54 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



descendants. Lover's leaps, escapes from flood and beast, 

 and unexplored caves with bottomless pits are still subjects 

 of conversation in some sections. Only last week, I found a 

 man who believed that the cave in Eagle Cliff in Saline 

 county had never been explored. I with others have ex- 

 plored and mapped every passage in it, yet once (and only 

 once) when I attempted to refute erroneous statements 

 about this cavern in a local newspaper, I brought down the 

 wrath of an unbeliever, who in his reply said: "We 'over 

 creekers' (country people) are somewhat envious when a 

 party of teachers and professors, who were reared in the 

 city, come to explore, and naturally feel that they expect to 

 accomplish more with their brains than we with experi- 

 ence." This same writer goes on to reiterate his state- 

 ments that this cavern has bottomless pits and unexplored 

 passages and that it connects with the cave at Cave in Rock, 

 some twenty-five miles away. His attitude illustrates well 

 that of many who cling tenaciously to the traditions of the 

 past. Diggings in the floor of sandstone caves and midnight 

 desecration of old graves point back to the time when treas- 

 ure was unsafe. Scarcely any tradition has no basis of fact. 

 Much real history otherwise unrecorded can yet be gleaned 

 from the mouth to mouth stories of the older generation 

 still living. A widespread but dim remembrance of the 

 great New Madrid earthquake of 1911-12 still lingers 

 with some of these people. That all of southern Illinois was 

 violently shaken then cannot be questioned. A descendant 

 of a girl named Elizabeth for whom Elizabeth- 

 town is said to have been named, tells how the earth was 

 shaken there soon after the party of settlers came. An 

 original record, written by one who had been in Illinois in 

 January, 1912, gives the following vivid picture of condi- 

 tions at that time. The spelling and punctuation are given 

 verbatim : 



Sinsenatte State of Ohio 

 April the 12 - 1812 



Dear Brother I now set down to right to you to 

 let you no that I am well hoping that when these lines 

 cum to your view they will find you enjoying the same bless- 

 ing I will further inform you that I have left the Miss- 



