xt7ksn01072g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ksn01072g/data/mets.xml Binkerd, Adam D. 1888  books b92-140-29331672 English Press of G.P. Houston, : Cincinnati : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Mammoth Cave (Ky.) Pictorial guide to the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky  : a complete historic, descriptive and scientific account of the greatest subterranaean wonder of the western world / by A.D. Binkerd, M.D. text Pictorial guide to the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky  : a complete historic, descriptive and scientific account of the greatest subterranaean wonder of the western world / by A.D. Binkerd, M.D. 1888 2002 true xt7ksn01072g section xt7ksn01072g 






PICTORIAL GUIDE



              TO TIHE



MAM MOTH


             EJITTJCE



CAVE,



A COMPLETE HISTORIC, DESCRIPTIVE I9 SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNT

                 OF THE

Greatest Subterranean Wonder of the Western World.





                -BY-







             CINCINNATI, OHIO:
     PRESS OF GEO. P. HOUSTON, 135 Main Street.
                  1888.

               COPYRIGHTED.

 This page in the original text is blank.


 








    UIHE MAMMOTIH GAVE.


  HE MAMMOTH CAVE is justly considered the
  most wonderfully picturesque natural phe-
nomenon; the most extensive and enchanting
subterranean cavern on the American Continent,
and perhaps in the Whole world.
  - The great traveler, close observer and de-
scriptive writer, Bayard Taylor, says of the
Mammoth Cave: "It is the greatest natural
curiosity that I have ever visited-Niagara not
excepted; and he whose expectations are not sat-
isfied by its marvelous avenues, domes and sparry
grottoes, must be either a fool or a demi-god."
   The different avenues, grottoes, and commu-
nicating passages, already explored and known
to the guides, number 225, and the sum total
of their combined length exceeds I5o miles.
   Many of these avenues are from 20 to ioo
feet in width, and from 5 to 40 feet from floor
to ceiling.
   Some of the largest and finest have in some
places a firm, smooth and even floor, affording
sate and easy passage, while in other places the
floor is rough, rockyd or cavernous and not alto-
gether free from danger.            3

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   Many of the communicating passages are
low and narrow, and for short distances almost
impassable, giving no suggestion of the wide and
lofty halls, impressive domes and indescribable
wonders to which they lead.
   Since it is practically impossible for every
tourist to wander through the entire extent of
the cave, the choicest portions of it have been
selected and put in order at great expense to
be shown to visitors.
   Boats must be repaired, bridges renewed,
stairways and railings inspected and new ones
constructed annually, for the convenience and
safety of the tourist.
   The cumbrous materials for all these very
necessary  improvements  must be   carried
through tortuous passages and winding gorges
to the distance of many miles from the entrance,
involving an incredible amount of physical toil
and commendable perseverance.
   The improved parts of the cave, generally
shown to visitors as the most attractive and in-
teresting parts of it, can not all be seen by the
tourist in one day, as this would involve a jour-
ney of more than 25 miles.
   The most sublime portions, which no one
should fail to see, are shown in two parts-in-
volving what are known as the Long Route
and the Short Route.



4

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   That part extending beyond the rivers to a
point known as Cleopatra's needle, Croghan's
Hall and the Maelstrom, nine miles from the
entrance, involving a journey of eighteen miles
and requiring from nine to twelve hours for its
completion, is known as the Long Route-the
transfluvial route.
   Every rod of this long route is full of ob-
jects of interest capable of imparting valuable
instruction. So attractive and varied is each new
feature, and so pure and bracing is the never
varying atmosphere that fatigue rarely reminds
the tourist that he is mortal.
   Last October a young bride in company with
her husband and the writer, with "Henry" as
guide, made the long journey of eighteen miles
in nine hours without once complaining of fatigue.
   A ticket of admission to the cave, including
guide-fees, light, etc., tor the long journey is three
dollars.
   That part of the cave first discovered nearest
the entrance and fraugyht with historic interest,
lying on both the right and the left side of the
main cave, always accessible to the tourist
summer or winter, and, indeed, the most awe-
inspiring and sublimest portion of the cave is
known as the Short route-the cisfluvial route.
   The objective point in this route is the Star
Chamber, less than two miles from the entrance.



5

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



Indeed no part of the Short route lies at a much
greater distance from the entrance than does
the Star Chamber. The whole distance traveled
in taking the Short route does not exceed seven
or eight miles, and the time consumed may be
from four to six hours. The - way is much
smoother and the objects of special interest
are grander and more impressive.
   A ticket of admission, including guide-fees,
lights, etc., for the Short journey is two dollars.
   It is recommended on good authority that
the visitor rest twenty-four hours after making
one journey into the cave before making the
other, whichever route he may take first.
   If the visitor have both time and means at
his disposal, we most heartily indorse the sug-
gestion, on both physical and metaphysical
grounds.
   The best mental efforts can not be evolved
while the physical forces are being taxed to their
utmost.
   To make the two journeys in rapid succession
and gaze for a moment upon a bewildering
profusion of diversified and pleasing objects, is
like gorging the stomach with a surfeit of rich
and spicy viands that can not be properly digest-
ed and therefore can not be assimilated.
   Thought, the gastric juice of the brain, can not
so quickly extend to each important object its



6

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



antiseptic influence and so fails to prepare it for
assimilation.
   Time is necessary for all things. Time is
perhaps the most important factor combined
with other agencies to make the comprehending
of the Mammoth Cave possible.
   The tourist may take first which ever route
he may prefer.
   Some take first the Short route, some the
Long route. Many for want of time in this
practical business and progressive age, take but
one route, and so but smell the delicious feast
which they leave for others to enjoy.

                THE GUIDES.
   An established regulation for the protection
of the guides is clearly a necessity, as much so
as is that of taking nourishment or sleep.
   The regular hours for starting into the cave
are 9 a. m. and 7 p. m.
   An ample corps of long experienced and com-
petent guides is always in readiness.
   The guide who makes the long trip to-day
makes the short one to-morrow, and thus the
toil is somewhat equalized.
   Just here it is pertinent to say a few words
regarding these important and indispensable
adjuncts to this greatest wonder of the western
world.



7

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   We will speak of them in the order of their
time of service and ot their ages as nearly as
we can.
   Stephen was the first in the order of time.
He achieved world-wide reputation as a guide,
not less than for his daring discoveries and par-
rot-like mimicry of learned men. He was the
first to cross the Bottomless Pit and to navigate
the rivers. He acted as guide to Bayard Taylor,
Prot Silliman, Dr. Wright and scores of other
scientists and travelers, the most learned men of
his time.
   Bayard Taylor immortalized Stephen by
describing him as minutely as he did any part of
the great wonder to which Stephen introduced
him.
   Stephen owed much of his brightness to his
unique occupation. He was an apt genius, and
by coming in contact with scholars from every
country, he had gathered a vocabulary of scien-
tific terms which he used with telling effect on
all occasions. This from a colored man in that
day was considered -remarkable. Many who
heard. him supposed that he was thoroughly
educated, while in fact the only language he
understood was something like Father Schuyler's
Volapuek in which all verbs come under one
conjugation; all rouns under one declention.
   You will see from the following, which we



8

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



copied from a marble slab, that Stephen died
quite young:
               "STEPHEN BISHOP,
          9trot Outbe anD Explorer of the
                lbammotb Cave,
              Dieb 3une 15tb, 1859,
              tn bWs 37tb Pear."
   Many early visitors to the Mammoth Cave
still retain a warm place in their affections for
the memory of Stephen.
   Next in order came "Matt" and " Nick"
Bransford, brothers, and associates of Stephen.
   Both these men were just as competent and
faithful guides as ever entered the portals of that
great wonder.
   Matt guided the writer many times through
the.Mammoth Cave twenty-one years ago, and
several times many years later.
   We still retain a high estimate of his faithful
service.  His dryest of quaint humor upon
occasions was all the more enjoyable. Matt
had a perfect knowledge of the cave, and was
therefore a safe and trustworthy guide, whom
thousands will remember with a twinge of sad-
ness, when they here learn for the first time that
two years ago, Matt "joined that caravan that
moves to the realms of shade," and is no more.
His mantle decended upon the shoulders of his
son "Henry."



9


 



Io         THE MAMMOTH CAVE.

   "Nick," the brother of "Matt," is now quite
aged, and almost superannuated. He still re-

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



mains around the Carve as one of its fixtures,
and occasionally does duty as guide, and does
so very acceptably.
   William comes next. He is an elegant spec-
men of physical development, just in the noon-
day of life. William is entitled to the credit
and honor of the discovery of the Cork Screw,
that beautiful, bewildering and spiral passage by
which it becomes possible to escape the tribula-
tions of a return passage through Fat-Man's-
Misery.
   William informs the writer that he was aided
in the discovery of'the Cork Screw by observ-
ing the movements of cave bats.
   In his frequent passings in and out of the
Cave, he occasionally observed these little verte-
brates flying with reckless speed and suddenly
disappearing in a small aperture far above the
Kentucky Cliffs, near the Church in the Main Cave.
   Quite as often he saw scores of bats, far
beyond Fat-Man's Misery, shoot into Great Re-
lief from some unknown passage, hitherto unex-
plored by mortal man.
   Profiting by this hint the dauntless William
hurled himself into the breech, wormed himself
through the Cork Screw and proclaimed his
great discovery to the world.
   No one should fail to see the Cork Screw;.
It will enable him to both feel and see how tor-



I I


 




12         THE MAMMOTH CAVE.

tuous a passage may be. If possible, it is more
tortuous than the crookedest street in Boston.

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   The practical result of William's discovery
is that tourists in returning from the long jour-
ney may pass through the Cork Screw, and so
shorten the walk and avoid a second passage
through Fat-Man's-Misery.
   Next in order is the inimitable "Henry" the
son of "Matt," in whose foot steps he has trod-
den for more than a score of years, an accepta-
ble and competent guide, perhaps not second to
the immortal Stephen. Henry certainly knows
more about the Cave than Stephen did. He
has seen more of the Cave. He has come in
contact with more visitors - scholars and
scientists from every country. Henry acted as
guide for the writer during his recent explora-
tions. He is the' walking Thesaurus of the
Cave. He has an ample supply of witty sayings
and irresistible drollery, coupled with the dry
humor of his father.
   In showing us through the Ball-Room
twenty-one years ago, "Matt," the worthy father
of Henry, while poking through the dust with
his cane in search of old corn-cobs, where the
cattle were fed in i812 and '14, remarked that
he "must bring in some more cobs, to keep the
relic hunter from carrying off the ox-tracks,"
still preserved in the hardened dirt in this part
of the cave.
   While passing, last October, through this



[3


 




14         THE MAMMOTH CAVE.

same part of the Cave, Henry told us of the
great meetings he had attended here while a


 



            THE MAMMOTH CAVE.             15i

boy, and of the powerful sermons he heard
preached from that rock up there still called the

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



pulpit. Baptists  we inquired. " No. Method-
ists ! Too dry for Baptists," replied the versa-
tile Henry.
   There are several trustworthy and compe-
tent white guides who occasionally do duty in
the busy season, but none of these have
achieved the notoriety of the colored guides.

        GEOGAPHICAL LOCATION.
   The Mammoth Cave underlies the intersec-
tion of the 37th parallel North, with the 9th
meridian West.
   It's well known entrance is found near the
junction of Hart, Barren, and Edmonson Coun-
ties in South Central Kentucky, on the South
side of Green river, 192 feet above the level of
that stream, and about midway between Nash-
Ville and Louisville, nearly one hundred miles
from either city.
   The extensive and varied ramifications of
the Mammoth Cave probably underlie portions
of the tlree above named counties.

            MEANS OF ACCESS.
   The great trunk line of travel passing near-
est this natural wonder is the Louisville and
Nashville Railroad.
   All its fast trains stop daily at Glasgow junc-
tion, eight miles from the Cave. Glasgow junc-

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



tion and the Mammoth-Cave Hotel are in both
direct and speedy communication by telephone
and by railroad.  The old stage-coach from
" Bell's Tavern " and from Cave City are things
of the past. We remember them, not only for
the tortures they inflicted upon us, but for the
somewhat tedious novelty of the occasion.
   The public endured them till the genius of
progress has cured them.
   The Mammoth Cave Hotel is conducted by
the genial lessee, Mr. NV. C. Comstock, and his
no less genial corps of courteous and competent
assistants.
   The Hotel building is a primitive structure
of the southern style of architecture.
   There is something very charming about its
six hundred feet of wide covered rambling ve-
randa facing the inclosed angle of the building.
   In front of this angle is a pretty lawn.
densely shaded by forest trees of great size.
   It is a delightful spot, sunny and shady by
turns. here are drives and walks and the im-
plements of games amid the finest Calladiums
we ever saw.   The golden rods, the asters
the astringent diosperos, the crimson fruit of
the cornus florida, the scarlet leaves of the su-
mac and the aromatic cedar lend a suspicion of
their health-giving odors to the pure atmos-
phere of this health-giving place.  The very



17

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



trees invite to " Hang there my verse, in wit-
ness of my love," as did Orlando for his Rosa-
lind.
   From the tall oaks are suspended swings,
bearing to and fro with gentle and stately motion
the fairest forms with well-turned limbs, in the
gentle zephyr of evening twilight, rendered still
more charming by the milk-white flood of Ken-
tucky moonshine. It is a place to teach Bas-
sanio which casket contains the picture of his
fair Portia.
   But we grow young again, and this comports
not with paltry bread and butter, for even now
is heard the bell calling to tea.
   Immediately on the right of the entrance to
this rambling old hostelry is the spacious din-
ing room on the first floor, clean and well kept.
Flies are scarce and mosquitoes are never seen
here. Third floor and fourth floor never vex
the visitor. Far to the right and far to the left,
gives an air of romance, while it imparts a sense
of comfort re-enforced by profound sleep near
mother earth.
   The tables are supplied with a great variety
of the choicest and best the country or the
city markets can afford. These are speedily
and well prepared and attentively served.
    Breakfast over: The ladies arrayed in cave
costume assemble in groups on the veranda.



ir8

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



The bell is rung, the guide is summoned and
now leads the way out through the garden,
down the rocky ravine deeply shaded by the
primitive forest of tall tulip trees, butternut,
hickory, ash and oak.
   Here the air is cool and bracing. Wild
birds beguile the hours with their varied songs.
   The sensation is unique and delightful-you
will never again experience it. We catch new
inspiration from each long, deep draught of the
vitalizing element.
   We approach the mouth ot the cave without
knowing or expecting it. Turning suddenly to
the right we behold before us a yawning chasm
50 feet deep with irregular and precipitous sides.
   This is the unpretentious portal to a world
of wonders. The dense forest casts a deep
shadowv over it. Green ferns and climbing
vines cling everywhere to the projecting rocks
as if striving to cast some adorning drapery
about their nakedness.

              THE CASCADE.
   A little spring of water pours a ceaseless
stream of silvery beads from a shelving rock
above the entrance and dashes it to spray in the
chasm below.
   This is now the only sound we hear. You
may fancy that the monotonous hum of the



I9

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



falling water, and the gloom of the thick over-
hanging foliage, render the place a fit habitation
for gnomes.
   The first emotions awakened at sight of this
place are peculiar. A sense of chilliness is ex-
perienced as we descend a long flight of stone
steps along the right wall into the air of the
cave.
   Now that we have brought you safely to the
very threshold of the world's greatest wonder
we will here tell what we next propose to do.
   We propose to describe briefly and accur-
ately each object in its proper order as it will
be shown by the guides, from the entrance to
the end of the short journey. This done we
will conduct you back to the entrance again.
In connection with our descriptive account we
will also give a brief historic and scientific ac-
count of this natural curiosity.

            THE SHORT ROUTE.

   The deep chasm into which we have now
descended is not the original mouth of the cave
from which the waters that formed the cave
emerged in prehistoric times.
   The original mouth is the entrance to Dixon's
Cave farther down the hill toward Green river.
Dixon's Cave is now rarely visited. It is but a
continuation of the main Cave.



20


 




TH E MAMMOTH CAVE.



WNTRANCE TO MAMMOTH CAVI.



     - THE PRESENT ENTRANCE.

   This was formed by the breaking down of
the roof at this point, before the cave was dis-
covered by white men.



2 1

 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   The little stream of water that still pours its
tiny rill down into the chasm is probably respon-
sible for the break in the original roof and for
the existence of the present entrance.
     WE LEAVE DAYLIGHT BEHIND.
   As we pass along the right hand wall the
guide hands each a lighted lamp, until all are
supplied
   We halt in front of the gate. The guide
collects the tickets of admission, then unlocks
that grim portal, passes all .brough into that
mysterious silence, and palpaple darkness, turns
and locks out daylight, the busy world and all
recollection of them behind us, nor do we ever
once think of our previous existence till we
return to daylight again.
              THE NARROWS.
   For the distance of forty yards or more be-
yond the gate there is a rude wall on each side
extending from floor to ceiling. These walls
were built by the miners who prepared Saltpeter
here in 1812-14 under the employ of the United
States Government: This improvement was
doubtless for the purpose of enabling a span of
oxen and a wagon to pass into the cave. The
ceiling is not high enough in the narrows to ad-
mit of a tall person to pass beneath it without
stooping.



22

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   When we have passed beyond the narrows
the sense of going down hill is quite perceptible.
   The ceiling rises in like proportion and the
cave grows wider.
           MINING EVIDENCES.
   Numerous rude appliances, such as old iron-
bound pump logs, large wooden troughs, and old
leeching vats, large enough for pig-pens, are
scattered along from the entrance to the distance
of more than half a mile into the cave. These
were used by miners 75 years ago. We cut
into the planks with our knife and found them in
a very good state of preservation after all these
long  years.   One   hundred  years  hence
they may still be found here. In this dry atmos-
phere of unvarying temperature, decay of or-
ganic matter makes little or no progress.
       BREATHING OF THE CAVE.
   You will have noticed while passing along
the narrows, just inside the gate, that a brisk
current of wind plays a hazardous game with
your lamp. This current blows outward in sum-
mer when the weather is very warm. In fall,
winter and spring when the temperature outside
is much lower than it is inside, then the current
blows into the cave. Sometimes there is no cur-
rent blowing either way, owing to uniformity of
temperature both without and within the cave.



23


 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



SALTPETER VATS.



            THE FIRST VATS.
   Here on your right you will observe two
large pens in which the nitrous earth was leeched
after being treated with fresh water admitted
from the entrance through one line of these old
pump logs. Through the other line, the lixiv-
ium was forced out to the entrance by means
of a hand pump and there evaporated to crystals.
  A large quantity of wood ashes was neces-
sary in the process of reduction in order to
obtain the nitrate of potash or saltpeter. This salt



24

 



            THE MAMMOTH CAVE.              25

was then carted to Philadelphia where it found
a ready market. 0o,ooo per annum have been
realized from this source alone.

              THE ROTUNDA.
   Next we enter the vestibule or rotunda.
This is a large cavern at the beginning of the
main cave. It lies directly under the dining-
room of the hotel. Its dimensions bewilder the
senses. It may be forty feet from floor to ceil-
ing. Across the floor in the widest partxis prob-
ably 150 feet.
   The guide kindles a brisk light that you may
judge of its dimensions.

          AUDUBON'S AVENUE.
Leads off to the right. Legions of cave bats
congregate in this avenue in winter.   The
leather-winged little animals cling to walls and
ceiling, head downward, in bunches of many
bushels like swarms of bees, and doze away
their existence in a semi-torpid state in darkness
and repose. Nothing of special importance is
found in the Avenue. It is rarely shown to vis-
itors.
            THE MAIN CAVE.
Is four miles long, 6o feet wide and 40 feet
high. Different portions of it are known by dif-
ferent names. The first mile is pretty straight,

 
TflE MAMMOrH CAVE.



then it turns sharply upon itself and the remain-
der is crooked as you could desire it to be. The
sense of going down hill is still apparent. The
floor is covered with a very dry, fine, heavy
gray-colored earth or dust, but it will not rise
in spite of much kicking nor will it soil a polished
boot.
         THE KENTUCKY CLIFFS.
   On your left is a continuous ledge of rocks
extending some eight or ten feet into the cave
and perhaps ten feet high. The whole resem-
bles very much the well known cliffs on the
Kentucky River near Frankfort.  Hence   the
name
              PIGEON BOXES.
   In the cliffs about four feet up the wall is a
series of holes large enough to admit the hand.
These holes were deftly carved out by the act-
ion of acidulated water, while all around, the
rest of the wall is unaffected.
   Similar phenomena are witnessed elsewhere
on a grander scale.
              THE CHURCH.
   About a quarter of a mile beyond the ro-
tunda we enter a second enlargement in the
Main Cave. This has a gothic ceiling spanning
the vast arch forty feet above our heads. The
room is somewhat irregular and embraces an
area of many thousand square feet.



26

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   On the left hand side there is a second pro-
jection some four or five feet high and wide
enough to hold a stand and several chairs.
   This is known as the pulpit, because from it
the gospel was many times preached to vast as-
semblages below probably attracted thither by
the novelty of the occasion. These old pump
logs arranged in rows facing the pulpit are the
pews. The whole of them would not rent for
half as much as did a single seat in Henry Ward
Beecher's church.  Still they bear testimony
that the Gospel was preached in the sunless cav-
erns beneath the " dark and bloody ground."

           THEATER GALLERY.
   In the next considerable enlagement are
several leeching vats, some of them full and
some nearly empty. Considerable work was
done at this point, judging from the appliances
still found in this part of the Cave.
   The two lines of pump logs are still retained
in situ, the one above the other, supported by
rude masonry.
   Around the right hand side of this hall is a
large gallery, high over our heads. This is
known by the above name.
   On your right, and well up toward the ceil-
ing is a large opening leading off to an avenue
of great beauty. In order to enter this opening



27

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



we pass over between the old vats, ascend a
steep stairway of a dozen steps and continue up
the slope some distance farther, where we find
ourselves in the very old

             GOTHIC ARCADE.
   In this arcade we are introduced for the first
time to stalactitic formations. These are pend-
ant masses of alabaster hanging like icicles from
the ceiling. Just beneath these pendant masses
sometimes there is an upward growth of the
same substance; this is known as a stalagmite.
These growths frequently unite in the middle
and become firmly cemented together. Pillars
of great strength and architectural beauty result
from these unions.

      THE SEAT OF THE MUMMY.

   On the left may be seen a niche in the wall
in which the guide will tell you was found the
,body of a female of the Indian race. Near by
is a smaller niche in which was found the body
of a child.  Both were well preserved and
dressed after the manner of the aborigines.
   The evidences upon this subject are so con-
tradictory and vague, that we can say nothing
new regarding them. As to who placed these
bodies here, or when they were placed here, or
where they now are, we are equally uninformed.



28

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



The guide will point out the spot known by the
above name.
   That the niches are still to be seen here can
not be questioned, but that any mummies were
ever discovered in them is not so clearly proven.
Every place must have a name, and there must
be some reason for it.
   One writer has been wicked enough to in-
quire how these mummies got up a perpendicu-
lar wall at least a dozen feet high, to find the
convenient niches; so we will just leave the
whole mummy business to explain its own dis-
crepancies.

            POST OAK PILLAR.
   Here on the right is the first pillar we have
yet encountered.  it is probable a dozen feet
high and a foot thick. The point of union of
the stalactite growing downward and the stal-
agmite growing upward is clearly perceptible.
This point is always a little nearest the lower end
and is generally the thinnest part of the pillar.
   Examine the base of this column and you
will get some idea of the great eons of time in
which the dust of this avenue has not been dis-
turbed. This pillar was set up on the dust and
rubbish as it lay of unknown depth without so
much as clearing it away to secure a firm foun-
dation.



29

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



   Countless ages were consumed in the erec-
tion of this pillar, and probably countless ages
have elapsed since it was completed. The cave
is very dry in this part of it. There can be no
growth where there is no water, but the drops
must fall at such intervals as to allow each drop
to dry, and the lime held in solution by it, to
crystallize before the next drop falls;
   Otherwise there could be no growth at all,
but instead of a pillar, a hole would be dissolved
into the soluble bicarbonate of lime, the forma-
tion into which this wonderful cave has been
chiseled in the infinity of bygone ages.

            MONUMENT HALL.
   A portion of this avenue may well be called
by the above name. Monuments are here erected
to almost every State in the Union, as well as to
institutions of learning and to foreign countries.
   Kentucky has very justly the largest, for it
extends from floor to ceiling. We seek out the
Keystone State, add one mite and pass on.

         THE REGISTER'S ROOM.
   In this part of the cave the ceiling was orig-
inally white and singularly smooth and can not
easily be distinguished from a plastered room.
   It is most grievously vandalized by smoke
and disfigured by names of animals.



30

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



              GOTHIC CHAPEL.
   This is an enlarged room of great beauty.
The ceiling is supported by pillars, forming very
fair gothic arches. Numerous pendant masses
of stalactite formation everywhere dot the ceil-
ing.
           THE HORNET'S NESTS
Are specimens of.this kind. Numerous objects
will here be shown by the guides, to some of
which some historic interest attaches.

             OLD ARM CHAIR.
   Jenny Lind, recently dead, sat down in this
chair of alabaster, during her first and only visit
to America, in her palmy days of song, thirty-
six years ago.
   Hundreds of visitors sit down in this same
chair every year, just because Jenny Lind sat in
it. The very rock oqfwhich the seat is fashioned
is worn smooth by the left shoulder of the
army of monkey mimics, and yet it is not re-
corded that one of them ever noticed the perfect
figure of a female, upon which they now so
thoughtlessly sit. Just step back and contem-
plate the figure for a few moments. Quickly
you will see the head resting on the floor, while
you sat upon the breast, the abdomen scarcely



31

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



concealed. It is a striking figure, and quite as
distinct and perfect as Vulcan's head in the old
smithy.
         THE ELEPHANT'S HEAD

Might have justified the name before the trunk
was knocked off. At present any other name
would answer quite as well.

      NAPOLEON'S BREASTWORKS.

   On the right is a slanting rock that fell from
the ceiling, making a kind of barrier that pre-
vents approach to the wall. This was the Cor-
sican General's means of defense.

          THE HORNET'S NESTS

Have already been alluded to. There is a dozen
of them scattered along the ceiling. A little
beyond is the
            BRIDAL CHAMBER.

   To young people it is an interesting little
story that suggested the name of this little group
of columns. It runs thus: A romantic young
lady was here joined to the partner of her choice,
notwithstanding the solemn promise she made
to her maternal parent, on the latter's deathbed.
that she (the daughter) would not marry any
man on the face of the earth. And she didn't.



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THE MAMMOTH CAVE.       33






















                     .4

                     -4

                     m
                     m

 


THE MAMMOTH CAVE.



              LOVER'S LEAP.
   Just beyond the columns now described, the
floor is let down, while a spear of rock projects
over the cavern below. It is a dreary place we
care not to contemplate. So here we turn about
and retrace our steps to the Main Cave.
   As we pass back through this avenue of
wonders, we survey agairn, with renewed inter-
est, the Pillars of Hercules, the numerous pend-
ant masses of alabaster, and the formidable stal-
agmites rising from below. We ponder over
the measureless eons of time necessary for lay-
ing down these lime rocks to the thickness of 400
feet, at the bottom of a salt sea, in the carbon-
iferous age of the paleazoic time, and then again,
the time necessary for the subsidence of this salt
sea, and then the still greater time required for
the solution ofthis lime rock by both the mechani-
cal and chemical action of acidulated water, by
which these ancient halls were fashioned. Then
must follow the slow process of building up again,
pure alabaster forms-these fanciful figures-
transformed from the bicarbonate of lime, first
by the process of solution, then by the reverse
process of crystall