Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1892 — A WONDROUS CAVE. [ARTICLE]

A WONDROUS CAVE.

Situated on the road leading to Haydentown is one of the most remarkable caverns to be found in the rhountains of Pennsylvania. Here the notorious Cooley outlaws have their retreat. The cave is about 17 miles from Uniontown. The only means of ingresss is through a crevice under one of the high rocks. Ju3t large enough to admit a man by lying flat upon the ground and drawing himself slowly through the narrow aperture. It is necessary to travel in this way for about It) feet, when one finds himself in a vaulted chamber 40 feet long and 15 or 20 feet wide The cave has a smooth gravel floor, and at the end furthest from the mouth of the cave the way seems to be blocked by huge rocks that at one time must have fallen from the arch above. From under these rocks flows a brook of ice-cold water, clear as a crystal, and striking against the high walls of the chamber it sinks through the gravelly bed of the cave. The only way to reach the second room is by crawling through the ice-cold water for 20 feet, when one finds himself in a chamber one-fourth of a mile in length and of irregular width. The spectacle that greets the eye in this room is grand. From the arch above hang hundreds of stalactites, white as snow, that dazzle the eye and bewilder the mind of the beholder. Along one side of this room the stalactites and stalagmites, also meet and, forming column after column, pass through a wide opening on the north side of the room, and along one side the crystallized lime has the appearance of a frozen cataract. On either side of this room are crevices in the rocks through which can be seen chambers of unknown size, through which man never trod, and the beauty of which is yet unknown. Follow this narrow chamber for half a mile and you suddenly And that you are perspiring unnaturally. You feel a sickening sensation come over you; your taper refuses tc burn, and you discover you are surrounded by deadly fire-damp, and at once return to the chamber of indescribable beauty. Through another opening in the side of the main chamber' one can look far back into a chamber cut oil from the first by fallen rocks. In it are a number of huge logs that must have been put there by men many years ago, but for what purpose or by what race of men is unknown. This wonderful cavern is only four miles from the famous Delaney cave, and from all the investigations that hav« been made, it Is believed that the two are connected by passages yet un. [ Jraowa.