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.