Newspapers / Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, … / June 4, 1825, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
M (J 1 fell 'mmi mmmmwm mmmL , 11 1 s - - - . , - . ...... . - : . , . ' u - - - . r - i ' --jfc i . ; ' . . -1 . . " . k a rw x r I S 1 . - - " - - - ' - " 1 1 - .. ,, - 1 m m r , , ; J, m 1 t Which we could aU I t l,fvf) nrttQb more bly bemisiaKeii; inis roomtiau vm 1 W- t i.i.ut k ii.i ihir rinnrn wnirn nv irrauuf. t i .nvm innii mp r r pp(i mv iiiicrcu. . r . a i a 1 t e ' t n&e accounted foirit ' 1 liTj sf ' lel aml ;uiarrtThca . ! i ;; I fliK ,, i-. . . .- ...... in J H V " Irtn AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY MisccUaneoas. C From the Alexandria Herald. Til- Ynllowine interesting particulars .0 a iiamraJcave in Loudoun county, Va.; whiciK explored a few days since by a nartv 6f eeotlemen of the neighborhood , " we presume, be acceptable to every i r'ass readers, both near and distant. lo fwiad weffl JO - ne wi -n wiustwvik Betal3, the editor ofwhich papermarks hat Shenandoah county : abounds . with jhese subterranean curiosities, ana mat ne accompany another party which in-' Leads exploring " Rofliier's Cave," with liiie view of pubusning lurtner tacts. ! WONDERS OF CAVE-HILL , , The land in which it is our happiness to tav'e dat lots cast, seems to abound with f . f. VI . south west,: and down the side of the moun tairii 'k This passage has something the" ap pearance of a large stairway: After de-; sceoding, as we supposed, about a quarter, of a aiile, the: passage becomes very .strait andsfflooth we perceived ; that we stood in front of a roqm, whose dimensVohsfrom the light of all our candleiwe3c9uidt:notvdiscbver." U he entrance here, inline room whichlf we nest eni;erepKwas ten or hfteen teet a bove thetleyel of the rfloor.' After a few moments, however, by;clinging to the'pro- jections of -spar, which here, appeared likei lrge Ufclrathe who!e'partystoodsafrlx 1 JtoIeaWaandifficutes we ar upon the floor of this great - room. Here rived at a very regular roqb, the side walls all the wonder and magolncence of this 'subterranean .world, burst upon us at once I We found that we stood - in : a room, the area of whose floor, was equal to a quarter ofan acre." ; Immediately before us, and within a few feet of the centre of the room, arose a vast column or pillar, in a great degree combining the architectural propor tinns i and run uri ahnut -V.fi or v?0 feet. ail thai is useful, curious,- and wonderful, t and supported the dome of this immense The gbverruneut itself under which we en- j haU. This column stands upon a block or joy our liberties, presents to the rest of the pedestal about three feet in height, and the rbrld a subject ofwonder, and admiration fshape where itrests upon it, is about the -whitst the wealth, the resources, and en-t thickness ,of a man's body. It then swells trprise of the people and that, which is gradually until it becomes at the distance aarvellous and curious in the jtmgdom of Gf twenty feet from its base, about the size ufareare continually developing -them- 0t a barrel,! whence itxcontinues of the ' , . , . , ' : same size, until it gradually enlarges into The farmer or sturdy yeoman, however, ; hs capi, where it reaches the dome. ires in trie aauy ooservauccoi oojecis ? Strand to telL this vast rnlnmn is as recru. iii have for. him few or no attractions ; or larjy and ; beautifully fluted or" grooved, as aving growo familiar with, are no longer if it had been done with the chisel of the abjects of wonder, until tnem, the philo- sculptor. ' ophero man ofscience reveals the secret; ' About fifteen feeV from the main pillar; f their utility in determining something 4 sland tfVO 8rnaler ones a5oul ten tt h ?elul!ni history, or as illustrating the height . -and ust ati their .base, and nearly t- between them, is a small pool or basin of water. Here the whole,, party sat down, and untolding their various-bundles of pro visions .and refreshments, and sticking their en ndlps tr the HiflTprent nillatc on. ubjcts, which, whilst they gratiiy the j d their cold collation with such Lpe unosfy and exerc.se the imagination, tites and spirits as were naturally superin ontouid and "baffle- the understanding. Vduced by exercisej ana the novelty of the ini a subject, not4 the least' curious and; scene around us. r We perceived now for irundwiui, are those extensive and iiomer-: the first time, by the united glare of all of marvellous in creation. It would seem that all that region -j. of, ountry lying west of the Blue Ridge, and s far toward the Pacific ocean as it has leen explored and known, abounds' in and its bottom vurler Valk and viewi'it eemed than nine 6r ten infies mediate! v to the rip t of-this bassage, cora- mehcecl what we try properly , called a Gallery. This.gilery wks considered a bove the level of ne room, aad contained a great quantity crery brilliant and Beau tiful spar; Tneelof the gajleryiiext to the hall was entiri Ijf open, froai which you could look down tto it. i j r I i - We left the gajery and si? cntintiing t&ihe right varourid the'hll,:rte entered a levity in .the floor 1 arid .... aXer .aversiog a and ceiling of which seebed to be. clear blue limestone, witha tin crysialization as clear as glass, over ,tli ir surface. Wei could reach the ceiling, Jupoii ; which ,vve wrote many of our, nwies. wjih white chalky the day of -the " ijonth, year, &c. This room we called theGlazed. Chamber. In the passage leading tdthis chamber, we discovered, attached td rock, what appeared ti couch shell. The shae and size the smoothness and delicatejred on the inside, and the roughness on th little circle of knobs nea cisely: corresponded with the product of the the be side of the a complete outside, with the the top, all pre- .-'I - .1 sea us caves,; which: -are ".found generally in be liojiestone districts of country. - ! of the cava" has beej-R"w le people, of the neighoorhood Of Luray 1 ihis county, during a number of years ast ; but nothing like full discovery of its eauties was ever made until within a few ays past. This cave is about one mile est of the little village of Luray, and si tated within a hundred yards of the road ading from Thornton's-Gap to Newmar- et. i iThe entrance is almost exactly at te top of a small mountain, which has for long time been known to the neighbor ed, by the name of Cave-Hill. Recent 1 several attempts had been made, to ex lore this subterranean world, but rather successfully, and on Saturday last a par f of fifteen gentlemen left Luray, - with a etermination' to give it a complete explo it ion. The mouth of (he cave was rather lifficult of access', owing to its smallness ; ut the party, eager for the mdrvellous,and npntient ot obstacles, fell manfully to fork, and in; a few minutes,' by breaking ad removing Ithe rocks, a "different and aore commodious entrance, than the oue urmerly used,s was opened ; into the cave. Chen commenced the bustle of prepara ion.Tor the descent. V The broad" cloth wd finer articlesof dress were quickly laid tside, and iii their stead was substituted old Nothing, which, had : been especially pro 'ided for the occasion. , r - ! Then the descent' commenced each nan provided with a sufficient number of candles forhalf a day, nhilsr others ear ned provisions and refreshments : and o- taers again, instruments for the purpose of a!cenaming courses, distances, &c. and determining other : matters relating to the cave. '-.-.iir . -. -vr' . ere, if we mistake hot was, a pretty correct criterion-bf that moral courage and strength of -nerve, which we 'so much ad mire in others ahdwhich we are? all w$l liag to believe, we possess ourselves..:; Each taan was willing that his, comrade should tiescena, first, into this great unknown 'tfep, and all were willing to ! be last to en tr. In a few moments, , however" the hoe party werersaieientered; - - The descent -for. ten or. fifteen yards, is rather aarrow, and is at an angle of forty-five de grees it then takes a horizontal direction; QnUl we are brought, at the distance of "a- coutone hundred vards frnm tko Ant ranrit ! . . V V1IVI vv. 1 the first room,' whici from its situation e called .the Lobby.. The . Dussa tre art-- proaches this room about ten s feel above tbe.level of its floor, and at some places i it Pferpendicular, but the descent into the TT domi lhe roik somewhat in the of "eps. This room contains ome Peciraens 01 beautiful spar. Here we Sl? lake the bearin2 -of Ae-room, but lark 1 ..j ui vi onkoo n cm, that the inslrutnentf rendered wholly useless , - r 'fhoa which seemed Co be vest and tap would have detached it from the rock. Within a-few inches of this was a petrifac tion, exactly resembling the human heart. Its'colour shape, and size all precisely cor responded.. And near this again, the per fectieg, foot and talons of a bird, projec ted from the rock; These several objects were so clearly and completely dnttell. and so closely resembledtheir original, as to sti ike the r mind; even of the most inat tentive observer with a degree of astonishment.'!- --r'f t- - ' ?' ; " ( - 'Frora'the glazed chamber, we all once more' returned to congress hall, and continued-our discoveries) to the right around the room. - We perceived now that as the arch of this great room became lower, large stalactites were H projected from it and rea ched the -floor; thus forming beautiful colonnade or row of . shining pillars in a our candles, that the whole of the arch of j line-with the direction of the room, and this immense hall, was hung with the most bratttTftitauitactites, nd variegated tm ' almost evefy possible variety of color. In some places it vas perfectly white, red, grey or yellow and in others, it was as clear and transparent ns ice. In looking around you towards the lights which were1 dispersed in different parts of the hall, the various small spars or pillars that were pointing up others that had been detached from the roof and lay scat tered about the floor- and numerous large blocks of crystalized ' limestone, produced novel and almost indescribable feelings. 11 uiu noi require an imagination unu sually fervid, to liken this dim picture of the floor, to the ruins of some great ci ty, with a few of its spires and steeples pointing up from the mouldering "ruins or to some mighty temple, with its shattered and broken columns, and fallen walls, with just sufficient of its' material,,, to ' shew, the tstyle of its ' former magnificence. . When wehad finished bur repast, and. collected otjr forces to push'for -wardl' in qiest of fur therj discbvefies7 we concladed to call this room Congress HalV; its magnificence be ing equalled by "nothing else within our knowledge. ,? t We now proceed to the left of the en-; trance by which we came into the hall, entered an opening which presented. itself, and by following rtither an uneven and difficult passage we very1 soon arrived in another 'roo'ra. Here ' we found a very pleasing subject ; for. our admiration, f A large "block, or projection of the rock, at one side bf th'isroom, was hung around with a vast'number of stalactites, of every possible shape arid - slze--frora ; the thick ness of ones finger to that of your arm, and from six inches t6 three or four feet in three or four .feet from the wall, aibeautifal recess. In this recess one of the simplest, yet one of the most striking beauties of the cave, unfolded itself. 1 ? T '' , This was a spring of pure water, which appeared as clearas ether. This pool or basin, is about three or four feet in diame ter, and twelve or fourteen inches deep. The bottom and sides of this basin where the waters cover them, are entirely cover ed with stalagmites or drops of shilling spar, which has the appearance of burnished sil ver. ..About the centre of this spring or pool, stands a beautiful stalactite, eighteen inches in height, and oniike all the rest of these specimens of spar which we found arising from the floor, the small end or point, rested on the bottom of the basin, and gradually enlarged u.itil it arose seve ral inches above the top of the waterj thus presenting ', the singular appearance of a long cone resting upon its point- - Exactly: over this, a large spar hanging from .the roof, of the room, approached within eigh teen inches of theft which was in the vater. From lhe point cf this hanging spar, there ran a stream of ivater, about the thickness ofa'Iarge thread,- and fell exactly on the top of the spar ;n the centre of the spring and is.in,factt' the source from which the spring is supplied. From the point of this hanging spar, here ran a stream of -water, about the thickness of a large thread, and fell exactly on the top 01 the spar in the centre of. the spring, aid is in fact, the source from- which the spring is i supplied. Both of these stalactites, lave the appear ance; of clear glass or piees of ice. : To v: (he right of . this ipring behind the" pillars, and a, little abov it, . through the solid limestone rock or wall of the room, was a small smooth opeaing just large e- length., j Some one of the ; party casually f nough to admit the. body. 7 I'his opening had been in the sanie waVi liy tKe dropping of the water from the 5 arth, which' being, as wsuppost;d, of great ? specific gravity than the waterlihtuhicH it Telli gradually; formed jhela?ge spars that resembled -the candlesticks, even with: the level of the iwol. after VJi ich the spar became immedi ately sraafl and clear resembling a candle; The petrificaubh on the wall of - this room, was v in beautiful ' waves and foldsV resem bling drepery. Atone end of the room j a large spar ; Tesembl ing a'bed post, stood but in a beautiful relief frorii the wall; and large! folds "arid wayesfl bf grapery , resembling ; curtaihseemed: to hide the rest of the bed . Here then? our5 aVImiratibn? arid astonish merit'' were, at their height our feelings had Seen wrought up to a degree of almost painful intensity. Here We stood hundreds ofjieet beneath the surface of the earth, Irid a full half mile from the first en trance, treading. upon a spot and breathing the at mosphere which had not been disturbed since the creation o& the world. : A ; place in which the human voice had never before been heard, arid on whose beauties the hu man eye had never tested. : Trjer'e was in truth, an awful sublirini ty iri the state of our iVelings;; superinduced in1 part perhaps by the consideration of, a kind of contingent danger to "which we - were exposed ; the falling of the arch or the rolling of a sin gle rock into some of the narrow, passages which we had to retrace, would have shut us up iri eternal dai kness in this , roysteri oris region of wonders !;' ; ' ": ' Why nature should display those various and astonishing beauties only for herself, or plaoe them thus in a .region of darkness and danger, is marvellous and . incompre hensible. Or why she should thus, in a capricious and whimsical' mood,:, group to gether', objects the least resembling 1 each other in their natures, and uses, is equally strange. A bedstead, drapery and candle-sticks-a cbnclr shelly bird's foot, and a hu man heart strange and mysterious associ-J ations ! -we cannot describe nor compre hend them ; and all we could do upon viewing them, was to exclaim, " wonderful, wonderful J" - ' , -. From the room last described, we re turned to the mouth of the cave, and found that we had spent nearly four hours in ex amining its beauties, without however disco vering theirfull - extent. We detetmined to defer a further research to some other occasion. ' .- ; - v -; This cave is situated on the lands of Mr. ' Isaac Cofftnan, and was first! discovered and partially explored in the following sin gular mariner: A Air. Ruffiier who; was nearly as much' celebrated for deeds of syl van prowess as the renowned Putnam, in passing this cave some twenty . years igo conceived thebold and hazardous design of entering it alone and without alight. He accordingly placed his : rifle across the mouth, to denote' to his friends if they should happen to'see it, that, he was in the cave. ' He descended, arid as might have been expected,; was soon bewildered and lost in its labyrinth juf passages V 5"? It habbehed that some of His friends Iri striking one of the larger of these stalac tites, a loud, full sound was emitted some thing like the tone of a church bell. Se veral'of the party' then drawing pieces of spar across these stalactites, alternately and' in concert with each other, it produced a Tudejand not: unpleasing kind of melody, with every, gradation of note, from the. deepest tone of the organ to the finest note of the flute. This'room we somewhat apt ly called the Music Room. Finding no convenient outlet - from this room, other than the one' by which we entered we re turned Into Congress Hall. After we had entered this hall again, and continued to the right until we came to the great stair Way by which We had first entered, we dis covered greatly to our surprize, that this entrance projected into the hall twelve or fifteen feet, and was nearly as many feet from the floor. You can form some idea of this singular entrance by sapposin; square boi with its ends open, tu be pro jected through a window Into a room. Yui projected or .funeral part of the entrance, appeared to be formed by the same pro ecu, thsitbt suUcUtes &ai spar lui been is perfectly level, and after sliding about ten feet, we came into a room, not so large, but in point of . beauty, iat exceeding any thing we had seen. , The whole inrior of this room is a complete bstre or surface ot this 1 shining spar 1 In this r ra, about three feet and! a half from the floor, is a complete wainscot or cbairbuard with alt its mouldering! and carved work, in com plete relief, a?d extending in one entire and unbroken circle round the loom In the ceatre of thr flooi arose three candle sticks of a mammoth sizethese candle sticks arose froo the floor of the room, with various swells and diminishes, resem bling carved work, until they reached the exact level of the cbir board or wainscot inig of the room when Uie spar which re serobles the candle, seeming to be set in a complete socket, rani up aout to Iseu As if to make the copy more exact, & the re semblance more palpibljf sinking, tht can dlesticks seems l beef a dusky crtrcr.rs color, and the ciudlc or spar aiiiinj from it clt&rtr white From certain csiUems which it containedi wj c.Hsi thu tht la time llzZL ppenei passing the cave, 'discovered his gun,' and rightly 'concluding "that lie had gone into the cave, they procured lights and entered in search of him and found and brought him but again, after his having been in three days. This brave fellow, was among the pioneers who were foremost in explo ring and settling our western frontier; and was at last killed by the Indians, after hav ing performed deeds of valor and daring prowess, which would have done honor to the character of a hero. Yours, &c. Luray, May 4, 1825. . From the N Y. Commercial AdTCrtiser. ' - UNION SUNDAY SCHOOLv One of the most" interesting sights with which we weie ever favoured, was yester day afternoon presented to our view on en tering Castle Garden, the place appointed for lhe celebration of the Ninth Anniversa ry of the Sunday School Union. It was about half past three o'clock heo we went in, and a! that period many thousand la dies and gentlemen were seated on the up per seats, the lower pa it ot tt being reser ved for the scholars. At 4 o clock it was announced that the children arrived at the bridge, and in a lew moments the Ilev. Ut. MUnor, president of the society, enter ed, accompanied by the eencrable es-pre- ttdent, liichard vartca, c.sq. ioUurs by the clergy, the general committee and the scholars. The tcers of tht sacirty, and the clergy, occupied seats on the poitico in front of the ssloon The female schol ars were seated on the bcr trats ti the gantry, cud the iss'et wrrt arranged in ctdrf in t!it bre circle brio. Hath cioul a It m , . . wis crtsfjrj ty a yanmr man a cttyr fiora I ta 2 tui iea tssa trsra tutU 44 TTnihfV i Stwn'fth' ' k 4 , Take Heed that ye despise 'not one? of these iitueimes.-; f: -w-,. ' The tiuth shall make you free." vtSf. George'sChurc One thing is needful." , , thopia'shail stretch forth her handi to God."., . v. - ;y ." V" '. r " ((After the scholars had ! all ' entered ' and were arranged,' the RevUr. Milrior called the assbrribly to orqer fand; trie ' Rev. Mr, Cox, 1 of this, iclty ad dressed, the-Throne of Grace. ;The c in which theywere Sage, Earl Allen, Aldeh, Chester,' Sand ford and 'Qthers; after which the Rev.vMr Cone, of ;he Baptist churchj delivered a short address-! ,.,Tbe' r..?ev gentleman iri looking , around the assembled, thousands, justly remarked . that he not only Required aid, from on Ijiigh, " but the best -attention their, sifuation would permit, i f the' desir ed he should be heard hy thbst who were roijhd him. J" He reviewed ; whatthad been the effect oC Sunday school tuition both in England arid America, and urged upon it friends. and increased devotion to the cause in which they were engaged. He observed- that iri this, happy country, where pub lic honors were, not reserved for titled Uig nitaiies, we'had every inducement to ' in struct the youth,', that when we .are called from the places we now fill, some of those that are nbiv trainiiig Vn Sabbath schools will succeed. It is'therefbre' our duty to use" every exertion jn our power to increase the interest already 'manifested for'the'pjro motion of Sabba'tSschbolsi 'Another motive, arid it is a very strong one said thespeai ker, is the religious instructiori'which the scholars receive in these 'schools 5 theare4 not only fitted to fill useful stations in socie ty, but they are directed to the Lamb of God. .What a field for christian benevo lence ! - Look -rlw o4'-r'i- od. wh - vast multitude, which - are now; before me must pass down to the si lent 'grave 5 our heads must soon be placed beneath the cold clods of the valley ; and if those -that are now lobkihg upon' this scene with so much apparent satisfaction, wish for that important hour to be tranquil, let them aid the managers of this-excellent institution to train up the children in the way the should go. In conclusion, the Speaker then in a most feel ing arid appro priate mannerj- addressed (the superinten dents, teachers, and scholars. The specta cle was intensely. interesting. t ; It was gerierallyvbeliieyed that ; not less than fifteen thousand persons : were . pre sent, fncluding between four and five thou sand children. A gentleman counted one hundred arid fifty .nine clergymen, many o whom Were .from, different parts of the U. States. , . ' . . w-' " In the evening,' the annual meeting was held in St. ; George's church. Before, the appointed bour, the (church was crowded. After an introductory, prayers by -the rev. Mr. Carey,(fro'ns the astjndies the annu al, report, was read by Horace Holden, esq. Fjronthis 1 documept uwe learnt' that the -pfesehfumberjo Union Is 4430, urideMhVeare otJ6l6 su perintendents and teachers : that 2160 scholars are able to read(the 'scriptures 5 and that during the past, year, J 65 bibles and 211 testaments have been given, as re wards for, good oehavioui, punctual atten- xlance, and for comtnitting portions of the sviipiuica iu lucuitny. ire aiau gavlierea jrom the reportthat during'the year now expiredrhariy 6t the teacbers and scholars, naa maue a profession 01 religion, and oe coine members of the visible church. Since the last annual - meeting, "the socieiy had beeorrie auxiliary to fhe American Sunday School Union Society established at Phila delphia j and Peter; Hawes and' Tbomaa Stokes, esqrs. are delegated to attend the annual meeting of that institution: r - Many interesting fat ts are Jmentibned iri the re port, among which we noticed, that in one of the churches Iri thi city, out of 32 who joined at lne time, 27 had been atuchetl to a Sunday school : and in another, 98 out 01 luu. nineteen mentieibs of the foreign missionaries had been, members of Sabbath schools j and two 'thirds the Lvangelical miuuters 01 the1 church of England b.d been ascettained to ha v. be longed to Sunday ftcliools in their mib. ' port . regret the I n manages s in the want of suOc ent number of teadr in some of th ? achoots, and appral to the ounmrn of oui city, who feci an tnttr rst l Sitbith itchis. and en-age in this excellrnt butitulioo ' Uacoctluiiiustht rrportf tit. fUdm nzi Inter iiom a ttithn, wti;!j be bad j'-ii traiitd, koatsuaiat.c2 ta tec out ei um seu ui, vn m LU at rutin I M V..' 4 . Mi it h mm' (1 1i Mi; 1 t 1 i it
Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 4, 1825, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75