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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1899)
( J OMAHA ILLUSTRATED 11EE. OiMobor ISlt ! ) Wonders of the Black Hills Cave ( Copyright , 1MO. liy S. S. McClurc Co. ) The lilnck Hills of Sautli DnUntn , described as the richest 100 square miles on the face or the cnrth , POBSSHS In ad.lltlon In their mineral richness one of the greatest wonders of the world. This Is Wind cnvo In Glister county , twelve mllrs north of the city of Hoi Sp.-ngn . ; , In the southern portion of the Black Hills. Tills cnvo IB In an Immense bed of lime stone a bewildering labyrinth of box work , stalactites , stalagmites , popcorn , gcodcs and frost work of glistening whltcntHS BO delicate that nt the slightest touch It crumblvs In pieces. A fitting playground for thu llttlo people with whom the superstition of thu Indians peopled the Hindi Hills' In the dnya when they wore afraid of the snmhro mouii- taltiB , before thu paleface came and thu Iron homo followed after and the spirits of thu Illlls wore driven out. Prof. Merrill of the Smithsonian Inntltutc nays the formation nf the cave Is unknown. Other geologists Incline to the opinion that It Is an extinct geyser perhaps a former outlet for the warm mineral waters which now come to the surface at Hot Springs and vicinity. Some of the formations dhow the evidence of having been formed by water , n warm mineral water ; and some , notably tlii- frost work , Is BO delicate that It could not ewe ItH existence to the action of water , but must have been formed by a gas or vapoi which congealed as It struck the limestone. The prevailing formation In the cave ts counting the aldo or connecting passages and the slzo of the chambers. There are sumo openings which lead below the eighth tier , but thcHo have not yet been explored. Wind cave has been rightly named. In every moment of thu year the wind Is mail ing In and out of the entrance with ter rific force , Its direction being regulated by the rlso and fall of the barometer. About two hundred yards from the entrance , no matter whether going In or coming out , the current of the wind Is always In and this Inward rush prevails throughout the cntlro explored | > ortloh of the cave , except In a mnnll side passage not far from the en trance , out of the mouth of which the wind comes , Bcumlngly to meet the main current and go back Into the cave with It In an un- ondlng and unvarying circle. For days the wind has nmhed out of the opening at the entrance and yet all the time there was no change In the direction of lu course In the cavo. In last March for fifteen days the wind blew In continually , except for a cer tain period of ihroo hours one day. This was during the bitter cold weather of last winter. Mr. Folsom , who lives In the house above the entrance , said that during that tlmo ho saw Icicles on the bottom of the passage loading to the entrance , that were two feel long and not larger than a lead pencil : they wore formed In this manner : The cold current of wind aa It came Into the cave followed the floor , pushing the WIND CAVE HOUSE , UNUlill WHICH IS THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE. what the guldm , for want of a scler.tlliu name , have called box work. Thu popcorn formation , as Us name Im plies , looks very similar to a lot of well popped corn fastened to the walls and ceil ings of the cnvo. In placea the balls aru smaller than a pea ; In others they are sev eral tlmea aa largo. This formation Is usually pure white , without the brilliancy that makes the frost work dazzle the sight. Akin to the popcorn work Is the snowball. In various portions of the cave the walls ana callings look as though a number of boy * had been throwing snowballs at the walls and the snow was Just wet unough to spatter and stick. The frost work furnishes the chief beaut ) ' of the cave. It Is formed In the suftest rock and In the upper parts of the cave ; It la sus pended , or shoota up or out , from the base of limestone In clusters of tiny white needle * formed of Infinitesimal crystals , reminding one of pine trees. The coarsest of this fora'atlon Is not larger than a needle and It decreases In size until It looks like the finest cotton. There Is aomo of It In the cav which Is called mineral cotton that wouhl deceive any one If It were away from thu cavo. There Is some of It hanging to n stonu beyond the Pearly Gales , which the gulden have called Noah' Ucard , that Is a bunch 01 flnct spun white wire- several feet long anil white as snow. When thu calcium light I * thrown on the frost work It Hushes and BClntllatoB lll < o diamonds. Illlllllri'llN Of MllfN Of PlINNIIKOM. The cnvo ts formed of llssures or crevIces - Ices paralleling one another nt n distance of from fifty to 300 feet apart. These Ilssures range In height from thirty to over one hu.i- dred feet. They are nil connected by nu- murous sldo passugis scarcely largo unough originally to permit an ordinary sized man to get through ; It haa been neo- essary to widen and deepen these connect ing passages In order to make the cnvo ac cessible to touilsts. There are eight tlor or layers of these fissure * , the lowest being tlvo hundred feet below the entrance. The chambers have all been found In the fissures and range In slzo from twelve feet equnrii to n llttlo moro than thrco acres. A recent survey of the cnvo discloses the fact that It covers an area of two miles square. By a simple arithmetical calcula tion one can obtain somu Idea of the miles of cave there are to bo yet explored. There are eight tiers of fissures ; each fissure Is two miles long ; In each tier the fissures uro distant from fifty to thrco hundred feet over n space of two mlkvi wide ; placing al ! the fissures three hundred feet apart , there would be nfty-llvo on each tier , or one hun dred and ten miles ; then multiplying by the number of tiers , the result will be tight hundred and eighty mlle , without warmer air to the top. The evaporation caused by the meeting of the two currents was BO great that a stream of vapor was formed which rose to the top of the warm air , collected Into tiny drops of water , which In turn fell back to the floor In the cold current , freezing Instantly ; the drop ping was BO slow and the drops so small that the Icicles were not given a chance to grow except lu length. No A n I null 1,1 ff , The steady current of wind'may bo given cicdlt for the perfect purity of the air In the cave , it being dry , sweet and Invigorat ing , and as stated , unchangeable In tem perature. On a warm day the explorer feels the chill upon first entering , but In n few moments Is comfortable and need not worry about drafts and colds until the trip Is over and he steps out Into the warm air again ; the guides guard against 111 effects from the sudden return to heat by detaining tourists aoveral minutes In the room above the en trance before permitting them to go out side. That the cave has other outlets for this constant stream of wind cannot bo d. ubted , but no evidence of any has been found. Attempts have been made , by fol lowing the candle flame expecting It to lead to the outlet , but all such attempts have ended In failure , the explorers coming back to Homo already explored portion of the cave. As though thu wind were lost and lu endeav oring to find Its way out of the labyrinth goes round and round. In all the miles of the cave there Is not a bat , a rat or Insect of any kind. There U no moisture In the atmosphere at any place and no water except that which seeps through from the surface Into the upper tiers of chambers. Ab ut 100 miles have been explored since 18U1. Three thousand rooms or channbor by actual count have been found , everyone of which has been named. No end has been reached and no evidence of an ending baa been discovered. Thu gtildis have laid off the cave In routes , there being fourteen different ones , only three of which arc open to the public. Of thu three the trip to the Garden Is the short ed , icqulilug a little over two hours ; the Kuir Ground route Is the next , and can be made In about three and a half hours' the Pearly Gates route Is the lougcst. In at tempting which one must prepare for a jaunt of five hours. All of these trips can be made without Inconvenience , the man agement having expended a large sum of money lu making paths , enlarging the uar row and low places , bridging the chasms and making the climbs easier by a liberal usu of stairs. llo\v It "VViiH UlMUUvcreil. There is some tradition of the cave bavins been first discovered In 1877 by "Lame" Johnny , cno of the early stage robbers and LUltaws of the Black Hills , who was subse quently the central figure In a necktie party. In thu fall of 1881 John Wells , a granger , located In Cold Brook Canon , just outside the present limits of Hot Springs , and fol lowed the canon lu search of deer. About thirteen tulles from home his attention was attracted by a noise that sounded like an Intensified whistling of the wind through the pines , and upon Investigating found , 100 yards away In the bottom of the canon , a hole about eight Inches In diameter out ot which a heavy wind was rushing. Wells did nothing toward further Investigation , but in the spring of the following year two men , Tom and Jess Ulngbam , Impelled by a spirit of curiosity , blasted out the hole until It was large enough to crawl Into. They went In u little distance when their further progress was stopped by a deep well , and this ended their explorations. In the fall of ISS'2 Joe Petty , Henry Marty and Joe Carr drove out fiom Hot Springs ( then called Mlnnekahta ) properly equipped with ropes , lights and provisions. They spent two days and a night at the cave and descended the well which had stopped the Ulnghams and crawled along the bottom a mo distance when they were stopped by the passage becoming too small for them to get through. In 18'JS , during the World's Fair , the largest chamber lu the cave was discovered and named the Pair Grounds ; this loom cov ers an aica a little over three acres , and Is In shape somithing like a mosque , with a high central dome and numerous wings ra diating from It ; the dome Is about slx.ty foot In height , the average height of the whole room being about twelve or fifteen feet. feet.Tho The cave will eventually be thoroughly de veloped , lighted with electricity and an elec tric railway from tbu cave to Hot Springs constructed. A largo number of the chamber.- ! have been named by visitors. Varlus social , fraternal and religious organizations have I * . VIEW THROUGH ENTRANCE OF WIND CAVE. rooms which have been properly dedicated. Among these are Odd Fellows' hall , Granu Army of the Republic hall. Women's Chris tian Temperance union hall. Eastern Star room , Woodmen hall , Traveling Passenger Agents' headquarters , Ancient Order of United Workmen hall , Knights of Pythias hall , Elk hall , which was named and dedi cated last August , and all the religious or ganizations. The Odd Fellows' hall Is per haps the most fittingly named. In It are two goats , a largo and a small one , which uru wonderfully lifelike ; the three links , the all- seeing eye and a number of little thing ? which an Odd Fellow would readily see. litho > the celling of the Monte Crlsto's Palace are his diamonds ; they are two open geodes six or seven Inches across and connected ; In one Is a pure calclte crystal formation and In the other pure quartz crystal. Geologists always stop here and look and wonder , for the two formatlrne belong to perl ds that are sepa rated by thousands of years. The most remarkable thing that has hap pened In the history of Wind cave was the exploit of Johnstone , the mind reader , Iti 1893 , when ho fnund n pin head which had been hidden lu the Standing Rock chamberti about ten miles from the entrance. The thing was done by Johnstone to advertise himself , and ho was assisted by the people In charge of the cave to advertise It. Whllo Johnstune remained In Hot Springs two citizens carried a pin's head to the cave. Alva McDonald , at that time the most ex pert of the guides , piloted them through tht > passages until they thought they had found a suitable hiding place. They drove back t' Hot Springs and the four , with Johnston * standing behind the seat , his eyes bllnil- Picturesque Western Nebraska-II. SCOTTS BLUFF FROM NORTH SIDE OF NORTH PLATTB RIVER. HU. - folded and one hand on their wrists , drovi > to the cave at a breakneck speed , making the twelve miles In . forty-two minutes. Ar rived at the cave there was no delay. Wltn the wrist of each of the two men In bin hands , his eyes still blindfolded , Johnstone started In search of the pin head. McIJonala followed In their rear , with provisions , waoi- , candles , etc. , to watch them and find then. should they become lost. At times the two commltteemen would lose their bearing ; they would see a passage leading off somewhere - where which looked familiar , and Johnstono would Immediately pull them through It. When they would stop , lost , the mind reade. would grcan and curse them for not knowIng - Ing how to go , and they would stand until McDonald could reach them and start them off again. During all this time Johnstone was nearly crazed. It was almost Impossible to make him strp to eat and when they wanted to rest they tied him to them. The whole party was In the cave seventy-two hours and twenty minutes before Johnstone found the pin bead where It had been hlddeh under a rock. The man did not recover from the Intense nervous strain for some time and It Is thought that the trip was the prin- cipnl eau&e of his death two years later. The Wind cave Is destined to take it Place at the head of the cave wonders of th * world , both on account of Its size and its unusual and beautiful formations. English the World's Language London Spectator : Stepping on bard one of the neat little steam launches that ply about the city. I was addressed In fluent English by tbu Swede In charge. "Wherever did you learn such excellent English ? " said I. "I've forgotten the biggest part of It , sir , " said ho , "but I served under the English flag for seventeen years , " "Did you ever meet an English sailor who could speak Swedish ? " I queried. The Idea seemed to tickle him Immensely , and he hurst out laughing , adding : "I never met an Eng.lsh sailor who could speak another tongue than his own , but he's no need to , for the first language a na tive shopkeeper learns In any fi reign port Is English. " Wellman's Quaint Answer Philadelphia Press : Walter Wcllaian , the returned Arctic expl , rer , has a quaint gift of humor , which was happily dis played Just be.'oro leaving upon his last trip to ihe frozen north. A pumpous morUiant , who does no bellovo In Arctic explora tion bei-ausu It produces no financial results , said to the traveler "Supioslng , after all this tr uble anil expense , you do reach the north polo , what will you do then ? " "Why , come back again , of course , " replied Mr. Wollman. "There really.doesn't seem to be anything else to do , " r