Daily Gazette & Comet [Baton Rouge, LA], August 24, 1860
The Louisville Journal announces that “Bell’s tavern,” in Kentucky, kept by Mr. Proctor, was destroyed by the fire last Friday night, and adds:
For two generations past, and since the beginning of the present century, it has been the stopping place for all visitors to the Mammoth Cave, and there are thousands from every nation and clime who have enjoyed its boundless hospitality, its luxurious comforts, its well-spread table, and its snow drift sheets at night. It is the removal of an old land-mark, the death of a loved friend, the sundering of a strong tie of attachment. We have not as yet received any particulars as to the origin of the casualty, but we learn with regret that the destruction was complete, involving not only the capacious mansion but all its contents.