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Barger
SALTPETER |
On April 1, 1951, Jean Lowry, Alice Fischer, Earl Thierry, and Betty Sabatinos went to the C.R. Barger farm in Bland County, VA, to explore a saltpeter cave there. A ladder was rigged for the drop at the entrance, and all went down, including C.R. Barger, who was intrigued with the metal ladder.
The cave has seven levels. The first level is about halfway down the ladder and leads to a drop-off into the entrance room. Leaving the entrance room, we went down to the next level where we found a large bat population. Pictures were taken of the bats and also of the old saltpeter troughs, which were still in good condition. All the remains of the saltpeter workings are on the third and fourth levels of the cave, as were the large bat colonies. Bats were seen on the other levels, but not in such large colonies.
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From here we made our way down into the longest level of the cave, which is the stream passage. There are a number of large rooms along this passage, with some formations in them. We went downstream to where the stream disappeared under the wall in a suck hole. Upstream, we went as far as we could without doing a belly crawl in the water, and then started back out. On the way, we stopped on the fourth level to explore the passageway which we were told had once had a saltpeter railway in it. We found portions of the wooden rails with cross ties. In a room at the end of the passage, we found a mud bank with some very good impressions of pick marks in it. From here we proceeded on our way out, having spent five hours in the cave. So far, 2600 feet of the cave have been mapped. --Betty Sabatinos, NSS NEWS, Hay 1951.
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next--Musings pg200
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