The Washington herald., 1920-04-04
NEW LURAY CAVERN
PERILS OVERCOME
BY FIRST EXPLO
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

twenty feet in width. so thin as
to be translucent. and woven in
classic patterns, with richly defined
borders of dark brown upon cur
tains Of pink or snowy white.
There is the Saracen's tent, of
alabaster sheets, more beauteous
than the tent Of an Arabian chief
tain. The arches overhead are
thickiy studded with myriads Of
small stalactites, each tipped with
a pearly drop OF water which glis-
tens in the electric light, like AL
ladin's jeweled windows.
Old Chambers Lighted.
The new caverns are not to be
ready for public inspection before
about May /. although the "old"
part OF the cave is visited daily.
One follows the guide along con-
crete paths, along electrically light
cd passageways into chamber after
chamber of surprises. 1t Is no hard
ship for ladies or children.
But, standing in Giants Hall
which would easily seat 1000 peo-
ple-I was told by my guide to take
my lantern and climb a ladder. be-
side petrified Niagara Falls" and
turn to the right at the top. while he
and the electrician rugged up a
temporary extension to electric
lights to illumine. for the first time,
the new caverns ahead. The Tad
der" consisted Of a single tree with
cross-pieces nailed to 1t. From it's
top. a narrow passage over slippery
stones. wet with constant dripping.
led off into abysmal blackness, and
soon the narrowpess was aggravat-
ed by Iowness so that 1t became
necessary to lie fat. and squirm.
holding the lantern ahead with one
hand and wriggling with the other.
in a vain endeavor to keep out of
POOLS OF water so clear that they
were sensed only by touch.
"Popc's Chapel Revealed.
Beyond IL, was a small chamber,
containing many stalagmites shaped
like church candles. and no more
for that than the Pope's Chapel.
When the electrician made a mis-
step and found himself down three
feet into pool of crystalline
water he wondered II the pope was
going to use his chapel for baptis-
NAL ceremonies.
Then after much acrobatic climb
ing we entered the gallery of Round
Hall. and there found the Flower
Garden--a group OF stalactite and
stalagmite formations like the COM
mon or garden variety OF flowers
pink. white and gray and brown.
Cropping about this gallery, with
only a lantern, was decidedly dan
Errous. for parts OF its Shiny floor
sIOpcG toward / . edge of an abyss,
forty feet deep. over which the
gallery projected like the balcony
al AN opera house. When. At last
;he electric extension reached this
n5int and illumincd the whole OF
the Found Hall. il seemed indeed a
IL rlace for grand opera.
HcscrnbIcs Opera House.
Even aboV" tho i;aIlery-forty
fct' ah"vc--thc dome sparkled with
S'alartr" diamonds. like crystal
hand"li"r' and upon all sides were
"IHia<to columns of stalactite and
..'alaGmi'r forrvs''OHs. beautiful ia
'i.'.ir VARIETY w. .svM and tint AMI
rrr.ums with Ineir h.iirtitc detail.
Tiny tracer, ns'r.aed angle
worms" freaE'sh "yip"s" and flow =
rrs and vegetables" ertwined the
"oIumrs cvcryv-a,4e. over at the
rar side arc wonderful draperies. OF
translucent Cvrialns --surely this IS
IN opera h"u>t. -aal almost in the
letter OF tn. huE :. O. he Statclicst
"iIIar eighty frcr asSh. Two feet
'"i"k. from Hoo~' to overarchinls
"eiling- Scies..isJs IeE US II takes
i2a years to "Ieatc unr inch of
StalGrtitc HCU Old IS this great
ave
inadvertently. I was about to lay
my hand upon a projecting stalac-
'i'". to aid in climbing. when the
.rrid" called out: BE careful. or
"or1l wake the bat" II was live
bat. taking a morning nap. mil"
underErounG-thc only live crea-
tur". aside from us humans. in the
ave. There is nothing there for
il to feed upon: it knows the way
out through Egyptian darkness. and
it cmergcs at night. for it's food.
Climbing PcriIous.
Thcr" Was one feat Of climbing
'h"t scared me-. That was when We
were Obliged TO slip aud, scramble
"r eight feet down the slope Of
IL" gallery. toward the top Of on
Of those One-pronEcd, home mad =,
ladders. reaching down forty feet II
tn" main foor of Round Hall. \
Slin too much. = swapping stalaE-
mite letting go the grasp. and
down int" that forty feet Of black
ness 7 would harc gone
From Round Hall wo passed into
an artificial entry. leading through,
about 100 feet. into Giants Hall.
from which We bad started. but
that is tho new passage. opened
only two days ago. after more the n
six weeks Of effort.
Our next itinerary was 10 another
I art of the cave. where we were TO
Sc Broadus Lake. Superintendent
Logan had great curiosity to visit
Broadus Lake again. as he had not
seen il since he had guided the
WasEingtonians to il in February.
his blind fish from Mammoth Cave
with which he had stocked it two
years ago. had Survived.
No fish were found. and from the
sight of the crystalline water. the
fish probably had starved to death
within week for there was neither