An Adventure in the Mammoth Gave of Kentucky.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 2351, 22 October 1889, Page 2

An Adventure in the Mammoth Gave of Kentucky.

Mr Prentice, son of the well-known poet, fell in the bitter war between the Northern and Southern States of the American Union, which, as rno>t of you are awar", raged between twenty and thirty years ago. But some time before he met with his patriotic death he had proved his courage in one of the most perilous adventures ever recorded. The The Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the largest cavern in the world. It contains au awful pit, the bottom of which had never been reached before Prentice’s deed of daring, and, it is believed has uot been reached since. Ho went down into the depths not from any foolhardiness, but for the purpose ot exploring it in the interests of science. A long rope of great strength with a heavy stone fastened »o it having been wound securely round his body, and a number of hats having been tied on his head to protect him from falling lumps of rock, Prentice, with a light in one hand, was lowered by six men into the black abyss. At a depth of one hundred feet the spray from a waterfall nearly put out the light; and after he had accomplished a descent of one huodn-d and niuety feet ho stood at the bottom of the pit|! Stones and masses of earth had shot past hitn during the journey, but, none of them hit him. In spite of the dangers he had gone through, ho was cool enough to curve his name on the rooky walls of his resting-place. But if the descent bad been hard, the ascent was much more severe, for it is always easier to let down than to pull up. By this time, too, the tightly-drawn rope around his body was giving him keen pain. Even this, however, was nothing compared with a horrible ai d totally unexpect-d peril that presents itself ninety feet below the jaws of the pit. By the fricton of the rope over the roller, the wood had caught fire, and in a moment the itself was burning. So much Prentice could learn from the excited shouts of the folk above. What his feelings were can be better imagined than d scribed. By great good fortune the jar of water which the explorers had with them had not yet been required. It was at once opened and the liquid flung upon the burning rope and timber. Then the men at the rope redoubled their exertions, and succeeded io raising young Prentice to the top without further risk. Here he was the calmest of the party. His friends who had done the haulicg up were quite exhausted bv their labours One, a professor, fainted right away. The hero of the adventure a one kept his presence of mind above ground—where, by tho-bye, he was now perfectly safe and sound -as ho had kept it when far down in the depths of the dreadful pit.