
body was more or less familiar with
the Great Natural Bridge" so-called,
in another part of the state; but not
| W local
pie claim discounts the other over
whelmingly, or as one of the young
ladies put it. "skins the Natural
Bridge a country block" But with
the party was Mr. S. ]. Mulvaney, su-
perintendent of the Virginia and
South Western railroad. He is most
agreeable gentleman, and though not
inclined to be very talkative unless he
is pumped, Is full Of interesting in
formation. He told me that White
Mountains is the name Of the range
through which the tunnel passes; that
public road runs along the top of
the ridge for distance Of sixty miles,
and that this Is the only point at
which it is practicable for wagons to
pass The road was originally an In
dian trail; but the state took charge
of it more than a hundred years ago,
and has since been keeping it In very
good condition. Wagons can get from
the top of the ridge to the level of the
railroad below, after winding about
for a distance of several miles. The
statement was made that the Natural
tunnel was formerly used as a wagon
road; but Mr.. Mulvaney says this is
not correct. He says that horseback
riders come through this way to save
a long detour; but the road Is too
rough for wagons. In speaking
of the tunnel, Mr. Mulvaney said also
it Is a fact, not a mere romance, that
some thirty years ago an Indian maid
en-, one of the last of the pure breeds,
disappointed in love, jumped from the
top of the mountain down into the
pit through which the railroad runs.
A Prehistoric People.
But the most interesting story that
J got from Mr.. Mulvaney was in con-
nection with a prehistoric people that
once inhabited the region; but about
whom little is known, except that
number of remarkable skeletons have
been found in the vicinity. At point
about eight miles from the Natural
tunnel, said Mr.. Mulvaney, there is
limestone passage that extends under
the mountain nobody knows how far.
1t has been explored for a mile and
half or more; but the explorers had
to give up on account of bad air.
Along the galleries are a number OF
water holes, and enlarged chambers
that may or may not have been dug
out by human hands. At any rate it
was in these enlarged chambers that
the skeletons were found. The pecu-
liarities are double rows of teeth, the
thigh bones of only eight or ten
inches in length, and tibias (the bone
between the knee and ankle) from
three to three-and- -a-half feet in
| length. These people or creatures, were
seven or eight feet in height. Anoth-
er mystery in connection with the
find Is that the skeletons are buried in
soil the like of which is not to be
found elsewhere in the whole region
and which must have been brought
from a long distance. Mr.. Mulvaney
says that specimen skeletons have
been taken to the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition at Washington and the Metro
poltan Museum in New York. Mr..
Mulvaney said that he had never seen
one of these skeletons himself, and 1t
has been about eight years since the
last one was dug up.
The Copper Creek Viaduct.
Returning to Speer's Ferry, we got
a look at the Copper Creek viaduct
on the c. C. & o., over which we were
to pass few minutes later. The Nir-
ginia and South Western road paral-
lels the c.. C. & o. at this point, run
ming along close to the foot of the
structure. which Is within a few hun