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Show GREAT SIGHTS JH AMERICA Then Now ')' AVI vmi i ... . ... I U - , ............ n... mlj' 1878 1978 The illustration of the Double Column, Luray Caverns, Virginia (left) appeared in the February 1, 1879 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. This is an engraved reproduction from sketches by Joseph Becker, illustrator for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Mr. Becker as born in Pottsville, Penn, and was one of many "picture men" employed by Leslie. He covered the news stories of the day, much like the photographer of today. Using the photographic lighting available today the one-hundred year later picture (right) was made recently of the "Double Column". This column has "grown" approximately approxi-mately one cubic inch in the past 100 years. It is considered to be one of America's most spectacular cave formations. Cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill west of Luray, Virginia, Vir-ginia, blew out a candle held by Andrew Campbell, the town tinsmith. It was 100 years ago on the morning of August 13, 1878, and Campbell, three other men, and his 13-year-old nephew Quint were exploring for a cave. They dug away the loose rock, and candle in hand, Campbell followed by Quint slid down the rope. Man and boy could scarcely believe what they saw around them, for they found themselves in the largest caverns in the East, an eerie world of stalactites and stalagmites sparkling in the light of the candle. Alexander J. Brand, Jr., a correspondent for the New York Herald, was the first travel writer to visit what was named Luray Caverns. "It's a magnificent cave," he told townspeople. "The most beautiful I've ever seen. Trying to compare your cave to others would be like comparing New York City to the Town of Luray." Professor Jerome J. Collins, the explorer,1" postponed his departure on a North Pole expedition to visit the caverns. The Smithsonian Institution sent a delegation dele-gation of nine scientists to examine the caverns and praised them for their stalactite and stalagmite stalag-mite ornamentation. The Encyclopaedia Britannica devoted an unprecedented page and a half to the cave's wonders. Others considered it to be the find of the century. Over the next 100 years more than 20 million visitors visi-tors have toured the caverns. Tourists keep on coming as 100 years after their discovery the Luray Caverns celebrate the centennial cen-tennial of their discovery. |