The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • 36

MILLIONS of people who since the mti oduction of foot ball liaje watched with inter Jy I'l ost most intense the titanic JL struggles of two elevens on the gridiron noted the exercise of brute strength and then the finesse which sometimes enables a David to overcome a Goliath observed the lightning like movements of ends and backs and above all the one live pertinent fact that not for one instant from the time play is called until the whistle of the referee sounds a halt does any of the twenty two1 struggling athletes lose sight of the ball will find it difficult to believe and almost impossible to understand that lie blind boys of Che Kentucky Institute for the JBlind have been taught to plav the game for everything there Is in It Yet this very thing has been accom plished and ny Saturday morning one may witness on the institute grounds as sidered as any one would care to see The fact that one team Is composed ofJ boys deprived by nature of sight and the other an eleven of "seeing" youngsters 'tj adds zest and interest to tho struggle for supremacy And how these little blind fellows plnv! Lat season they engaged in three games against heavier teams winning i one game and tlelng the others This Is certainly a remarkable showing and one 1 that the trainer the institute and the full of animal spirits and the ambition to excel in whatever they undertake lie first season no attempt was made to pit them against an outside team but last season they played all' coiners and more than held their own At tho summer field games they carried'off Jho honors against the crack JI A team winning by a score of 53 to 37 In baseball too these boys do fairly well thoiigh'it is not con sidered likely that they will be able to hold their own with a team blessed with Sight Now how do these blind boys play the great Rugby To outward appearances just 'like other players but their manner of reaching the same end Is as widely different as can well be condfelved 'Deprived of their sight they converted their ten lingers and every muscle In their bodies Into so many eyes and what is of still greater importance' is the 'acute develop ment of their sense of hearing With these senses made as nearly perfect as possible these eleven boys go into a game of football prepared for any emergency and ready to successfully meet any con dition that might arise In only two essentials does the game as played at the blind asylum differ from that fought on other Helds and in these differences lies the ability of the sightless ones to play at all The hrst difference is found In the tut Ing the ground enlorces a handicap which it would be difficult if not impos sible to overcome In other words while they can detect the slightest sound and follow it they could not be able to turn as quickly as one who can see the course the bound has taken There would lie too much lost as tho coach puls it The second variance from the regular game is found in the maimer of handling the ball when In play or rather about to 'begin play It is never back 'but is passed directly into the hands of the man who is to make the end run line plunge kick or whatever it might be It is in Ibis not snapping the ball that tho greatest secret of their success lies and It is here that the "eyes of their muscles" again the couch perform functions that are truly wonderful These muscles have been so carefully trained and developed that the boys are enabled to tell ith absolute certainty the exact direction of a play by merely touching one of their opponents This is instantly communicated to the line and the backs by some mysterious process which even the coach can not explain except on the ground of and they are thus enabled to meet' and thwart nearly any play made by the opposition Considering that these boys so sorely afllieted some of tlie plays they make are a little short of wonderful They i sap' SlIHl Short MB VB crpt hnd "i iW iUkr Ill I 1 I OR players may well be proud of style of ball used the association or are particularly strong in offensive work Magic Cave of Kentucky Discoered by a Strange Italian Count Reptiles Are the Queer Playthings of Babies of the Australian Bush We of a dangerous doubtful how to viciously attack set hef she was was motionless on was staring at some a tutt of withered will en tire but Ho na mysterious death in the attempt has been made to re am! explore the interior which The child iu knees ami oinect bestue but at to for ap any means disqualify them from this sort of thing They are now however giving especial attention to the tackling propo sitionand are confident of becoming as proficient in that end of the game as they have in other departments The chief trait of these husky young scaled wall ten feet above edge Blasting digging and have proved unavailing in forcing tlie sealed doors opponents the fact flke depicted or men rice and the crumbs of one and a half biscuits fried in the fat of a thin slice of bacon sledges of seal biscuit ing on driving on the dogs final camp for the night on a pannikin Of soup made of pemmican and pea meal with boiled tea water and a fraction of a piece of chocolate As for sleep in the lower temperatures of the spring sledge Jour neys it is hardly worth the name seamen used to wake in the morn ing and swear they had been awake all night but my own experience i the same ns that of others and it is this: One gets into the reindeer skin sleeping bag with no joy at all for after a few sledg ing the accumulation of moisture from the condensation of breath and from the snowdrift and from perspiration In clothing has filled the reindeer four on the and a cold lunch of dried chips meat eight lumps' of sugar and a Then three more hours of haul the sledges or worse still of and in rushing tlie ball are oftentimes better than their This may be due In a measure to that not being able to see the ferocity of grim determination on the countenance of the man they are going ngalnst they are not in John Dallas Gregory Jr is coach train er and master of athletics at the Insti tute for the Blind He admits that task at first was not an easy one latterly has been growing less hard believes that in another year every tural drawback will have been overcome by piece Mr' Claypool extracted the whole story from the old chieftain and his squaw both of whom had been partici pants in tlie struggle Since then a strange fatality haunts tlie Many lives have been lost in the vicinity Ouita and' tVah tum wit nessed all these events they knew where to find the cave but neither for friend ship nor love of gold would they reveal to Jlr Claypool Its exact whereabouts When they crossed to tho hunt ing their secret was burled with them Believing their story Mr Claypool searched over the cavern but for causes he would not explain failed to secure the treasure "The place is said he "strange fantoms guard each avenue ancies of eternal darkness fill soul when he enters the cave' The treasure vault I discovered but I dared not ap proach the door My hair grew from black to snow white during the brief pe riod I was closeted with the spirits of hell in that terrible cavern Mr Claypool was an honored truthful man and his descendants are among the Minnie a child of 3 was more vivacious than usual next morning sat on an opossum rug on the floor of the room ad joining the breakfast room where most of the family were collected Her chattering excited comment whispered her father strikes me talking to something and I bet the With his riding whip in his hand he stepped softly to the open door and peeped in The snake had its head in lap and was being fed with little snips off a square of lump sugar It was a black snake size and the father was act If alarmed it might the child He surveyed the possible means of escape and whispered to his wife to call Minnie The child moved at the call and the snake drew back and made a sudden dive toward a chest of drawers at the opposite wall That was what was wanted and the riding whip did the rest A friend of mine tells of an incident of a similar kind At Koondrook a little tlement in Victoria a woman heard child 18 months old laughing as if were having great fun The child supposed to be asleep in bed The woman' went to the room and found the child scrambling over the bed after something she could not see That happened several times Once however the mother went in suddenly and heard something drop off the bed Looking hurriedly under the'bcd she dis tinctly saw a large snake that turned upon her with evident intention to fight When the husband came home he pulled up the boards of the floor but there was no sign of the snake Next day however snake and child were discovered lying together on the floor the child asleep and the snake apparently so That night the hus band tried a plan He placed a candle on the floor alongside of the child and asked the wife to play a slow air on the har monium Movements of the snake could be heard but the rustle was all he vouch safed Next night the child was similarly posted and the mother tried the effect of working her sewing machine The sound was too tempting The snake wriggled to the child with alacrity and was promptly dispatched by the father It was i siger snake nearly five feet in length and when killed was fondled by the child as an old pet 7 We never hear in the bush of snake round ball taking the place of tho Rugby ball The reason for this is simple the boys play largely by sound and by using a ball that bounces in a straight line they are enabled to follow accurately its course It the Rugby or oval ball was used the tangents it is likely to take after OOD superinduced by ex treme hunger and the difficulties that attend the advent of Morpheus in the are very inter esting reading and from the account of the voyage of the Discovery to the An tarctic Is extracted the following data: the journey to the south hi which we were absent three months from the says Edward A Wilson JI writing in the British Medical Journal "our food allowance was for six weeks a bare pound and a half to each man daily On this allowance hunger never left us and sleep was much disturbed by disap pointing food dreams sirloins of beef and steaming caldrons of cabbage and potato ball suppers stuffed turkeys and splendid hams and waiters flying around with plates full for everybody else shout as one might one could not get tended to and then one awoke and malned awake in sleeping bag hours from sheer hunger and healthy petite to wait for a breakfast of boiled any sense cowed or poss other feeling Ilian that Only in defensive work boys at a disadvantage Nearly three yeais ago the authorities began to pay some attention to athletics 'J though it was not believed that any very i great degree of proficiency would ever bo jJ' j1 attained by the students in any one branch But these little blind boys are sllVAdnt like their more fortunate I HAVE found that children in the bush show very little fear of snakes The bigger the snake the greater the joy of getting near it and the stronger tho desire to play with itThe bright eyes and sinuous motion probably charm' And snakes even the most vicious re spect the confidence I have known yum bers of cases In which they return it with what must be called affection A snake that will wiggle away from an adult placidly survey a child and wait for couragement to approach Here is an Instance to my hand all knew there was a snake in the house Glimpses of It had been caught on three separate occasions but it was too swift in getting under cover Bush houses in Australia are roughly put together and odds and ends of various sorts are lifted about with occasional heavy articles against the walls To move the heavy things is somewhat dangerous unless the light is good and an experienced bushman be of the party The usual plan is to watch and wait The sides of the cottage were bult of round timber and there was a like lihood on each occasion that this partlcu governess wati icconas a i nd witn i from Virginia to Kentucky and Harrodsburg lie was an ex woodsman and had grown up alarms of Indian warfare He fellows is their supreme confidence In themselves They do" not consider them selves one whit different from other boys Their blindness is merely relative And they are conceited too that they firmly believe they can do anything a little better than thAr fellows lift JI' young child On tho other hand numbers of cases are recounted in which mothers have laid infants on the bed in dark rooms and discovered a second later that a snake was underneath the child The snatching up of the child released the snake and Invariably the trouble ended there A governess in charge of a child was fond of sitting among the rocks at tho seashore She read' a good deal and was contented so long as the child played about without making a noise At last perhapS she had finished her book it struck her as strange that at that particu lar place among the rocks the child was always preternaturally quiet rose slowly and glided to a projecting boulder behind she knew the child had crawled hi small erai two I fi to define tne small lar in color to the ran under the rock and the snake's head alone protruded The pupils of the child eyes were dilated but in other respects it was half asleep This would help tho claims of those who endow 'snakes with power to fascinate birds But there is nothing to indicate that the snake question meant injury to the child A bush clergyman visited me on one occasion and dismounting threw his sad dlebag on the veranda The flag fell open and a green whip snake popped out It happened that there was no weapon handy and the snake disappeared under the house The clergyman was greatly'fright ened He calculated that the snake most have been in the bag during his last ten mile ride and reflected that he had put his hand in several times for one article or another He carefully examined his right hand for marks of fangs and be came reassured when not a single scratch could be discovered It is right I should complete wbat 'astounding narrative by adding that the clergyman on his next visit com plained of having been made the victim of a practical joke on the previous oc cnsion The hotel people had placed in his saddle bag a' performing snake not at all dangerous and altogether too valuable for the fate that befell hair with frost and rime and made the leather hard and full of frozen wetness crawls into 'this after freezing fingers over changing socks and boots of reindeer skin an absolute nec essity to prevent the freezing of feet Having drawn the flop over one's head and buttoned all the toggles so that as little air as get in or out one begins to shiver self warm a business which occupies from an hour to an hour and a half or two hours some times it seems to occupy the whole night tlie bag begins to Various gar aie the bl Their tackle work is uncertain though tholr highly developed sense of hearing does not by During the process thaw as well as this thaw has set in properly one begins to dream and but for dreams the most absurd under the sun one would not believe that one had slept at ail Every hour or so one wakes to shiver and then again the dreams begin and this goes on until at last there is light enough in the tent tot cook by and ono knows that purgatory Is med intently for sev Uraduaiiv she made out like little points of ter inspection was able head ot a snake' simi wlthered grass A hole most prominent citizens of Warren Coun ty He died in 1864 fully believing that a great treasure was secreted in JIagle Cave Since cave no discover has been rendered difficult to reach on account of tho closing up of the river en trance There Is a manhole on top of the bluff opposite iSlHentbal's Leap which at present is the only place of en trance This is 200 feet above the floor of the cave and the tortuous These facts have been gleaned from records from statements of reliable per sons and from personal knowledge Whether or not this JIagle Cavern will be thoroughly explored and its treasure dis covered in spite of ghost re mains to be seen Perhaps some day men with courage and daring enough will brave its perils and return laden with its heaps of gems and gold ive decades ago expectations of dis covering Lillienthal's treasure were so great that hundreds of men turned ouj from the surrounding country to search for the cave Excitement ran high and thousands of dollars were spent in the at tempt to locate the treasure cave But like the famous silver mine it is always near but just out of sight sed of any of cute the entrance of the eave The moutli of the aperture where the Indians' tracks led was a the excavations tlie work of Recently a party of six young men be gan a systematic search for JIagle Cavern Several weeks were spent in the work The leader of the party was John Jlays An entrance to the main cavern was dis covered Mays leading the way passed Into the interior Suddenly bls form shot forward and he uttered a shriek of hor ror as an invisible power bore him into the bowels of the earth That was the last of Jlays His companions terror stricken fled from the scene closing the gap be hind them There is not enough surplus cash In the union to Induce one of the survivors to go near the place again The history of the cave runs in this wise: In tho year 1778 Stephen Claypool emigrated settled at perienced amid the participated in many of the frontier bat tles Ho knew the Indians they knew him In 1785 he left the older settle ments crossed the wilderness came to Barren River and settled near the pres ent site of Claypool With him came John Wickliffe Hut Jlartin Andrew Jlc addin two brothers and others with their several families Wickliffe settled on a place known as Wickliffe bottom north of the river Martin founded Jlar tinsville JIcadden established Mcad Station while Stephen Claypool and his brothers patented and settled on land south of Wickliffe bottom and Martins ville just across the river and founded Claypool At the time these hardy pioneers came to Barren River a few scattered Indians still skulked in the forests On Jlr Clay pool's claim was a lodge occupied by an old Indian and his squaw The old war rior was about 70 years old and his squaw called him Wahtum he called his squaw Ouita This old pair of natives proffered the white settlers their friendship They were In a short time Wah tum and Mr Claypool were fast friends Wah tum frequently related events that took place In the' vicinity long before saying that Wickliffe bottom was haunted white devils that had been slain there many years ago Piece wwttITHIN 1000 yards of Iron Bridge on Barren River In Kentucky Is loquted a cave which is tradi tlonally known as JIagle Cavern One i'l liundred and fifty years ago this cave was discovered by a young Italian called Count Lillienthal who came from the historic plains of Lombardy in quest of adven tore in the niw world This count used the cave as a refuge from the hostile sav age and as a storehouse and hiding place for the vast treasure he brought with from his native land Magic Cavern is the most elusive mys in southwestern Kentucky It is lo cated on the south bank of the river and adjacent to the famous Wickliffe bottom i or the last 120 years entrance to this underground palace and treasure house 't jjhas been sought by many persons at various times ew have entered the opening and nonewho entered the gloomy chamber has re turned to tell the story of his harrow ing experience No fewer than twenty Uvea are known to have been lost in vain efforts to secure the treasure reputed to be secreted in a sealed niche of the cave Uf'Thero Is a curse upon the place Wickliffe bottom was the scene of a bloody battle and the perpendicular cliff north of the river known as Leap was the place chosen for the climax of a shocking tragedy 1 In the part of the nineteenth cen tury settlers were constantly in search of JIagle Cavern and its thousands of dol lars in gold coin and bags of priceless gems In 1864 twoj white men came to the vicinity searched along the river for days and days then suddenly disappeared That they perished in an attempt to se cure tho treasure was the general verdict for they were tracked to the mouth of a cave above a suckhole which they are known to have entered and from which they never returned? John Darling of Missouri met a similar fate at the same place in I860 V' the spring of 1880 four Cherokee In fl dlans came' to Iron Bridge and pitched a I camp on Leap had rough chart of the vicinity which Jifc they often consulted They left their camp arly one morning never to return Like that of the white men their trail led to an 't opening In bluff What their fate was I pone may know but men now living do know that they never returned from I lagic Cavern alive Searching parties 'lei dtlysof fruitless labor failed to lo Dreams Tantalize Starving and reezing Arctic Explorers 'a1.