The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 9, 1900, Page 18

INNERAOST RECESSES A\ Ui 2R T Y\ /B & the western have Some &t thmes . of strarge waters and of curlous fanta- sies of nature led the orga: on of an expedition led by Dr. A. H. Van Vleet, and its explorations just reported to given new inter- to be mer tes have was believed territory of Balt Creek that Van V found the phenomena th erested him most. A few of shed Into the Territory o found thefr way ere are some fa tical been scquainte thelir lands while ik eld ¢ exce e P WEIRD e n * AN 4% - e £ ex cuse S ¥ 1 it . He & igs in the ago he vis- i them. On the 1g gulde took witness a trem e outside of the village, was perfectly open. »peared before them a of flame. At first it was hes high., Then it rose in wirdings till it reached a height of y-five fe Its tint changed from white to red, «and then to yellow. For a few moments the flame sppeared to be stationary. Then, at once, it began to fiit Biong the road, now touching the ground, e concealed within 1t. But pts to ride. across it, as the survey party did, will barred in almost the center a few inches above nging high into the it would lie along the awl lik Again It But al a snake. whirl swittiy ed its was *toward church- disappeared. Professor d it night after night. He t the o appeared almost every night as s & darkness came, and that the flame appeared to have a differ- shape almost each time that he saw Often it moves directly into the teeth gale, and snow and rain fail to ex- . He res that he failed v 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 belngs who pursue it have thelr labor for their pains. —_———— Niagara power was used so long ago as 1725, when the French erected a sawmiil near the site of the present factory of the Pittsburg Reduction Company. It was used for the purpose of supplying sawed lumber for Fort Niagara. al onw the th above. ever, was wo! THAT SCARES|&: | | from 300 to 400 feet deep, of great bluffa a great chas: med e bottom of this flows Salt Creek 1 cut a deep way 1y on the s ed by a ledgo was sta clay had formed, but he wash of the wa- m found a yleld- ¢ eimost as soft as the clay, was a great de- tor miles cod after flood the wa- at length cre solid then that t floorway of rc on a g If the waters could not go deeper, how- ewise thro ala in the years eddled ag: they cou and emeclves. € walls tore ot adually tho EyD: the creek had rel The waters fa When they cut a =ported in this work. vay the supports ot gypsum these fell below, only hed or to form pillars in ich the waters might d minarsts of curlous the wa'lls of the gorgs, desi aut as well s wonderful, Dr. Van Vieet's party explored thesa caves so f t ould. In some places| the entra were so low that it wan cifficult to cr wl into them, but once in= ambers opened up and the terches used by the party could not give a view of the ro Sometimes the courss of a cavern c 1 e tollowed for miles with eat ulong creek, large aaa small [ open opportunity to see the wor n But exploration of thelr depth way found impessible. When the party vena d into any of °se caverns with torches ‘they disturbed inhabitants thag had never before had such visitation and resented it. Great swarms of hats, wing- ed and furry things, swooped down frora the roofs and in from the passages Into viloh the light penetrated, flew around the explorers’ heads uud even dashe blindly into the flame of the torches The men were compelled to fight flerce- Iy egainst the horde of small things. They were worsted, too, in the fight, for the best they could do was to stand thelr ground. If they attempted to venture in. to the passages they could see opening further along they would awaken new bordes of the winged things and their foes would be multiplied twofold and sometimes tenfold. THE SUNDAY CAL WEIRD EXPERI OF A GEOL SURVEY They were fairly -stified slaught. Thelr torches we: extinguished and they by the several ti to grope the were t life an their places before they orb that furnishes other things on- inded by light f b When daylight came in full the gorge way to the light, and thuy feared to ve S eyl A o e s lure Into the depths of the caves lest they the bat army to those who had stould be left without means to guide cbserved it as more like a visit them back into the stream land t real sight in the da material life Dr. Van Vleet was greatly impressad i e e e e by this spectacle of millfons of the wing- ity el ¢d ones setting at defiance the efforts of wontl mput his party, and he made a stu Rad taund hats, He r ned several n ind the gyp- canyon to they w 3 freedom in the While dayl there were 'l-‘flf Snd signs of life in the depths of the gor g It was only when ome flared a torch i s agalnst the fantastic sldes and roofs of the caves th there was a: ind J of the life that lay in the ca But when the first signs came, then the canyon showed s peo- ple. With the shadows would come sol ary bats winging out of the ca scouts in the an army. would wheel the ro of rkness fore of up among down again, weirdly circling, as t not yet certain of the course they take or of the lght to gulde them. As the shadows deepened others would n these first few adventurers, and the g traveler who essays s o & on bank, the swing with g ] LE DEVICE TO weather 1g them be- Eovge would become all alive with the the creek. But those who drink it rezrer, ellent things that swept around and never ;"".‘fih is the “gyp” water, wk brings S o SN . TR, mxiderkmben Tl Ll ey e cen S came, the great army of bats would n thelr swift flight out from the depths in which they den themselves A S they weuld appear. on thousands would em e from every opening in the canyon. Tt er and thicker thy uld grow in the zir DHRKEN THE DAVWN. above, until it emed to the watchers below that a great cloud had settled over the canyon. It could ke zeen that tscovery: A thin. black they were leaving for the plains above to | dkerchief tied over "ke a long flight in search of icod, but Best re number in the gorge would not seem 10 grow less annoyance of glare to which in the Minute after minute the black things | PST3ONS are now su Id continue to come out of the dark | ;S 1S a0 : commonl Wanila contings 10 cbme. out of tha - daTR | 4ot on the platue naa (Bt g openings in the cliffs; not checking, but | desirinz to sleep aft = all the while wheeling upward, until one | fore divulged to ete Easterner. Some might doubt whether all this life were | officers scorn this expedient, othe rs like it real and believe the furry things were|and the army woma g passing and repassing through some sub- terranean way, like the soldiers in a stage It often not posse h case she pins a blac es instead. And fre s not above begging hour each night Van Vleet and his party saw this army 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, | But the army woman says there is no band ing. he other stock- s solves the problem of s out the light in a most sim ual way. ng vle and effect- When the sky began to show light | reason why every woman living in prox- egain the winged things would come | imity to shops should not Hive & black back. First there would be the few * India silk handkerchief. Bliads and a Ings, in addition to window shades, are all Vvery well to darken a room if they are on a house, but frequently they are not mors particularly in the country, wher @re most needed. Then, even In the eveqt 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 cioud agaln, hastening as the first rays of the sun shot across the plain to find air these things migration from oying the eas y bred, particu- e to rise Kk in order to Those people and board- ooms with ered walls, wh 10Tnings be- to a wake- s reflects the 4 o'clock the tot . restl creatu if he or she have blinds, gets up and closes them, but is forced for lack of air to at least leave the shutters open, whereby too much light enters. And frequently there Is so little air that to bar out any of it, even by drawn blinds with open shutters, is out of the question. —_———— ) Denmark claims that there is not a sin- 8le person in her domain who cannot read and write, ,© 4 1