Show Mountain 5 With a Hippopotamus mus Mouth EW MEXICO within the last five N NEW years has become the Pied Pled Piper PIper- of ot the nations notions Sounding a strange and anti persistent melody of ot s buried burled treasure for Cor every every scenic freebooter on the main she has drawn from every American state and from many foreign nations a steadily increasing horde who ride hundreds of ot miles mUes or even cn thousands just to disappear Pled Pied Piper style for a day in a n gaping almost utmost bottomless hole hote In a barren little mountainside This multitude multitude- jumping from thirteen hundred In l 1924 24 to seventy-seven seventy thousand In 1929 1029 1020 Is probably the growing fastest army of pilgrims that ever stampeded for tor foran foran toran an American scenic shrine Add to that amazing gain the fact that this mouthed hippopotamus-mouthed mountainside mountainside mountainside moun moun- Is far tar off oft the beaten track tracks of both commerce and travel tranI remote from any large population center that ninety per cent of ot its last years year's visitors vial- vial tors had to come from some other state and you will have have- some Idea of ot the tremendous lure and fascination which has made the Carlsbad cave national national national na na- monument southeastern New Mexico a major national scenic celebrity celeb celeb- celebrity rity almost overnight and which has hai Imparted to most of its visitors not only the converts convert's assurance but the missionary's zeal Yellowstone National National National Na Na- park of ot course Is the classic western wonderland but this new rival has drawn more visitors In its sixth season than Yellowstone attracted attracted attracted at at- in Its fiftieth I Although the existence of ot the cave was long known to ranchers of the locality locality locality lo lo- it was the interest of Jim White a cowboy who first v visited itIn itIn it itIn In 1001 and who devoted his spare time for years to e exploring it that that attracted national attention and led to Its designation as ns a n national monument monument ment in 1923 Scientific recognition followed In the reports of ot the late Dr Willis T. T Lee of ot the U. U S S. S geological al survey ey which appeared In the National Nation Nation- al Geographic Magazine In January 1924 and September 1925 the latter article summarizing Carlsbad caverns caverns erns New Mexico Is the most spectacular spectacular tac- tac ular of ot underground wonders In America For spacious chambers for tor variety and beauty of ot the multitudinous natural dec decorations and for tor general genral gen gen- oral eral scenic quality it Is king of oC Its kind The famous big room of the cave Is three hundred undred feet high six bunY hun bun Y y ys s s R Rin In the Big Room Carlsbad Cave dred red feet wide and three-fourths three of ofa a mile long But even eyen such a cavern Is only a small part of ot the whole which is a n many decked three dimen lacework or hone honeycomb honey tomb of ot caverns caverns cay cay- erns known to reach back as far tar as twenty-one twenty miles Visitors make a seven mile loop entering dally daily at 1030 80 a a. a m m. m the year round and spending from five to six hours In the cave e Guide service costs 2 per adult with children free tree Rail nail visitors pay 3 each for the twenty mile bus trip from the town of Carlsbad while drive to the cave e entrance trip Round-trip roll ran fare tare on the Santa Fe branch line to Carlsbad from Clovis N. N M. M on the Belen Belon off cut branch of the main line Is No less amazing than the size and variety of ot the cavern Is Its dramatic quality A visit Is a one day one trIp to Mars or some Bome other distant world Its sights are sculptured poems of ot Mil Mil- tonic sweep and ecstasy And in that huge gateway where daylight meets gayest dreamland you know exactly how Columbus must have felt O. O 1830 1130 w t rn Newspaper Union |