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DOWN UNDER Volume XI - No.2 May 1976 Newsletter of the NATIONAL CAVES ASSOCIATlON DOWN UNDER Volume XI ~ No.2 May 1976 Newsletter of the NATIONAL CAVES ASSOCIATION CDNTENTS In Nemor y of Carlos Wine 23 In Memory of Jim Schermerhorn 24 Editor'S Notes 24 President1s Message 25 NCA Mid-Winter Meeting ........•............ 26 Sign Legislation 27 NCA Cave Film 29 Travel Mart Booth Discontinued 30 National Tour Brokers Association 30 NCA Goals 31 1976 NCA Convention Plans 33 Few Radiation Checks Made On Caverns .. _ 34 COVER This photograph of Rainbow Trail in Skyline Caverns hardly does justice to this interesting and unusually lit por- tion of the cave. It is just one of many underground scenes to be viewed during the 1976 NCA Convention in Virginia. H. DWIGHT I,EAVER, Route 3, Hannibal, 140.6:\401 Phone (314) 221-6480 ---------'_ ... _ .._. NCA OFFICERS PRESIDENT: H. L. Anderson, Lake Shasta Cavern, P.O. Box 801 O'Brien, California 96707 (916) 238-2341 VICE-PRESIDENT: Roy A. Davis, Cumberland Caverns, McMinnville, Tennessee 37110 (615) 668-4396 SECRETARY-TREASURER: Barbara Munson, 1026 BaLmor a I Drive, Signal Mountain, Tennessee 37377 (615) 886-2995 REGIONAL OFFICERS 1. Harrison Turk, Howe Caverns, New York. 2. Marion Smith, Ohio Caverns, Ohio. 3. Wm. R. Hounshell, Forbidden Caverns, Tenn. 4. Mark Trimble, Fantastic Caverns, Missouri 5. David Candelaria, Ice Caves, New Mexico 6. E. J. Rooney, Cave of the Mounds, Wisconsin OOWN UNDER Published quarterly by the NATIONAL CAVES ASSOCIATION 1026 Balmora1 Dr., Signal Mtn., 'I'enn..37377. Area Co de 615-886-2995. }1aterial for publication should be sent to the Editor at his address: 23 IN MEMORY OF CARLOS WI NE On January 16, 1976, Carlos D. Wine, Operations Manager of Skyline Cav- erns, Front Royal, Virginia, died of ter- minal cancer, He was born April 9, 1915 and married to the former Frances Lam. Carlos had three children, Judy, Joyce and Michael, all of whom are now married. Carlos began his career in the cave business in 1945, fresh from dis- charge from Navy Seabees where he was Chief Petty Officer (cook). He went to work foY Hoyle B. Long, who had purchased Skyline Caverns from the original corpo- ration that developed and operated the caverns be t ween 1938 and early 1942. MT. Long purchased Skyline Caverns shortly after the end of World War II (September 2,1945). An intutive person, Carlos learned by doing in SUCll areas as cave lighting, passage clearing,water control, installing handrails, etc. He also large- ly developed the standard frames of ref- erence on the Skyline Caverns tour today. The present owners acquired the cave property from Mr. Long on February 1, 1956. Carlos was offered the ,job of Resident Manager (although he did not live on the property any longer). He ac- cepted the offer. In 1966, following the death of James A. Payne, and the naming of Tom Gibson as Executive Vice President, a reshuf- fling of positions, titles and responsibilities was made. Car- los's title wa~ changed to Operations Manager. Carlos largely developed and perfected the "light basket" system of cave lighting (which NCA members will see in November during the 1976 NCA Convention). He was an artist at blending various colors in with the mortar to help make the basket blend in with itls surroundings. Carlos also had a remarkable ability to get along well with others, particularly with the teenagers who make up the bulk of the part-timers in summer. He was able to bridge the generation gap. Not the least of his accomplishments was the degree of knOWledge he acquired on caves. He had a fine grasp on geo- logy in general and understood the powerful forces that create caves. I have seen him hold his own with college geology pro- 24 fessars on more than one occasion during field trips. This Company and I, personally, miss him. But I feel that his knowledge of caves and what makes them tick is our greatest loss of all. It is a loss to all of us in America's underground. Tom Gibson IN MEMORY OF JIM SCHERMERHORN James H. Schermerhorn, a prominent Arkansas caver and former member of the National Caves Association, died Jan- uary 14, 1976 at Harrison, Arkansas. For several years he had battled cancer but despite this handicap, he stayed active with his cave interests. Jim joined the NCA in 1970 shortly after purchasing Big Hurricane Cave near Harrison. ~le promptly changed the name of his underground attraction to Hurricane River Cave, con- structed a new access road, a new cave entrance, erected bill- boards, and had a new lighting system installed in the cave by Roy Davis. During this time he also attended NCA Conventions. Prior to owning Hurricane River Cave, Jim owned Mys- tic Caverns in Arkansas, .an attraction that was renamed Dog- patch Caverns after the construction of Dogpatch USA, a theme park near Harrison and of which Jim was one of the original de- velopers. At the time of his death, Jim was 37 years old. He was well-known among cavers in general. He did a great deal of mapping in Fittons Cave in Newton CountY,Arkansas, and produced a television film foY Westinghouse that featured Fittons Cave. Jim is survived by his widow, Johnie, and three chil- dren and a stepson. EDITDR"S NOTES It is with regret that this issue of DOWN UNDER, like the previous number, must begin on a sad note--the loss of two more of our well-known cavemen. Yet, it is good to have a pub- lication wherein the accomplishments of our people can be ack- nowledged, and our memories of them preserved for posterity. I would like to take this opportunity to thank every- one attending the Mid-Winter NCA Meeting for their vote of con- fidence and pledge of assistance. That is certainly one way to keep a caveman from crawling off to his favorite spot--under a rock~ Now if I can just get all of our talented cavemen an women out from under their rocks and into print ..... 25 I would also like to thank those who have gone out of .LeLr way to compliment the previous issue. You should notice a somewhat bolder print 1n this number and a greater use of space to squeeze in mOTe words per page. The topic of state cave vandalism laws, inaeted and or proposed, is a current one. Such a law has recently been passed in California and a similar bill is pending in Missouri. If you have any information on such legislative activity past or present in YOUy state or other states, or would like to ex- ~ress your opinions regarding the need for such laws, please 1rop me a line. DOWN UNDER plans to review the subject in a "ut ur e issue. On this note, I will end comment by saying it looks like a terrific year for cave attendance. Wishing everyone a ~uccessful Bicentennial summer. IIi to All: Those of our members who did not or could not make our Mid-Winter Meeting in Miami,' missed an excellent program. Our cave meeting was a short, one day affair, but was very in- formative. We covered a number of subjects. We tried to reach a decision on the NCA Movie but was unable to. All of you will be receiving, or may have already received, a questionnaire from our Secretary, Barbara Munson) regarding this matter. We should be able to resolve the ques- tion at our regular ~eeting in Virginia this fall. In regard to our meeting at Luray Caverns, both Ted Graves and Torn Gibson have an excellent agenda worked out. This is the meeting for our Bicentennial Year, and I am asking that each member cave have a representative attend. Membership is again one of our major projects. If each member could contact a cave owne r or operator and discuss the real advantages of belonging to the NCA, we could double our membership. Give it some thought and have an answer at our regular meeting. Again, I ask that each member plan on attending our meeting in November and bring a prospective member,if possible. H. L. Anderson, President Nation~SSOCiation 26 Mid-Wi nter meeting The Mid-Winter Business Meeting of the NCA was held in Miami, Florida, on February 29, 1976. It was attended by members from seven states including California, New Mexico, Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Virginia and New York. Guests were Irwin Kirby and Roger J. Shaheen repre- senting the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) , and Thomas H. Jackson, Commissioner Tenn- essee Tourism Development. Reports given by Committee Chairmen covered recent developments in sign legislation on the Federal level, the pro- duction of an NCA film on caves, plans for the 1976 NCA Conven- tion in Virginia, and NCA goals. Summaries of these topics are given in the following pages of DOWN UNDER. NEW IN 1976 - CAVERNS COUNTRY CLUB Surrounded by the Blue Ridge and Massanutten Mountains, the new Caverns Country Club at Luray Caverns,Virginia, will open an IS-hole, par 72 golf course on May 1. The course will feature 6452 yards of gently Tolling fair- ways and is located 1 mile west of Luray Caverns and adjacent to the Luray Caverns Airport. 27 Sign Legis lat ion Tom Gibson Since March of 1975 a government report called a 'J[hree-Part Study of the National Standards for Directional and other Official Signs" has been in existence. It is a laboratory analysis of the adequacy of existing standards for Directional and other Official Signs, and I had an opportunity to see this study for the first time about a week after the October 1975 meeting of the NCA at Hannibal.

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