The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-01-22
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black mouth of an ~unsuspected cave.
The hound followed, the hunters wait
ing outside, their rifles ready. Fiji
teen minutes later the bay of the dog
was heard on the top of the cliff.
Plainly the big hole ran clear through
the mountain. The hound was
whistled down and sent through a
second time. Then the four hunters
prepared to explore the cavern on
their own account.
What followed would, in the days OF
mythology, have added half q. dozen
grim and deadly monsters to the ranks
of the supernatural enemies of man
kind The story is told by "Bill'
Boyceyer, of the hunters. who,
after more than thirty years, is now
living at Chance, Okla. The events
OF that November day made such an
impression on his mind that, in an
affidavit made only last March. he
is able to recall them in vivid de-
tail.
"A little way in from he mouth
Of the ave Bill Henry, John Demp-
sey and 1 found what looked to us
like rich silver ore. 1t was growing
dusk and We decided to go back to
camp, get a good nights rest and re-
turn the next day to make a more
careful examination. In the morning
we lit our pitch pine torches and
started in. About 200 feet from
the mouth the a " was partially
blocked by what looked like a big
tree trunk of solid silver. 1t was a
light peacock blue in color and gilt
tered like diamonds, in the glare of
u torches. We filled a small box
with bits chopped off this pillar of
ore, but it was so heavy we could
hardly lift it. Finally we went on
further into the cave. Nearly 500
feet from h entrance. we entered a
big arched room, the walls of which
shone like polished silver. It's roof
was supported by three transparent,
crystal pillars, each about the dia-
meter of a salt barrel. The floor
and part of the walls were a light
blue, shimmering mineral. w
thought we had found u eternal
fortunes. Presently we noticed that
when We got on the other side of
the crystal pillars torches died
down and almost went out. We got
scared and hurried back to the mouth
of the cave. When we reached the
open air / fell down in a heap and
was not able to move my legs. Henry
kneeled over in a sort of faint and
Dempsey commenced to talk wild and
raving. The boy we had left to wait
for us at the caves mouth ran for
help and finally We were all carried
back to camp"
Henry's condition grew so serious
that he was taken to a hospital at
Carthage, Mo-. where he lay for weeks
before John collapsed and
sores like burns broke out all over his
body. Paralysis finally ended in his
death. Henry went back, when he got
well, to work his silver mine,' but a
quarrel over the title to the land drove
him away, after he had blocked UP and
hidden the mouth of the cave. The
story of h strange adventures of the
three hunters spread by word Of mouth
among the Arkansas and Missouri hills
and finally became one of the grim ira
ditions of the Czarks.
When Professor AND Madame Currie
discovered, in Paris, the wonder work
ing element, radium, word of its mar
wells finally penetrated the wilds of the
1 mountains and came to the ears of
James L. Lieb, a p~rospector and self
taught geoIogist who has grown up in
the hills about Bentonville and Rogers.
He had heard of the death dealing cave
and at ace associated 1t with the ter
rible powers of the new element. Hunt
ing up old "Bill" Boyceyer in Okla
homa home, Lieb procured from him
directions for finding the lost cavern.
Taking the necessary precautions to
avoid personal injury he entered its
mouth far enough to pick UP some bits
of the strange blush ore. From
Madame Currie herself he received di-
r~ections for making q Photograph, the
| infallible proof of radio activity in an
ore. With the help of a country pho
tographer in Bentonville he succeeded
in making what appeared to be- per-
fectly successful and characteristic
radio photographs. The first were
made four years ago and were display
ed at the county fairs and apple shows
in the Ozark country.
Samples of the ore were submitted
to Prof. A. III. Purdue, state geologist
of Tennessee Inc former state chemist
Iof Arkansas. BY making independent
experiments he succeeded in convinc-
ing himself that the samples submitted
were highly radioactive and that the
| discovery of the cave promises great
things for the world of science.
In the spring of 1912 the section OF
land in which the cave is located was
bought by John Nagel of Chicago. who
owns several fruit farms in the Ozarks
and for months development work has
been under way. The final verdict on
the richness of the find awaits returns
from a large consignment of the ore
which has been sent for analysis to
Germany.
The tremendous possibilities involv-
ed may be judged by the fact that at
present the worlds whole supply of
radium comes from a single group of
mines in Austria, which is owned by
the Austria government and that a
gram Of pure radium is worth perhaps
q hundred times It's weight in dia-
monds.