The chronicle=news., 1913-08-08
STRANGE SIGHTS
N OLYMPIC CAVE

discovery of xiRAstic cave IN the
heart Of the Olympic mountains. Ia
the nuith~rst part Of the state.
They describe the cave ~ bc,ns
al.'ni twenty miles Ions ani half
mile wide In places. with large rooms
FILLED with amariax things, II has
an entrance and exit and lie, in
reg ION casy Of access.
measuring standiuk timber when
they found the entrance 20 th. cave
on the south side Of . small noun
tain. Procurinx lantern. and SUP
piles. they vcniur-d In aud -p-n,
hours wsndcr!nx from room To roo,r.
Gnaily coming ou, into i'ylIsh; 20
mil-s further .outh and about one
mile lower in altitude,
They ssy they are the :rs, white
persons to enter the cave. although
Indian. or prehistoric men may have
lived there. for there are numerous
human skulls aud i,on-s In one room
near the south entrance.
The entrance 10 hlxh enough TO
permit man to walk In direct. Once
inside. Gilmore and Reid found them
sci,c. In room With . Low ceiling.
but which Elis'rncd Ike sla.. ani
va. cold aud damp They found the
room to be studded with sisIaet!tc>.
10 TO 30 feet. protrldinS from the
side, Of the walls. The floor Was
composed OF damp. red sand. and near
one side was a small stream. worn
ont OF the solid rock.
Fifty feet further the io~ room
spread out Into a court and smother
larger room With . Sigh ceiling.
Over the floor aud under the flat
rocks ran myriAds Of lizards and
snakes. Il appeared to be the winter
ing place for all the reptiles In the
Olympic Mountains. The lizards
were Of every land species and OF ev-
cry size.
HurryinK through this cavern. Gil
more and Reed. holding hands for
mutual aid and to assure each other
con nfidcnce. entered q wonderful ro-
.unda. with a dome and walls Of
white silica. or lime rock. They CO.
,imaicd the length OF this room to be
close to 1000 feet. and from 1000 to
5000 feet wide. rha ceiling range
from so to loo feet on tn. sides to
, several hundred feet In the domed
centre.
Tn. liSht from the lanterns would
no; penetrate to the top Of the
&c Tcd ceiling. This room vas harr
a. far as curios were concerned |:
reminded them OF a monster ballroom
awaiting guests The floor Was lev
c!
Following the general trend OF the
cave the m.n worked their way TO-
tao miles over rocks, across abysses
and around pools of water o; un-
known depth. until th.m came upcr.
Ia yA~nins pit. Her. they filled one
lantern with a fresh supply Of oil
and threw the empty hottie into the
|, pit, Reid counted 50 before the bot
tie ~As heard striking the rocks on
ih. bottom OF ;he pit
Ono, around this deep black hole
the men found easy going aad came
upon another rAm filled with a
strange odos This Was believed 10
be produced by sulpaur-heArine rocks
in the formation OF the walls. Al,
WAS very nauses;ins
Believing that they would have
TO tam back because .. this gas. the
men suddenly cusrced into another
room, in which they felt fresh air
blowing IN strong current ,hrourt
,the cavern, They were unable 10
trace is origin. hut were fairly car
ried hy the curveu; ia;c another sep
iS-sie room. where the lanterns wer.
not needed. because PHOSPHORUS
rocks made everything as bright as
DAY, The Air fresh and sxee; here.
eridea,iy coming from An aps-,urs
!, :Ae sides o. the mountain.
Wouder after wonder opened rp
before the TWO explorers as they hur-
rici through the natural tsnne, AZ
'e- traNersins many miles Q. the
caves taey came upon \ large room
ifsliaa ~!ih every coneeivahle noise.
II, ~xS ye.i:Ahle inferno Sereeoscs-
ho~ls- usoan.uSs snd sAArf reports
Ike explosions reat the air contin-