The San Francisco call. [volume], September 09, 1900, Image 18

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Denmark claims that there Is not a sin
gle person in her domain who cannot read
and wrltok '/
which they had hidden themselves.
In. great clouds they would appear.
Thousands on thousands would emerge
from every opening in the canyon. Thick
er and thicker they would grow in the «.lr
above, until it seemed to the watchers
below that a great cloud hart settled
over the canyon. It could he seen that
they were leavinj? for the plains above to
->l:e a long flisrht in search of lood, but
number in the gorge would not seem
to jfrow less.
Minute after minute the black things
would continue to come out of the dark
openings in the cliiT3."not checking, but
all the while wheeling upward, until one
might doubt whether all this life were
real and j believe the furry thing3 were
passing and re-passing through some sub
terranean way, like the soldiers in a stage
army. ,•¦":..
For more than half an hour each night
Dr. Van Vleet and his party saw this
nrmy of little things pass out, and being
scientific men they tried to compute what
the number must be. They stopped when
they came to millions, for they agreed
that the number could be. nothing 'less.
When the sky began to show light
again < the winged things would come
'jack. First there would be the few
scouts, the ones that, dreaded the light
most, and that delved into the cave depths
to find security. Then would come . the
vanguard, and then the great body, a
cloud, again, hastening, as the first rays
Ot the sun shot across the plain to find
Every one knows in the migration from
town to country how annoying the early
morning light is to the city bred, particu
larly the women who do not have to ma
at the first crow of the ccck in order to
catch a train to business. Those people
who are summerlns in hotels and board
ing houses commonly occupy rooms with
whitewashed or very light papered walls,
and this reflects the strong light, which
by 4 o'clock these summer mornings be
gins to turn the light sleeper into a wake
ful, restless creature, who. If he or sh«
have blinds, gets up and closes them, but
is forced for lack of air to at least leavs
the shutters open, whereby too much light
enters.- And frequently there Is so littla
air that to bar out any of It. even by
drawn blinds with open shutters. Is out
of the question.
t
of having these luxuries, in hot weather
many persons object lo using them be
cause of the amount of air these things
shut out from a room.
the creek. But those who drink it regret
for it is the "gyp 1 ; water, which brings
wee.
From other ledges of sandstone come
other springs of water, pure and spark-
It. then back toward- the starting point,
and hack and forth. 'back and forth, each
irip shorter, until It cornea to rest sus
pended above the middle of the canyon,
fifteen feet from the ground.
HERE IS A SIMPLE DEVICE TO
DARKEN THE DAWN.
H^ R JT 1S * dlsc °very: A thin, black
India silk handkerchief tied over
the eyes is the best remedy for the
annoyance of the early morning
Blare to which in their bedrooms most
persons are now subjected
tiSU 8^" a , rmy trIck ' c °mmonly prac
ticocl on the Mains and in camp bv Those
desiring to sleep after dawn, bui never be!
fore divulged to the effete Easterner. Some
officer* scorn this expedient, others Uk« it
and the army woman resorts to It always
It often happens, however, that she does
not possets a black sHk handkerchief, in
*nlch cas* she pins a black stocking over
her eyes instead. And frequently her hus
bana is not above begging the other stock
ing. This solves the problem of shutting
Z\ way" Sht " m ° St SlmpIe &$gtt
a house but frequently they are not* more
ax"I^ Ul f^ in the COUntr *. wherjThe™
are most needed. Tien, even In the evexp
gwge would become all alive with the
client things that swept around and never
seemed to alight. Then, as darkness
came, the great army of bats would begin
their swift flight out from the depths in'
except tnoie r~nc were ir.emoers or ir.t
tribes by blood or nuirriarre were per
mitted to venture into the hill country
Rumors of immense mineral deaasiLs
oer or iiavcre concealed within it. But
one who attempts to ride- across it, as
members of the nurvey party did, will
find his way barred in almost the center
WEIRD FLAME THAT SCARES
AN ITALIAN VILLAGE.
A WONDERFUL thing has been
frightening the inhabitants of
IJerbenno In Italy for several
year*. It is weird enough to ex
cuse their belief in its supernatural origin,
end to make explicable the state of ner
vous dread in which they have been living.
T^'ow a prominent scientist has studied it
find fails to understand it. He cannot even
formulate a theory, but he has at least
enriched the world with a marvelous
Professor Fabani is the man. He heard
the tale of the strange happenings In the
little village and a few months ago he vis
ited the place and witnessed them. On the
eight of his arrival a trembling guide took
him a short distance outside of the village,
where the country was perfectly open.
Buddenly there appeared before them a
thin, long torgue of flame. At flrst It was
orJy a few Inches high. - Then It rose In
curious windings till It reached a height of
twenty-flve feet. Its tint changed from
white to red.«and thea to yellow. For a
Jew moments the flame appeared to bo
stationary. Tfcen, at once. It began to flit
•long the road, now touching the ground.
then skimming along .a few inches above
the surface, then springing high Into the
air. Sometimes It would lie along the
ground and crawl like a snake. Again It
would dance and whirl swiftiy. But al
ways it maintained its general onward di
rection, which was 'toward the church
yard, where It disappeared. Professor
Fabani watched it night after, night. lie
reports that the flams appeared almost
every night as soon as darkness came, and
that the flame appeared to have a differ
ent shape almost each time that he saw'
it. Often it moves directly into the teeth
of a gale, and snow and rain fall to ex
tinguish it. He declares that he failed
absolutely to find anything that could
account for it. He was unable to touch
the strange thing, for the flame avoids ap
proaching bodies, and human beings who
pursue it have their labor for their pains.
Niagara power was used so long agt> as
1725. when the French erected a sawmill
near the site of the present factory of the
Plttsburg Reduction Company. It was
used for the purpose of eupply,lnfir flawed
lumber for Fort Niagara.
The waters fairly sported In this work.'
When they cut away the supports ot
masses of gypsum these fell below, only
"to be washed away or to form pillars la
passages around which the waters might
swirl. Towers and minarets of curious
design uoie left on the walla of the gorge.,
making it beautiful as well 23 wonderful.
Dr. Van Vleet's party explored thesV
Caves so far as they could. In some places
the entrances were so low that It was
Oifncult to crawl Into them, but once In-'
side great chambers opened up and tha
torches used by the party could not glv«
a view of the ro .f. Sometimes the course
of a cavern coyM »e tollowed for miles
:ilo::s the creek, with large aad small
openings givlns opportunity to see tha
wonders within.
But exploration of their depth was'
found Impossible. When the party ven
tured into any of these caverns witlj
torches 'they o'sturbed Inhabitants 'that
had never before had such visitation an<l
resented it. Great swarms of bats, wind
ed and furry things, swooped down fror.i
the roofs and in from the passages into
vhldh the light penetrated, Hew around
the explorers 1 heads aad even dasheJ
blindly into the flame of the torches
The men were compelled to fight fierce
ly against the horde of small things.
They were worsted, too, in the fight, for •
tha best they could do was to stand their
ground. If they attempted to venture In-,
to the passages they could see opening
further along they would awaken new
hordes of th© winged things and thetr
foes would be multiplied twofold and
sometimes tenfold.
ling. The suffering traveler who essay*
to quench his thirst in thes© finds only
more thirst, for from somewhere they
bring the brine that flows through the
creek.
Where Salt Creek leaves the hills tho
bluffs rise almost three hundred fe«t
above the creek bed. and at the top the
two massive Iedge3 cf gypsum are scarce
ly a quarter of a mile apart. Some person
has stretched a stout wire from ledse to
ledge, on ¦which a framework running on
a pulley supports a swing.
Starting: from one bank, the swing with
its occupant is whirled downward across
the canyon almost a quarter of a rnile.
and then as far upward toward the op
posite ledge as Its momentum will carrz
their places before they were blinded by
the orb that furnishes life and light to
other things.
When daylight came in full the gorge
would be still again, and the vision of
the bat army seemed to those who had
observed it as more like a visit to fairy
land than a real sight in the days of the
material life.
There were other wonder3. too. to be
found in the canyon cf Salt Creek. From
out of the ledges on the side would spurt
clear Fprln^a of water that had found
a course through the mcks and the gyp
i-um until they could pain freedom In the
creek ted. The water was clear and In
viting to those who were thirsty and
could find nothing but the salt waters or
by a f»reat chasm from 300 to 400 feet deep,
whose sides are formed of great bluff*
of red clay and rock and gypsum.
In the bottom of this flows Salt Creek.
It -well deserve? Its name, for Us waters
have a strong flavor of brine. It Is a
small stream In summer and In v.-lnter,
tut In the spring, when the floods coma,
it sweeps over the bottom of the canyon
and become? almost a river.
The Korrre It has formed gives abundant
evidence t>f It? past power. Hundreds of
years ago It found Its channel through
the valley and cut a iicep way for Itself
through the ltrd clay on the aurfuce. Its
progress downward was stayed by a ledgo
ef roc'; on which the clay had formed, but
thl.i, too, yielded to the wash of the wa
leva and then the stream found a yield
ing substanco almost ns soft as the clay,
Underneath the rocks was a great de
posit of gypsum, extending fcr miles.
Through this In flood after flood the wa
ters of tho Btrcam cut, until at length
they found a bed mere solid than that
above, on a crcat flocrway of rock.
If the waters could net po deeper, how
e\er. they coulil go sldewlse through the
gypsum, and this they did. Klooda that
came down In the years eddied against
the Fide walls and tore out new places
fur themselves. Gradually tha gypsum
was worn away until the creek had mada
tor Itself fantastic channels In darknesi
U.r outside Its bed.
cf stratge waters and of curious fanta
sies of nature led to the organization of
an expedition led by Dr. A. H. Van Vleet.
and its explorations Just reported to the
State authorities have given new inter
est to what was to be merely
another rralrie territory.
It was in the valley of Bait Creek that
Dr. Van Vleet found the phenomena that
interested him most. A few of those who
had rushed into the Territory when It
was opened have fcund their way to the
valley; and there are s.ime farms and
ranche* en what iS practically a broad
pls-ln.
Apparently the valley stretches unbro-
LnCFi a story . wonderland Is the
tale of caves \ >ld by members of
the Oklahoma Geological Survey,
which has penetrated into the wild
land* not lor.g delivered from the pway
ef the Indian tribes. Immen«« caverrs
extending beneath level valley lands, In
whose weird depths ero sheltered millions
of bats, are Emong the •wonders they have
recorded.
Hints of etrar.se things 10 be found in
tt» w««t«ra part of the row Territory
ha-r« corn* at times to thcte who have
fcoen tccualnted with thi> Indiana. But
the redmen were jealous guardians of
t their wiuW they helti them- and few
INNERMOST RECESSES
OF THE OKLAHOMA
BAT CAVES
WEIRD EXPERIENCE
OF A GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY PARTY
THE SUKDAY CALL.
18
They were fairly stifled by the on
slaught. Their torches were several times
extinguished and they had to grope their
way to the light, and «hiy feared to ven
ture Into the depths of the cavers lest they
ahould be left without means to guide
them back Into the stream.
Dr. Van Vleet was greatly impressed
by this spectacle'of millions of the wlnjr
rd ones setting: at defiance the efforts of
Ills party, and he made a study of the
ty»ts. He remained several nights in the
canyon to observe what they would do.
While daylight lasted \ there wert no
Bfens of life in the depths of the gorge.
It was only when one flared a torch
ngalnst the fantastic sides and roofs of
the eaves that there was any Indication
of the life that lay in the canyon.
But when the first signs of darkness
came, then the canyon showed Its peo
ple. With the shadows would come soli
tary bats winging out of the- caverns' like
scouts In the fore of an army. They
¦would wheel up among the rocks and
down again, weirdly circling-, as though
not yet certain of the course they would
take or of the Iieht to gu'.de them.
• As the shadows deepened others would
iln »hese <lrst few adventurers, and the