Evening star., 1954-11-12
A-Bomb Refuge Seen
In Big Virginia coyes
Club Studies Possible Use
OF Endless Governs
By Thomos R. Henry

The vast, fantastic underworld
beneath the Blue Ridge and Massanut-
ten Mountains Of Virginia may be one
Of the few regions on earth relatively
safe from A bombs and II bombs.
The possibility of using this tangled
labyrinth Of dark. wet caves especially
the Endless Cayerns near Newmarket,
Va.--is being considered by the WASH
ington group Of the Explorers Club Of
New York which has conducted several
expeditions into the largely unknown
realm OF darkness during the past few
years.
These natural shelters. 1t Is pointed
out by Col. Hartford T. Cowling Of the
Explorers Club. could afford ct least
temporary shelter for large numbers
from the deadly radiation fall-out',
Of hydrogen bomb explosion which,
it is estimated, might cover as much as
5000 square miles. In most of them
there is the essential abundant supply
OF fresh water necessary for living and
sanitation. Through the Endless
Caverns to which most attention has
been directed. for example, flows an
underground river. It would be possible
even to keep small herd of cows there,
provided forage were stored In advance.
New, Caves Being Found.
The extent Of the caverns Is un-
known. New ones constantly are being
discovered through Virginia and West
Virginia by local members Of the Amer
lean Sociological Society, which re.
Gently conducted an extensive explora-
ton Of caverns in the Mammoth Cave
area of Kentucky.
Some caves as yet undiscovered may
be even more extensive than those now
known. Entrances often are hidden and
access difficult when they are found.
Findings of the recent Endless Cav
erns exploration now are being con-
sidered by committee Of the Washing
ton group of the Explorers Club. This
group is concerned especially with the
best ways to utilize these great natural
shelters They would, Of course, be Of
little value in case Of successful sur.
prise attack but, if proper arrange
ments were made beforehand, they
might be of inestimable value in the
course of an atomic war in which
bombings became frequent. A prelim-
mary essential, it is pointed out, is to
have them well mapped and equipped
with the absolute essentials of life.
Temporary Refuge Is Theme.
It sometimes has been predicted that
an atomic war might turn mankind,
temporarily at least, into a race of trog.
lodytes. The explorers group, however,
is not looking forward to such a grue-
some future, but only to the possibilities
OF temporary refuge-largely for per-
sons living in the general area. Different
organized groups. it is pointed out,
might even pre-empt and equip their
own caverns as shelters for families.
Another possibility is for the storage
Of valuable records. The possibility that
the shock of hydrogen bomb explosion
would cause the collapse of any Of
these caverns with their thick noun
taintop roofs is very remote, members
OF the committee point out. The roofs
are thick enough to serve as barriers
for almost any deadly radiation which
might be discharged into the atmos-
phere. The contamination of their
earth itself, however, is quite different
possibility and will require considerable
scientific investigation. The need at
present, members Of the group say, is
for systematic exploration and survey
OF potentialities before an emergency
arises.