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Random Facts about Mammoth Caves
THE REMARKABLE CAVES - WYANDOTTE AND MAMMOTH
Wyandotte Cave is in Jennings township, Crawford county, Ind.,
near the Ohio river. It is a rival of the great Mammoth Cave
in grandeur and extent. Explorations have been made for many
miles. It excels the Mammoth Cave in the number and variety
of its stalagmites and stalactites, and in the size of
several of its chambers. One of these chambers is 350 feet
in length, 245 feet in height, and contains a hill 175 feet
high, on which are three fine stalagmites. Epsom salts,
niter and alum have been obtained from the earth of the
cave. The Mammoth Cave is in Edmondson county, near Green
River, about seventy-five miles from Louisville. Its
entrance is reached by passing down a wild, rocky ravine
through a dense forest. The cave extends some nine miles. To
visit the portions already traversed, it is said, requires
150 to 200 miles of travel. The cave contains a succession
of wonderful avenues, chambers, domes, abysses, grottoes,
lakes, rivers, cataracts and other marvels, which are too
well known to need more than a reference. One chamber--the
Star--is about 500 feet long, 70 feet wide, 70 feet high,
the ceiling of which is composed of black gypsum, and is
studded with innumerable white points, that by a dim light
resemble stars, hence the name of the chamber. There are
avenues one and a half and even two miles in length, some of
which are incrusted with beautiful formations, and present
the appearance of enchanted palace halls. There is a natural
tunnel about three-quarters of a mile long, 100 feet wide,
covered with a ceiling of smooth rock 45 feet high. There is
a chamber having an area of from four to five acres, and
there are domes 200 and 300 feet high. Echo River is some
three-fourths of a mile in length, 200 feet in width at some
points, and from 10 to 30 in depth, and runs beneath an
arched ceiling of smooth rock about 15 feet high, while the
Styx, another river, is 450 feet long, from 15 to 40 feet
wide, and from 30 to 40 feet deep, and is spanned by a
natural bridge. Lake Lethe has about the same length and
width as the river Styx, varies in depth from 3 to 40 feet,
lies beneath a ceiling some 90 feet above its surface, and
sometimes rises to a height of 60 feet. There is also a Dead
Sea, quite a somber body of water. There are several
interesting caves in the neighborhood, one three miles long
and three each about a mile in length.
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