The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-11-24

| your bCuOOl bcOblapus' ASt
II is one OF the greatest natural won.
ders of America and at one time
rIvaled Niagara falls In popularity.
| There was time when II was the
Mecca OF all newly.marricd couples
who could afford the trip. Travellers
came from all over the world to sec
It. Today. however, It is practically
| forgotten. Visitors even from near
| by cities are few and far between.
| In fact, Mammoth cave is the forgot
ten natural wonder OF the world.
Representative Thomas Of Kentucky
expects to introduce n bill In con-
| gress providing for the purchase OF
| Mammoth cave by the government
and making It n national park like
| Yellowstone and Yosemite. His argu.
ment will be that the United States
government should take steps pre-
serve great natural wonder that Is
/ likely some day to be destroyed I'M
less some strong hand interyenes to
protect 1t.
There is as yet no indication that
Mammoth cave will be destroyed;
but no one can guarantee that science,
IN its constant search for new mate
rial to convert TO mans use, may not
discover some profitable use for the
curious geological formations that 20
to make up the glory OF this great
hole in the ground.
At any rate, this project for It's pur-
chase by the government brings II
once more to the attention OF the
public. It's present owners. the heirs
OF the late DR.. John Croghan. under
the trusteeship of Judge Albert Gov
ington Janin, have allowed the great
cave to become neglected and forgot.
ten. Back in 1874 more then 100 per
sons visited the cave every day To
day the number does not average
Ave. Yet the population of the coun-
try has increased from 10000 ,0C0 to
almost 100000 since that time.
To discover what had brought about
this condition a newspaper represen.
tatlve recently journeyed to Mammoth
cave. II required nearly an hour to
buy a ticket to the nearest point on
the railroad. Only after q long, care
full study OF railroad maps was It pos
sible to get ticket, and this was to
Glasgow Junction, Ky. This station
was reached after a 24-hour ride. and
there, on n siding, was the train for
Mammoth Cave, nine miles away.
This train consisted OF little engine
with the name Hercules" painted on
Its sides, and one old.fashioned day
coach lighted by smoky oil lamps
The writer and an old man with n
dog we're the only passengers. There
were two conductors to collect the
fare of two dollars which is demand.
ed for the short ride to the cave. The
nine miles Of grass-covered tracks
were covered in about an hour and
at last the lights of the Mammoth
Cave hotel came into view.
The hotel Is rambling old struc.
ture built nearly seventy.nve years
ago-part OF 1t, in fact, almost 100
years ago. There were only three
persons at the hotel during the wrl-
ter's two day stay. The big dining.
room, with It's long rows of tables,
capable of seating $50 or 300 persons
at one time, was deserted. The
greater part of the structure was
boarded up, deserted and fast falling
into ruin.
The cave itself, OF course, is Just
as wonderful as ever. Il is the
largest cave that has ever been dis.
covered and it's natural beauties .ex-
Gel those Of every other. There are
more than 1877 miles of walks In the
cave. and some idea Of It's size may
be gained from knowing that Its main
avenue is four and one.half miles
long,. 100 feet high and so feet wide.
There are 40 other avenues. large
and small, and at least 100 cham