The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-09-11
LURAY cAVERNS
WONDERFUL, SAYS
ROBERT SIMPSON
First American Boy Gives
Vivid Description
Of Sights.
BY ROBERT s. SIMPSON.

whilee recent visit to Win
chester ! had an opportunity to go
through two OF the most wonderful
caverns. probably, in the world.
Both of them. the Endless Caverns.
at New Market. and the one at Lu-
ray, rivaled one another in their
grandeur and grotesqueness When
one tries to compute the thousands.
and In many cases, millions, Of
years in which 1t has taken these
stalactites and stalacmites to form,
the immensely of 1t all is over
whelming. And one is awed by the
magnificent sights with which he Is
confronted at every turn and twist
of the passageway.
There is an old story that the
grotto at New Market was discov-
cred by two boys and their dog, who
chased a rabbit up a slope, about
four miles from this town. The
rabbit disappeared under a mass of
large rocks. and the boys, on NOV
ing a number of the rocks, came
upon the entrance to the marvellous
caves which have taken years to un-
fold to the eyes of the people. 1t
was so novel so unbelievable, that
I was unable to grasp many of the
things, and so 1 can not remember
them now as I sit down to write
about this trip. However. I'll do my
best, and here goes:
Sees Queer Sights.
The first wonder. that / see as
think, is a room set of a little. and
open on the side facing the stone
steps, with a soft, pretty, blue CELL
ing. The guide called it~"Skyland."
From there We passed into the Ma
rine Gallery" At one end is Chat
tahoochee Falls" near which can be
seen the scratches of a bears paw,
whose skeleton was found nearby.
And we saw a so-called Gypsy
Tent" made of a circle of stalactites
and stalacmites, which had met
forming columns. We also saw two
owls sitting near a hole. a sleigh
and a perfect imitation of a bride
and groom before a minister-even
the bridal veil was visible. A large
mitten. suspended. and bethtub
were pointed out to us. And far
Their along a buffalo and other like
nesses of animals which composed
the menagerie. The Yosemite VAL
ley is represented here. as well as
the Grand Canyon. The Unnamed
Room" came next, SO called because
of the variety Of the wonderful
draperies hanging from the ceiling.
and other formations. The guide
then showed us a magnificent frothy
white slope, which he called Snow
drift" There were but few of these
-kA1
make up for the small number. the
Creator has made them very beauti-
full.
The last two attractions. maybe
were saved for these positions be-
cause of their astonishing exquis-
iteness. The lighting system added
to their wondrous beauty. The
first was Diamond Lake" and both
red and white lights were used
here. The red ones made II really
unthinkably pretty. unless you
have seen the sunset reflected on
water. and can imagine a great
stretch resembling the reflection.
But the latter kind, with the
| sparkles on the lake, which. by the
way, was in a ledge set back in
the side of the cave flooded 1t with
| a shower of natural and superb
beauty and brought out the delicacy
of the little white spheres protrud-
ing through the water The next
and last was named "Fairyland."
which adioined the lake and in a
like position. AS we stopped and
looked through the little columns
as one would gaze in a forest. we
drew deep breaths and spoke In
awed tones of ITS sublimity. These
two features fixed themselves so
deeply on me. that I can still see
them in my dreamss and I shall re-
member them as long as I remem-
Der that ever made the trip.
Enters by Rugged Rond.
The Luray Caverns are accessible
from that part of the country only
by rough and rugged road over
the Massanutten Mountains: over
which Gen. Jackson marched to
Front Royal where he defeated
Banks left flank. In this cave.
there are said to be scenes which
rival the noted ones of Switzer-
land. There are several huge
gulches in there, some of which are,
so far as is known to explorers,
bottomless. The bottom Of one not
so deep had been dug away in one
place. showing a stream of water
which ran under the caverns at A
distance of 500 feet underground
The deepest that we were under the
ground in these caverns was $50
feet. compared with 2e3 feet at the
Endless Caverns. Going through the
Luray Caverns we saw striking rep
reservations Of MANNED hand,
with the thumb and fingers partly
cut off: camel and elephant:
fishes. flowers and vegetables; a
castle on the Rhine, Vesuvius in
eruption, natural bridge. Niagara
falls. a ghost. the pawn shop sign
of three balls, a monkey. an angel
wing and the most marvellous like
ness of a wet blanket hanging in
folds. and a breakfast shawl. In
the latter. the stitches were plain
and as IL made by human hands.
Then came a cluster of fingers, as
though sculptured, called Christ