New Britain herald., 1930-02-28
Wonders of Underground Cavern Seen By Man for First Time When
 Explorers Penetrate New Depths
Nicholson Penetrates to Great Marble Room in New Mexico, Which Is High Enough to House History Building.

Carlsbad, x. N, Feb. 3S Lql- Frank Ernst Nicholson. explorer, has seen new underground world.
 Surrounded by fantastic creations of cave marble and nowston per haps unseen by man previously dur ing the million or moro years of their formation and perhaps never before touched by light Nicholson penetrated previously uncXplorcd room of the Carlsbad cavern.
 It was the first bit of exploring of unknown places of the underground labyrinth to be done by this New York explorer, financed by the New York Times, who with his party of l assistants, hopes to find the end of the cavern.
 Tt seems that every step brings 2. new revelation" Nicholson said here today, and man feels himself 10 be an intinitesimal being !n these gaping underground yoids of black ness, surrounded by gigantic rocks and limestone creations, magnificent, fantastic and startling. which arc revealed as shafts of light from your hand lamp pierce inc darkness"
 First to Enter Interior
 Two parties previously had reached the entrance of this new room, but Nicholson was the first to penetrate to it's interior.
 The room is something over two miles underground from the en- trance. A tunnel branches off to inc right from the main corridor shortly before the "big room' is reached. This tunnel leads to the GorsoouslY arrayed kings palace, from which branches to the right tho green room and 10 the left the "queen's room."
 From the queens room Nicholson made his way through an uupathod tunnel into the immense unexplorcd room.
 He had visited most of the g miles Of known parts of the cavern which includes the big room." in which a IL story office building could be built without touching the ceiling, to familiarizc himself with the work done by previous exploring parties.
 The party as all expedition, how ever. has not started concentrated work Air currents arc q major con- sldcration with Nicholson in map ping out q program for directing his party. He will enter no tunnels whose ends arc known. but will conline himself to uneNplorod places with distinct air currents and follow those rooms and tunnels if possible, 10 their ends
 ITO Foot Drop to Bottom
 The first explorers of the present known portion of the cavern had their thrills. There is q ITO foot drop into inky blackness from the mouth of the cave to the first level. Jim White and other early cowboy explorers made this original descent on a rope, wondering when they would reach the bottom.
 The next mode of descent was an iron bucket which held two persons. and which was lowered and raised 'S odp!c dllu "IuuIdSS, Wlln power from gasoline engine on the sur face. Visitors hair stood up when an overlapping of the cable on the Windlass gave the bucket mo- mentary drop, or when the gasoline engine acted up and left inc bucket suspended in midair for q few moments. The old guides used to call that ITO feet a mere drop in the bucket"
 Now d flight of 500 stairs reaches from the surface to the first level and the government has made an Hppropria ton to put in cscalators 10 accommodate the tourists who in- creased from 1873 in 1924 to 8o,- GOO in 1929.