User:Kbh3rd/Floyd Collins

Floyd Collins was a cave explorer whose entrapment and eventual death in a Kentucky cave in 1925 caused a nation-wide media sensation.

Background

The cave wars of central Kentucky in the early 20th century centered on the area around Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave was an early attraction, drawing tourists from the Louisville-Nashville Railroad and the Dixie Highway, both of which passed nearby. Locals realized that possession of a cave to which they could attact some of the Mammoth tourists could pay much better than farming the rocky upland Kentucky soil. Intense competition developed between show cave operators, who used all sorts of chicanery to lure tourists to their caves and away from others'.

The best way to draw off the Mammoth tourist traffic was to own a cave on the route to Mammoth Cave from either of the rail and highway junctions at Cave City or FIXME. Floyd Collins, who had grown up discovering and exploring caves, had explored and developed Crystal Cave on nearby Flint Ridge as a show cave. But although Crystal Cave was near to Mammoth, it was very much out of the way to get to. It never propspered as a commercial venture. Collins was convinced that he could succeed if he could find and develop a cave closer to the tourist traffic. To that end he reached an agreement with FIXME to share profits from any cave on his property on the road to Mammoth that Collins could find and develop commercially.

Entrapment

Floyd Collins believed that he had found his show cave in a small passage at the base of a low bluff only a few hundred yards off the main road to Mammoth Cave. The passage was very small, but Collins believed that it lead to a promising cavern. Having previously set off a charge of dynamite in the passageway, he set off on the morning of FIXME to work on enlarging the tunnel. Contrary to all modern ideas of caving safety, he went alone and with a kerosene lantern as his only source of light.

The unnamed cave that Collins was exploring was tight and steeply inclined. FIXME feet below the surface level Collins was working his way up an extremely tight passage by "worming" on his stomache with his arms at his side. His feet dislodged a rock in the ceiling which fell on his ankle, followed by a quantity of loose material that covered his legs and hands. He was almost completely immobilized, unable even to bring his hands forward. Any attempt to struggle free just caused more material to fall, worsening his plight. FIXME-did-his-light-go-out-then. Knowing that no one could hear him, he screamed until his voice went out.

Caving safety

Though the contemporary press entertained the hyberbole that Floyd Collins was the world's greatest cave explorer, he doomed himself by violating practically all modern principles of caving safety:

• Never go caving alone – always go in groups of four or more. When an accident happens to an individual in a group of four, one person can remain with the victim while two go out for help. Collins was caving alone.
• Each individual should have four sources of light. The caver's life depends on his light – multiple backup sources are essential. Collins had only one.
• Always tell someone who will miss you where you are going and when you are expected back. In case of trouble, you don't want to wait days before a rescue party is organized, and you want them to know where to look. Collins did leave word of where he was going, but no one in particular was waiting for his return, delaying the first rescue attempt.
• Do not exceed you abilities. Different sorts of caves require differnt sorts of skills. Ropework and vertical climbs, e.g., should only be attempted by those with the proper training and experience. The difficulty of such efforts is always magnified underground. Collins was very experienced. But his escape from previous dangers left him feeling overconfident in his abilities.
• Have the right equipment and be sure of its condition. The first items on all cavers' equipment lists are light sources, hard hats, and proper clothing. The demands of a particular cave may add to that list. Collins had insufficient light of an unreliable sort, a kerosene lantern. He had no hard hat. In this case neither shortcoming was a factor in his demise.
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References

• Murray, Robert K.; & Brucker, Roger W. (1979). Trapped! G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-12373-3.