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Show i : xc MAMMOTH CAVE, the largest of all known caverns of the world, is situated in Edmon son county, Kentucky, about eighty-five miles by railway southwest of Louisville and not far from Green river, into which the cave's subterranean waters empty. This section sec-tion of Kentucky, where may be found limestone beds frequently reaching a thickness of 500 feet, is noted for its rocky grottoes, sink holes and caverns. The rocks in the vicinity of Mammoth cave give evidence of but little disturbance dis-turbance by the dynamic forces of past ages. It is such areas of limestone deposits, showing comparatively level strata and located somewhat above a drainage level, with small crevices or joints, that furnish the conditions for the formation of underground passageways passage-ways and enlarged chambers by the chemical agency of underground waters, wa-ters, says the Spanish edition of the Bulletin of the Pan-American Union. From a geological viewpoint the Mammoth cave is of comparatively recent re-cent origin, its formation having begun be-gun something less than 1,000,000 years ago, in the Pliocene age. The cave action began after Green river had cut its channel down into the limestone lime-stone stratum which underlies this section. The rain water, with its carbonic car-bonic acid content, seeped through the overlying earth and passing into and through the crevices and joints of the stone, at that time above the level of the river, began the work of solution and erosion. These underground waters wa-ters naturally gathered along the planes of least resistance, and by the process of solution and subsequent erosion gradually formed what are now the passageways and chambers of the upper levels of the cave. As the crevices grew In size more and nore of the surface water drained into .hem through the sink holes, and as Green river cut its bed deeper into the limestone underlay the cave waters kept pace with the process until what had once been mere subterranean rills jrew into that remarkable underground under-ground stream which is responsible for the immensity of the cave's development, devel-opment, Echo river. This stream now flows through the lowest levels of the cave, no less than 195 feet below the highest level, and empties into Green river. Entrance Is Picturesque. The cave Is reached by means of a branch railway from a small station on the Louisville & Nashville railroad called Glasgow Junction, about ninety miles south of Louisville. This spur of the railroad was built to accpmmo-date accpmmo-date the thousands of tourists who visit this natural wonder during all seasons of the year. Eight and a half miles from the junction the railway stops close to a picturesque old hotel, portions of which were built early in the nineteenth century. The hotel Is located on a bluff directly di-rectly over the main portion of the cave, the entranoe to which is rep.ched by means of a pathway leading down into a wild and rocky ravine in a primeval pri-meval forest. At the foot of the bluff, in the midst of a picturesque tangle of tulip, maple and butternut trees, in a setting of grapevines, fringing ferns and green mosses, Is this entrance formed by a natural arch having a span of 70 feet. From a frowning ledge above leaps a cascade of water which disappears among the rocks below without leaving a visible stream. A winding flight of 70 stone steps conducts the visitor around tha cas cade into what may be termed the antechamber of the cave. At the end of this is a grated iron doorway which can he opened only by the key of the guide. Wonders of the Cavern. Passing through the iron doorway, the visitor finds himself in the Rotunda, Rotun-da, the first great vaulted room of the cave. The diameter of the entire cavern cav-ern area is about ten miles, while its known and numbered avenues are in excess of 225, and their added length is estimated at er 150 miles. The various ramifications of the cave are so extensive that the entire area has been divided into four different routes for the benefit of visitors, through which they are taken by the official guides provided by the management of the hotel and cave, each route having its own attractive features. From the Rotunda the Main Cave, or Grand Gallery, Gal-lery, is entered. This splendid gallery, whose arched ceiling is 80 feet high, must be traversed to reach any other part of the cavern. In it are found many of the remarkable features. Among them may be mentioned the Giant's Coffin, a rock shaped like an enormous sarcophagus, 40 feet long, 20 feet wide and about 8 feet deep, which has become detached from the wall and ceiling and rests on what appear ap-pear to be its stone trestles. Its weight is estimated at 2,000 tons, and it rivals in size the celebrated blocks of Baal-bec Baal-bec in Syria. By the burning of chemical fires many singular and beautiful effects are produced by the guides in the various vari-ous rooms and galleries of the cave. One of the beautiful sights is to be found in the Star Chamber, a hall 70 feet wide, 60 high and 500 long. The lofty ceiling is coated with black gypsum, gyp-sum, studded with thousands of white fv' J lilt 1,1 ? tv,Z"H - . - 1 I "Violet City', HAr-ino-m Cave spots caused by the efflorescence of the sulphate of magnesia. Among the many deep abysses perhaps per-haps the most interesting is what is called the Bottomless Pit. For many years no one dared to venture to cross this dangerous chasm, but in 1840 a guide threw a long, slender cedar tree across its black depths and discovered a new portion of the cave. Since then a bridge has been constructed over it, and it has been found that the abyss ia really only 105 feet deep. One enlargement enlarge-ment of the cave is known as Revellers' Revel-lers' Hall, and here tables and benches are provided and visitors may enjoy a banquet down in the dark depths in a magnificent banquet hall large enough to seat a thousand people. Among the many marvels of the cave perhaps none is more beautiful than the magnificent passageway known as Cleveland's avenue, extending a distance dis-tance of nearly two miles, spanned by an arch of 50 feet and having an average aver-age central height of about ten feet. From end to end this avenue is en crusted with the most beautiful formations forma-tions of a thousand varied shapes. The base of the whole is sulphate lime, some parts of dazzling whiteness and perfectly smooth and in other places crystallized into forms of beautiful flowers, leaves and wreaths. In the flickering light of the torches the walls and ceiling seem to be covered with diamond rosea, camelias, chrysanthemums chrysanthe-mums and all the delicate floral beau ties of a botanist's paradise. One of the great chambers is knows as the Temple, having au area of about five acres covered by a single dome of solid rock 120 feet high; another, known as Lucy's dome, is over 300 feet high and 60 feet in diameter. |