Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-08-20
Woodsmen Report Discovery Il
the Olympic Mountains.
Strange Sights In Great Cavern De
n seribsd BY Two Men Who stuna-
blsd Upon Entrance to Place
Quite by Accident.

Seattle. Wash. John NJ. Gilgore and
Robert Reid. woodsmen, came to- Seat
Tie to report their discovery Of Q 81
gantic cave in the heart OF the Olymp
ic mountains in the northwest part Of
the state. n
They describe the cave o beinl
about twenty miles long and half
mile wide In places. with large rooms
filled with amazing things. It has On
entrance and an exit and lies In Z n
5gion easy Of access. 4 $ $.lsS
The woodsmen were cruising, Of
measuring standing timber. when they
found the entrance to the cave on the
south side OF q small mountain. Pro
curing lanterns and supplies, they ven.
tured In and spent fourteen hours
wandering from room to room. finally
coming into daylight twenty miles fur
Their south and about one mile lower
In altitude. \.
They say they are the first whits
men to- enter the cave. although n "a.
dams or prehistoric men may have
lived there, for there are numerous
uUu1Au 8AUu1 6UUM OOu06 III OA0 AVOAAA
near the south entrance. ,5 s
ss The entrance is high enough to per.
NIT man to walk in erect. Once
inside Gilgors and Reid found
themselves In room with low
ceiling, but which glistened like
glass and was and and damp.
They found the room to be studded
with stalactites. ten to twenty feet,
sprotruding from the sides Of the walls.
The door was composed of damp red
sand, and near one side was q small
stream. its bed worn out Of the solid
rock. b ~ 81
Fifty feet further the low room
spread out into . court and another
larger room with = high ceiling. Over
the floor and under the nat rocks ran
myriads OF lizards and snakes. It ap.
3peared to be the wintering place for
al the reptiles In the Olympic noun.
tains. The lizards were OF every land
species and Of every size.
Hurrying through this cavern Gil
gore and Reid. holding hands for mu.
tual aid and to assure each other con.
ndence. entered . wonderful rotunda
with q dome and walls Of white silica
or lime rock. They estimated the
length Of this room totbe close to 1000
feet and from 1000 to 5000 feet wide.
The ceiling ranges from 60 to 100
feet on the sides to several hundred
feet In the domed center
The light from the lanterns would
not penetrate to the top OF the domed
ceiling. This room was bare 40 far
as curios were concerned. It remind
ed them Of q monster ballroom await
ing guests. The floor was level.
Following the general trend Of the
cave the men worked their way for
two miles over rocks, across .abysses
and around pools Of water OF unknown
depth, until they came upon yawn.
ing pit Here they filled one lantern
with . fresh supply OF oil and threw
the empty bottle into the pit. Reid
counted 80 before the bottle was
heard striking the rocks on the bot
tom Of the pit.
Once around this deep black hole
the men found easy going and came
upon another room filled with q
strange odor. This was believed to
be produced by sulphur bearing rocks
In the formation Of the walls. 1t was
very nauseating. j. ,5.
Believing that they would have to
turn back because Of this gas. the
men suddenly emerged into another
room in which they felt fresh air blow
ing in a strong current through the
cavern. They were unable to trace
its origin. but were fairly carried BY
the current into another separate