Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-14
RISKS
HIS LIFE IN CAVE
New Smithsonian Curator
Braves Dust to Uncover
Relics.

Continued From Page One)
high. through which the workers must
crawl. They removed about 100 tons
of earth, which could be gotten Out
only in small baskets through the mar
row passage. There was no ventilation
inside.
Extinct Race Found.
The work resulted in the discovery o.
remains of a presumably pre- Columbian
people of American Indian stock which
so far as can be ascertained up to thu
present, hitherto were unknown u
science. All of the earth was sifted fol
human artifacts and animal bones.
worker could stay inside only abou
three quarters of an hour at a time
Despite the masks fine black dus
penetrated the threats and lungs of the
men so that all of them were feeling
serious effects of the experience long be-
fore the job was finished.
Even to enter the cave, in the face o.
the almost universal human terror d
narrow, dark passages and OF the pros
pect of being crushed to death by falling
ceptioral courage and could be done
only by gritting the teeth and hoping
for the best This was the baptism
of Frank M. Settler, newly appointed
assistant curator of archaeology, as a
cave explorer He was interested in the
scientific findings. The Mexican labor
ers, for whose heroism Mr. Settler ex-
pressed the highest praise. had no
motive for undergoing this narrowing
experience except their daily wages.
Cave Used as Shelter.
Once the cave had large opening
probably centuries ago. Then, the evil
dence indicates, it was used a. a shell.
ter for the mysterious people who in
habited this part of the country. con.
corning whose nature or origin there /.
no clue. Then the entrance collapsed
There was only small hole in a side
of narrow box canyon which nobody
would be likely to notice. About g
year ago the owner of the ranch upoT
which the cave is located was hunting
foxes. He saw a fox dive into this
hole and crawled after him. finally
emerging in the Justified subterran.
can chamber.
The discovery of this cave interested
local amateur archeologjst, who
crawled into the cave, and near the en-.
trance to the chamber found a piece OF
what had evidently been a childs
cradle and a few other articles. These
were seen last year by Mathew w
Stirling, chief Of the Bureau of Ameri.
can Ethnology, who suspected that they
belonged to a hitherto unknown cul-
ture. Settler was sent to investigate.
From the first it looked like a hope
fpCS nrnTNSiffn i'm Cpf1lor fI,o.
there was no way of enlarging the cave
entrance sufficiently to permit the use
Of wheelbarrow in removing the
earth or to provide light and ventila-
ton. His first idea was to blow up the
entrance with a charge of T. N. T, but
this would almost certainly have
brought the roof crashing down and
the site would have been permanently
lost.
Fear Roof Collapse.
The whole structure of the roof wa:
so loose that it might collapse even Will
the removal of single stone from tbs
entrance. Inside it seemed that part;
of the reef were hanging without any
support whatsoever in defiance q
gravity The stability of the whole
evidently depended on a delicately adj
JuSted keystone which a slight jar nigh
displace. Excavating the floor of tht
chamber, however carefully the work
was done, provided such jars. 1t wal
a risk that had to be taken.
First Settler tried to obtain illumina.
ton by lanterns. The dust was, so finC
and thick that it penetrated these
lanterns and they would not burn
There was also the possibility Of al
explosion. The lanterns were aban.
doned and the work was carried on with
flashlights. These would penetrate onl!
two or three feet at the most into thu
dense, black dust cloud. About then
the workers could hear frcm, time t
time, the warning sounds of the dia
mond rattlesnakes. They could not Sc
the reptiles, but only judge their direc
ton and distance from the sounds
Even without the dust cloud the snake
would have been practically invisible
They were dark red in color, correspond
ing with the cave walls which they
infested. Poisonous trantulas dropped
workers we're exposed. The dust wa
so fine and thick that it was only par
TALLY stopped by the chemical filters
of the masks.
These filters had to be changed tw,
end of the Job the men continual,
were coughing up quantities of blacl
mud. The dust penetrated through
the clothes and into the hair.
Settler had no idea of the Difficult
ties which awaited him when he wen
to the cave. Back in Washington n
speaks only of the archaeological finds
Fellow scientists of the Smithsonian