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10,000 VISIT CAVE AND PICNIC ON SCENE OF COLLINS TRAGEDY

Constant Stream of Cars Brings Curiosity Seekers From Half a Dozen States.

CAVE CITY, Ky., Feb. 8.—Thousands of curiosity seekers visited Cave City and Sand Cave today, where Floyd Collins has been entombed for the ninth day. All day long a stream of automobiles, some with license tags from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia, passed down the country road to the scene of the tragedy. One estimate was that 10,000 visited the scene during the day. The rugged road from Cave City to Sand Cave was packed with cars all day. Lines of automobiles facing each other made a midway from the high road to the cavern. It looked like a country fair. Hot dog vendors, dealers in apples and soda pop, sandwich makers and jugglers vied for the nickels and dimes of the thousands who visited Sand Cave. Their chief rival was an old-fashioned medicine man who, from his covered wagon, exhorted one and all to stop and be cured. His brew, with his hidden secrets should be in every home, he cried, and a good swig from it every day, reporters who sampled it said, would drive the moonshiners into bankruptcy. Down this lane raced the thousands, eager for a morbid peep at the rocky prison. After an hour or two of staring they went back and sat in the cars to watch the animated scene, or they strolled the midway.

Country Preacher Offers Prayer. Parson Jim Hamilton, thin and tall, rode a mule twenty miles over the Kentucky hills to preach above the cave and bring a word of hope to people of the same simple faith. “Oh, Lord God, who turned back the tide at Galilee,” he prayed, “have pity on this your child imprisoned in your earth. Give him back to me who treasure him upon this soil. And if, Lord, it be thy will that he shall not return then, Lord, thy will be done. Amen.” The profiteer was also there. Tiny hamburger steaks sold for 25 cents; a jitney to and from the town was $3; rooming houses—the hotels having long since used the last cot—charge $2 for a 75 cent room. Many a moss covered mortgage will be lifted if Collins is not rescued soon. Even “Old Man” Collins, as he is known, to distinguish him from “the boys,” has seized the opportunity of a lifetime. He circulates through the crowd and gives out literature advertising Crystal Cave, near by, owned by him and his imprisoned son. He would like them to visit the cave at $2 a visit, and many do. The usual “fan” letters are flooding the tiny post office. Among them was one from Chicago, to be delivered to Collins. It proposes that when he is found, if ever, he take a short rest and then come to Chicago and marry the woman writer. Homer Collins tore up the letter and threw it to the wind. It was reported here tonight that Judge Basil Richardson of Glasgow will tomorrow ask the Circuit Court in Nelson County to start an investigation into the disaster, as rumors that Floyd Collins was “planted” in the cave in what started as a publicity hoax, but may end fatally, have been insistent here for a week.

Appeal for More Funds. The Cave City committee tonight sent out a new appeal for funds. The commissary where the men are fed was nearly forced to close last night for lack of food. Only $2,400 has been sent in. The digging is slowed up continuously by cave-ins, H. T. Carmichael, engineer in chief, reports. Solid rock was struck at noon today, however, and he expects better speed from now on. But it will still be several days before Collins is reached, he said tonight. The top surface was cut away today, reducing the actual depth gone down to 26 feet. That is about half way. It will be at least two, perhaps three, days before the right distance is reached and the lateral cuts can be started. The real dangers to Collins are pneumonia and starvation. There is a constant dripping of water on Collins and he has not had anything to eat or drink since Wednesday morning. The scientists are positive now that Collins is still alive. They set up a powerful amplifier today, and immediately they reported that they detected an intermittent rustling which they are positive was caused by Collins moving in the cave. Dr. William Hazlett of Chicago set up blood transfusion apparatus, rushed here by Chief Surgeon L. L. McArthur of St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago, and prepared to relieve anemia, from which Collins will be suffering if he is taken out alive. Dr. Hazlett called for volunteers to give blood, and Homer Collins, brother of the man in the cave, immediately came forward and was accepted. At the same time Dr. Hazlett telegraphed to McCook Field, at Dayton, Ohio, to send an air ambulance that had been offered. It will be used to rush Collins to a Louisville hospital, if he is taken out alive.

#floyd collins #lee collins #homer collins #william hazlett #ht carmichael #homer tearing up the letter with the marriage proposal was an allyship moment. wish they could have fit that in the show #also impressed by the blood transfusion capability given that it was relatively new technology then

i have to be taken out back and shot at.

#floyd collins #floyd collins musical #lee collins #THE FARM #Spotify #marc kudisch

#jazz #vogue records #mezz mezzrow #lee collins #zutty singleton #claude bolling #mowgli jospin #guy lafitte #pierre merlin #salle pleyel #1952 #LD070

KENTUCKY'S CAVE HUNTING CLAN

Like Collins, Many Men Spend Lives Seeking New Wonders

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

THE case of Floyd Collins, entombed for two weeks in Sand Cave, near Cave City, Ky., has drawn the nation's attention to the cave country of Kentucky for the second time in the last fifty years. The first time the region was widely talked about was shortly after the war between the States when the stage coach, en route from Cave City to the Mammoth Cave, was held up and robbed by the James gang of bandits, famous in Kentucky song and story. Frank and Jesse James, leaders of a band of guerrillas during the war who afterward took to the open road of banditry, have become enshrined in the cave country as Robin Hood is in English legends. The robbery of the stage was but one of hundreds of exploits by the brothers and their band. There is a song, a sort of interminable chanty, containing some seventy stanzas, celebrating the deeds of Frank and Jesse James. It runs like this: Oh, Jesse had a wife, She was a mourner all her life, The children they were brave. It was a dirty little coward Who shot Mr. Howard And laid poor Jesse in his grave. The romance of the cave region of Kentucky dates back to the earliest settlement of the State. Buried gold, relics of prehistoric races, eyeless fish, blind crickets and crawfish, the beauty of the glittering stalactites, bones of dead men and animals, and ancient weapons found in these caverns were more than enough to fire the imagination of the enterprising youth of the country. Boys and young men who in other lands would be the sailors, the explorers and the poets, turned naturally to the caves and crawled through crevices and crannies into yawning holes and up-winding spirals eroded by the action of now dead streams. These were the discoverers of most of the large caverns of the region, and it is singular that as late as the present century there remained unexplored recesses in this subterranean region.

Discovered by Hunters. Discovery of Mammoth Cave has been credited to a hunter named Hutchins, who found the entrance now used in 1809, but old deeds on record at the county seat mentioned the cave as early as 1797. Hunters in pursuit of game, fishermen and adventurers have found most of the entrances to the eaves, and later exploration has developed the extent of the underground passages. The cave region folk have many of the characteristics of the mountaineers of Kentucky and Tennessee. It is said that feuds and factional feeling among Collins's kith and kin and others were responsible for failure to extricate him when he was first found. It became necessary for the Governor of the State to send military authorities to take charge of the situation before the strong animosities and prejudices of the natives could be overcome. The cave explorers of the Kentucky cave region are a romantic lot. They scorn regular work. They are without ambition to go to the cities and be clerks or bookkeepers, or perhaps a captain of finance. With little education in the schools but much in the ways of wild things, they are impatient of restraint or discipline. They make cavecraft a science, like woodcraft as practiced by the Indians who formerly roved this region. Their practiced eye can discern the dangers of a cavern. The soft sandstone of this region is easily disturbed from its native fastenings, and there are shifts and changes in some of the caverns quite like those of running rivers in the South. Signs tell the adventurer whether rock is likely to fall from the slight concussion produced by the movement of a human being through a passage. Ascending then descending some of the channels worn by streams of water are unbelievably snakelike in their convolutions. In the passage through which friends endeavored to rescue Collins there is a point where the route crosses itself in a complete loop.

Sought New Mammoth Cave. Besides the lure of adventure, an economic motive has actuated Floyd Collins, his brother Homer and other men of this vicinity. They have done little else all their lives but explore caves, for large sums of money have been made from exhibition of some of the caverns. Many of these explorers have been urged on by the hope of discovering a cave that would surpass Mammoth Cave in size, beauty and accessibility to tourists. The land in this region is worth little for any other purpose than the exploitation of caves. Rugged, rocky, broken by hills and streams, it is a hard land to cultivate. As boys the cave explorers acquire a familiarity and a liking for the quiet, dark, cool recesses. They crawl and twist, climb and turn from narrow passage to chamber and from vaulted room to exits, often with no light, sometimes with an oil lantern, in later days with an electric flashlight. There is much beauty in the caverns, beauty of formations and of color, when light enables the explorer to see the glistening of substances that resemble ice in their smooth whiteness. Strange to say, animal life is found in all the caves, even though it may be only insects without eyes which flit around and feed upon no one knows what. When Floyd was trapped and the first efforts to rescue him were made, his fellow cave explorers scorned the attempts of outsiders to do anything. "I know rocks and I know caves," Gerald Estes said. "I will get him out, if anybody can." And their confidence in their own knowledge and ability was so great that they defeated what might have been successful plans of rescue. When drill machinery arrived to try to do what they had failed to do, they stood silently by and refused to offer aid. Strong in physique, slow of speech, shambling in gait, bright of eye and as shy as deer, these explorers live to themselves in little farmhouses along the creeks. Life is simple, their wants are few, and it requires little effort above ground to obtain food and the little clothing they wear. Their days are passed in peace, dreaming of some immense cavern that perhaps lies back of that hall entered on a last exploration beneath the earth. Riches beyond their conception surround their imaginations as they wonder if gold or silver or even a bed of diamonds may not encounter them on their next trip. Usually as they grow to maturity they abandon these dreams and settle down with some woman from the neighborhood as wife, but Floyd Collins has never married. His father, watching the work of rescue, said: "Floyd never had much use for girls. He never stayed outen a cave long enough to get well acquainted with one."

#posting this whole thing solely for the last paragraph #floyd collins #lee collins

FLOYD COLLINS Auditions Lincoln Center Theater in New York 07/02

FLOYD COLLINS: Male, 30s, any ethnicity. A charismatic, gritty and intense Kentucky caver dreaming of fame and fortune by transforming a cave into a tourist attraction. Flinty and hard-scrabble but with a wicked humor and surprising cracks of vulnerability. An excellent baritenor voice in a non traditional musical theatre style. Ability to yodel a plus.

HOMER COLLINS: Male, 20s, any ethnicity. Floyd’s exuberant and charming younger brother and closest friend. Has dreams for himself beyond staying in Kentucky. Determined to save his brother and knows him better than he knows himself. An excellent, strong tenor voice with a high C.

NELLIE COLLINS: Female, 20s, any ethnicity. Floyd’s younger sister with whom he shares a close friendship and connection. A sensitive and otherworldly soul with an offbeat perspective and demeanor. An excellent soprano voice with a belt that can navigate different styles of music.

LEE COLLINS: Male, 60s, any ethnicity. Floyd’s father. Tough and domineering on the outside, but with deteriorating physical health. A stern, stoic, and religious man who is cracking. A strong baritone voice.

MISS JANE: Female, 50s-60s. any ethnicity. Floyd’s stepmother. Earthy, wise and calm, trying to hold her family together during the crisis as best she can. A strong alto voice that can navigate different styles of music.

SKEETS MILLER: Male, 20s – 30s, any ethnicity. A reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal, he is short and small enough to reach Floyd while he’s trapped. Dry, earnest, quirky, compassionate. Mostly a non-singing role, must still have excellent musicality and a voice that can navigate different styles of music.

JEWELL ESTES: Male, 18+ to play teens. Any ethnicity. A local teenage boy. Mischievous, straggly, an annoying but loveable presence. Plays guitar well and has a strong baritenor voice with range that can navigate different styles of music.

H.T. CARMICHAEL: Male, mid 40s – early 60s. Any ethnicity. An engineer and businessman who takes over the rescue attempt for Floyd. Blunt, savvy, and commanding, he believes he knows better than the locals how to find a solution.

BEE DOYLE: Male, 40s - 50s. Any ethnicity. The owner of the farm on which Floyd becomes trapped. Friendly and a community leader. A strong Baritone voice.