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Show Mammoth Cave Sights Prof. Ostien Gives a Very Entertaining Lecture Lec-ture on Subject at Presbyterian Church. Prof; Li A. Ostien, of the A.C. of U., delivered a lecture at the Presbyter-Ian Presbyter-Ian chinch Friday evening on the "Mammoth Cave". Anaudlencc that practically II Hod tho church greeted the speaker, and true to Tiik Hki'Uii-LU'AN' Hki'Uii-LU'AN' prediction, l'rof. Ostlen's recital re-cital of the wonders and glories of the I woild's greatest cavern proved a rove- I I itlun lo those present. Prof. Ostien ' eiibellislics facts with glowing language lan-guage and apt simile that makes his lecture one of exceptional pleasure. An extensive map of llils underground wonder added to the effectiveness of his remarks when used as an illustration. illustra-tion. As Prof Ostien told It, ho had spent several years In that portion or Kentucky lllled with caves, of which the Mammoth Is the greatest. Ten counties literally abound In wonderful wonder-ful caverns, the limestone there being of such a character as to be lead My eaten away by the acids In water. lie had spent no little time in these caves enjoying the wonders the water had wrought. Mammoth cave Is one of the great resorts of the central states, thousands thous-ands of visitors going there yearly.and for years tb his been operated by a private concern that makes the most of Its opportunity. There are two routes through the great cave, a short and long one, the short one being on a i level probably ICO feet above the Other. The real beauties are In the lower level and longer route, which Is about ten miles In length. From the main route there aic countless off-shoots. off-shoots. Streams and Fishes. To attempt any detail here Is folly for every yard of that ten miles brings to view a new wonder, and long before be-fore one has icached the end of his Journey he Is tired of looking. There are streams of water forty and fifty feet deep and tilled with my-raids my-raids of tlshes, some with no eyes at all, others with ees, but blind. The rivers are crossed on natural nat-ural bridges and others on pontoons The 1 1 veis sometimes widen into lakes, and the "Dead Sea" Is a feature. At places theso rivers are but narrow channels with the rock over head scarely two feet above tin traveler's head, then again the rooms widen and the ceiling Is at a great height. Sands along these waterwajsaie white and beautiful as at the sea shore. As the sightseer continues, he goes through devious and toiturous ways, there being many places where tho long thin man has theadvantagc,thcn again where the dumpy fellow laughs at thin-shanks. Prof. Ostien tells of one particular place where ical fat people do not get through without a strugglo and his story of how a certain cer-tain 1000-pound femine In a party he was with was butted thiough this aperaturc by a negro assistant Is rather rath-er amusing. In Flowerland. In one great room fully a mile In length, the water has wrought won ders on the walls. Here arc acres of all the bea,utles of llowcr land, and the waters have worked perfection. Great beds of lilies, nasturtiums, violets, pansles, pconlas are to be seen and one need not draw on the imagination imagin-ation to sec the remarkable similarity. similar-ity. In another great room it appears as though one has reached the place where all the files are propagated. Tho walls arc naught but a solid mass of these little pests, only they aro artificial artifi-cial auotticr trick of nature. At another place a wonderful echo Is heard. The particular feature of tills is that the echo grows louder Instead of beginning loud and diminishing. The acoustic properties arc so perfect that the echo continues for an extraordinary extra-ordinary time. Wondrous Music. Prof. Ostien told of tho wonderful music there is In the human . voice when pitched in song, but to those who have never been in u great cave and listened to music, no adequate conception of Its beauty can be conveyed. con-veyed. In the case of which he speaks thoslngers were fully a mile away, and the music- that came Moating on the air sounded nothing '.ess than scrahpic The linest operatic clfortson tho stago sink Into significance omoarccl with the result obtained from the ordinary singing oice In a great cave, tills the result of the wonderful acoustic prop-forties prop-forties of tin cavein, or course. In a great room In Mammoth concerts art-given art-given to hundreds of vlsltoisou special occasions. A feature of pellicular interest are the dangerous pitfalls on either side of the trail one follows. Headed by the guide who Is continually sounding the warning, "danger lo the right", "danger "dan-ger to the left," the visitor passes near great clillsand holes In the rock from a hundred to thice hundred feet deep. Caiclcssncss might precipitate one to these depths, and the excitement excite-ment lends no little pleasure lo the trip. Occasionally d.irlng Individuals are let down Into these places b means of lopes, and It is repotted that passage ways lead out from the bottom bot-tom of these cavities Many of them have been explored but hundreds liaxc not. Meals Furnisheb. A great hotel at the entrance of the cave furnishes the vlsltois with meals and at 1 o'clock a great dinner Is set v-cd v-cd in a special room of tho cave, which the visitors always reach at that time. It must be remembered that parties go Into tho cave about li o'clock in the morning and arc hungry by 1 o'clock. Tho servants from tho hotel go by a shorter loutc and have the big dinner, with spring chicken accompaniment read for the guests. Tho only objection objec-tion here is that a great white cricket abounds In such numbers that one can scarcely keep them away The journey to the end of tho long, tunnel In not less than ten miles and pretty hardvllmblng most of the way. The return to the entrance qj the cave can be made In a slightly shorter distance dis-tance and In much less time, for the reason that one doesn't stop to look, but by the time the mouth of the ca-vern ca-vern is reached it Is usually late in tho afternoon. Never Get Tired. A matter of particular interest Is that In tills cave and other big ones is that one never gets tired. The oxygen and ozone in the cave makes it possible possi-ble for the weakest woman to travel the eighteen or twenty miles in perfect per-fect case. The average person who gels tired In walking four blocks never notices the slightest fatigue while in tlie cave. Hi(t when one gets out thcic is u difference. It must be remembered re-membered that the average temperature tempera-ture in the cave is about 55 degrees above, and that It Is dark, so Intensely dark when tho lights arc out that great chunks of blackness can be cut out and placed In the pocket. On reaching tho entrance the air Is so heavy as to be stilling and the sunlight sun-light Is yellow. One must approach the entrance very slowly so as to get accustomed tu the temperature and the quality of the air. and that tho eyes may become accustomed to the sunlight. Then the fatigue Is felt. Not (Infrequently the weaker vessels must bo carried to a place of rest. A Great Trip. A triD thiough Mammoth must be a most novel and never-to-be-forgotten experience, but a visit to any great cave Is well worth the. while. The writer lias visited Marengo- cave, southern Indiana, one that is scarcely more than two or three miles In extent, ex-tent, yet lllled with wonders inconceivable. incon-ceivable. No water Is there, except that which drips from the walls but stalagmites and stalactites In wondrous won-drous beauty are there. The "Leaning "Lean-ing Tower of Pisa" Is a perfect reproduction; repro-duction; "Nature's Music llox" Is a long row of thin projections from tho celling resembling elephant's cars. Each of these lias adllicrcnt tone, and a genius can play a fair tune there; a great mass of stalagmite and stal actlte when lighted with colored lights resembles In a remarkable way the pictures of old Jerusalem. One writes his name on a great white stone with thousands of others already al-ready written; the water drips on it and on a return trip that namo will bo crusted over with a transparent substance sub-stance that leaves the name in view. Prof. Ostlen's lecture was very enjoyable en-joyable and those who were not present pre-sent on the occasion missed a treat. |