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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1885)
198 THE WEST SHORE. CRYSTAL CAVE, MONTANA. SIX mile from Whita Sulphur Springs is a mountain on whose Bides are many curious rock formations, which L.va ou fur it the title of Castle Mountain. Curious and picturesque as the mountain is in many re sects, the one great feature of interest is Crystal Cave, a cavern of unknown extent and manifold beauties. Though iU existence has lmon known for a number of years it has never been thoroughly explored, the most complete investigation of its mysteries having recently been made by a few members of The West Shore staff, accompanied by II N. Suthorlin, editor of the Rocky Mountain llunlxnulinan, A. Spencer and I. Salhingor. Mr. Suthorlin has frequently visited the cave and called attention to its attractions in his pajMir, but never suc ooedod in arousing in others the enthusiasm he himself possesses. When he kindly offered to lead our party to the cavern and penotrate its dark recesses even further than he had ever gone before, the decision to accept was quick and unanimous. Providing ourselves with cloth ing whose intimate acquaintance with dirt was a guaran tee of iU fitness for such a journey, we procured a conveyance and quickly traversed the half dozen miles intervening between the city and mountain. In this dis tance we had gradually ascended 1,200 feet on the moun tain side. A furthor climb on foot of 600 foet, and then a d.cent on the ophite side of the ridge nearly an equal distance, brought us to the mouth of the cave. The entrance, over which is susendod a natural bridge of rwk, is a gradual descent of alwut 100 feet over loose boulders, similar to the mouth of a steeply inclined tun nel, the aperture being some twenty feet wide and fifteen 't high. Almost immediately we were ushered into the main or "orysUl," chamber, an apartment of irregular Bliei' with a perimeter of 2o0 feet, and a height to the crystal! studded oeiling of sixty feet The fU.r was free from rwks, but was covered with stalagmites and crystals. Mud was freely smeared over everything, no doubt brought In by animals that prolwbly hibernate there in winter. From this main a.wrtmeut we penetrated into twenty-three separate chambers, reaching them by tra Tersing numerous passage W,,ing in R dlreci(m Home of these avenue, are combatively open and free from obstructions, while others are choked up with rock or so small that much difficulty is experience,! in passing through them. v B The most interesting of these narrows at one place to such an extont that it is with much difficulty that the body can I forced through at all. In fact, one of our party so exceeded the standard of rotundity that he could not even get "in with a squeeze and a grin" and h. :a r ii- -V" --.is A Tight Bqueexe." It lead us into a large chamber where both stalactite, and stalagmite. weTk ?Su abundance, They thrust themselves np frora or hung pendant from the ceiling, little drop. 0f water trerab ing on their points, while the walla sparkled with errs!, under even the dim light of our tallow candle Stalactites were observed of all sizes, from a mere drop of water to a pendant cone two and a half feet in length, one of which we brought away with us as a souvenir and curiosity. In one chamber we found a spring of ice cpld water. Several of us slaked our thirst, but one member of the party declined to indulge on the plea that lie had no accommodations for internal stalactites. Many pas sages were observed which were so obstructed by rocks as to be impenetrable. A little giant powder would rem edy this defect, and might give access to still larger apartments and lead still farther into the interior of the mountain. Fully three hours and a quarter were con sumed in our explorations, though but a short time was spent at any one place, the numerous chambers and pas sageways keeping us almost constantly in motion to com plete the oircuit in that brief time .. Crystal Cave will no doubt become an object of much interest to the thou sands who will be drawn to that portion of Montana by the healing waters of White Sulphur Springs. ' LUMBERING ON PUGET SOUND. THE Taooma News gives the following estimate, based upon reliable information, of the dailv nnfrmf. nt In at the various logging camps on Puget Sound: ' 1 Sl ! mz:::::::r.:::-:::: LillloSkookum 2MJH HiiSkookuro SvIS North Bay IS'SS llartatmn Inland SSS Wt Parana.'.... Va.honl.land " itfS On on Hood'. Canal L1H! .am.no. li'1"" HknaiU. oftSE Hamtali Sil.UU S 74.UW Prtffuan '. kuk"h Tula! daily output umjm This amount, if correct as far as stated, would be con siderably increased by numerous small operators not mentioned, Bnd by the larger camps on Hood's Canal not reported. The mills on the Sound are now all running on full time, and have a daily capacity about as follows: Taooma , PoKIMakBly.. . . "WW I'ortdainbli. PortMa.lia.io. NM0 Port Ludlow. M tUauuly.... '." Kaaiwfc..... ".1U) Port Uiagam.;;;.; ". ' lUHOUO - ToUl .. W4u0U uy Uiese figures it will b n j . :n i 1 1 'I if - " w li tut) U1U1D UUb out daily their full capacity there will not, at this rate, be large accumulation of logs at the end of the summer's TZJl ill8.to . - winter, . muiKmi Ior lumoer continue. At present prices, and with the dull state of the market, with all the wejn.ng activity, millmen and loggers are enabled to realise very small Drofit. Avon if tli u A. out whole at the end of the season. Watres in the camos ZSr!Ol80permonth- It year they were homish County bv B Wlrm.,, b , o . v - ' uioasoreu ou ana vo inches respectively across the smaller and larger ends.
