Science: Carlsbad Cave

Down a swaying rope into a black, hot pit, 1,350 ft. below the earth's surface, 325 ft. lower than anyone had ever gone there before him, slid Frank Ernest Nicholson, journalist-explorer, into the unmeasured depths of the Carlsbad Cave in the Guadalupe Mountains in lower New Mexico. Last week came reports of his expedition, begun in January (TIME, Jan. 27). He told of nightmare rock formations, of crystal clear water and perfect cave pearls in a subterranean pool. While he was drinking, a feeble chirping split the stifling black silence. He investigated,...

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