The length, from north to south, measures two hundred
and thirty-three feet exclusive of an inaccessible extension.
The south end of the cave rises by a steep slope to within a foot of the
ceiling with which it is connected by short but heavy columns of
dripstone, and another line of pillars of graduated height meets this
at right angles near the middle and ends in an immense stalagmite that
stands at the foot of the slope like a grand newel post.
There is no standing water in the cave, but everything is wet with drip,
and consequently the formation of onyx is actively progressing and the
south slope already mentioned shows a curious succession of changes in
cave affairs. By the slow action of acidulated waters, the grey
limestone deteriorated into a yellowish clay-bank, and now its particles
are being re-united into solid rock by the deposit of calcium carbonate
from the drip.
A careful test of the temperature of the atmosphere showed it to be
fifty-eight degrees.
PINE RUN CAVE.
This also is a small cave easily visited from Galena, being less than
two miles distant on the Marionville road. The entrance faces the road
and is on the same level, consequently it is one of the easiest to
visit. Just within is seen an opening in the ceiling, which we are told
is one of the two ways to an upper chamber whose chief attraction is a
dripstone piano, and the means of ascending is at hand in the form of a
Spanish ladder; but an attempt of that sort might even cause the new
woman to hesitate, and who hesitates is lost.
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