May 22, 1937
Linville
Caverns
THE STATE
Роде
Seven
BEAUTIES of I In* subter-
anoan area in .McDowell
County to be opened to the
public some time during the
forthcoming summer.
tty RUTH
МООНК
Linville caverns, the only
known underground
с»
urn. of
Лапу
magnitude in the Mate, will
be opened to the public by late anin-
mer. This newest development in the
famed Linville njiirn i> expected to
become one of the leading touri.t lit-
traction, of Western North Carolina.
The cavern» have been explored 3.200
feet and the end ha* not been reached
«о
far. Engineer» have jn.t «tarted
working in the cavern*, and when they
get all the water drained oil full ex¬
ploration will be made.
Many Unique Feature»
Linville Cavern, are .imilar to the
cavern, of Virginia, but they offer
юте
unique feature, not found in any other
cave*. State Ccologi.l II. J. Bryson,
who explored the ea>ilv accessible por¬
tion. of the cave, pronounced some of
the formation, ’’exceptionally beauti¬
ful'* and different. In the report of
hi* visit he .fated :
“For Mime distance into the cave,
probably
1Ю
or 200 feet, the opening
i* rather narrow and low. . . . After
entering the care to the above distance,
the room, get larger. The main chan¬
nel is comparatively «fraight and con¬
tinuous for a di.tnuce of wtne twelve
or fourteen hundred feet. All the way
to the rear of the cave there are large
rooms connected by more or lew nar¬
row channel*. . .
"About midway of the cave, the
main channel bifurcate*, one channel
leading to the left and the other con¬
tinuing straight ahead. We could not
enter the left channel due to the cx-
crw.ivi depth of water. However, after
the water i. drnined out, thi. channel
may lead to other
chamber, a. vet un¬
explored. . . .
“In the main
channel there are
numerou. large .ta- A view of the interior of the cavern». They are located
laMilte suspended near Highway No. 221, McDowell County,
from ihe roof and
•idc walls the max¬
imum length being eight to ten feet.
“In many of the larger room* where
the tide wall* reach the ceiling, there
are numerou. stalactite* which have
the ‘organ pipe1 effect. . . . Tliew are
exceptionally beautiful."
Since Linville Cavern, are located
near the famou. Linville Full, it i*
interesting that there are several forma¬
tion* inside the cave* which closely
resemble waterfall*. But indeed of
the ipladi ami spruy of the out. idc
Linville Fall*, these underground fall,
are “froxen” in .olid rock. Mr. Bryson
say* of them:
“At many places in the .mall alcove*
at the tide of the large rooms, there
are formation, which resemble frozen
waterfall, and rapid*. Then- ’water¬
falls' begin near the top and are more
or lew white in color, and farther down
the color change* to yeUoui.h. reddish,
and dark brown. . . .
“In
.ото
(of the pn.iagc | there i‘ a
pool near the top that overflow., run.
down over the froxen waterfall*, and
end. abruptly in another pool. One
of these wa. the moat beautiful that
I have ever Men in any cave."
Stalagmite* usually go with stalac¬
tite*. and some of the former found
in Linville Cavern* are unique, accord¬
ing to Mr.
Вгуюп:
“On either .idc of the main channel,
near the base »f the wulls, then- art-
found beautiful stalagmite.,
юте
dome
shaped, other* flutter which seem to
be- spread out a. if mashed down, while
other, are comparatively flat.
"Thi* latter type i* unusual and
I have never seen similar one* in
other eaves. They are more or low
circular in outline, with the outer rim
of dark brow n material, an inner layer
of practically pure white limestone,
while the center i. clear crystalline
water."
Will Be Lighted Up
When the cave i* formally o|>ened,
all these various feature* will he lighted
so that they will show up to the best
effect possible.
Though Linville Cavern* will be one
of the slate’s newe.t attraction*, the
cave» are really almost incomprehen¬
sibly ancient. According to geolo¬
gist.' nx'konings. the Appalachian
Mountain* are at len.t a half billion
year* old. ami it is believed that at
about this same period water entered
a “fracture" in the limestone atva of
the cave, dissolving tin- limestone but
leaving the practically insoluble
quartxite, which form* the floor of the
cavern-.
The first scientist of note to rxplon-
the caverns wa. W. K. Hidden, dis¬
coverer of the precious jewel. Hidden-
(Continu'd on jw tut uty-f ou')