Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-12-18

8. Lake MeIy,
.. Lake Flora,
10. OIL Lake. Humboldt
IL. Lake Gertrude. Wright
IL. Lake CorneIis,
10. Elm Lake
II. Wall Lake,
is. Tain Lakes, Calhoun
l6. wall Lake." Sac
Almost every ono Of these lakes presents
The same phenomena. and 10 just - worthy
the name Of "wslled lake" - those are con-
corning which 20 much las been said. They
vary from half mile TO Eve miles in length
some Of which ere beautiful little sheets OF
water, but others are % grown up With
Wild rico aud rushss that they ere quite up.
interesting in appearance, and oil Of them
are shallow. The region where most o.
them exist has gently undulating surface.
aud the dsprcssions between the numerous
| rounded elevations not communicating 10
freely with each other 40 the depssssiens in
we'll drained regions do. many Of ahem have
become occupied by peat marshes and ANAL
lake. which drain into the uppes branches
II the rivers that rise in, or flow through
that region. The drift msterai there con-
sists much moro lssgely Of sand, gravel and
bouldsrs than it does further 10 the south
| ward, and the soil and sub-soil contain pro-
portionally loss clsyey material. Il is true
that on the moro level prairies Of that re-
gion comparatively few bouldeSs are seen
upon shs surface, but along every stream
aud near every lake they arc abundant,
| showing that they do exist There, and the
reason Why they are nss exposed on the
more level psairiss such % surround NV all
cd Lake" in Wright county, 10 because they
have not been "panned out" TO use . mi
neS's phrase, by the washing OF . lAkslsv 8
waves or the ossselsss current Of stream /;
but remain covered by the Zoe material
which constitutes the prairie soil. In the
region Of majority Of these lakes, however,
bouldsrs and gravel are plentifully d,strib-
uted, being particularly abundant on some
Of the knoos, and doubtless not less 90 be-
meath the finer soil material Of the lower
lands. Originally the banks Of oil these
iskes were low, and evidently sloped very
gently to the water and thence IL bottom
,Ioped NJ gently to the deeper paris Of tile
lake, which as before said, are never very
deep. fifteen feet being probably the great
60, deptn OF any. The change in the char
ac,ers Of their shores has teex produced en-
fire'y BY the ice. aided by the d.shing ofthe
waves.
Tho walls" or moro properly, embank-
ments, are really very interesting natural
oi jects, and it 10 not surprising that they
nave attracted some attention. They vary
much in height and width, as we'll a. in the
mAttriAls which compose them, sometimes
| tlnv Ill at k..t
often Of sand, gravel, aud earthly material
thrown out OF the bed Of the lake. In many
instances whore peat marsh extends out
ike an arm OF the lake, it Is entirely sepa-
rated from il by On enbankment Of turf
thrown up by the same agency, but Of turf
because that, ard no other material was
within reach Of the ice. These turf em.
banknents sometimes have . growth OF
Willows upon them, and have been called
beaver dams; but beavers never attempt TO
dam still waters. They dam running
streams TO obtain ponds Of still water
These turf embankments very much resem-
BILE the material thrown out Of ditch In
draining marsh, but their origin 10 unmis-
taxable. When the embankmcnts are CON-
posed principally Of bould,rs they are unu-
sually thrown up from two TO four leet
high, and from five to fifteen feet wide, aud
Undecided In sand, gravel and earth, the
outside Of the emban kment being usually
~ steep 20 the inner, or lake side; and the
latter often resembles an artificial levce.-
Although they sometimes have degree Of
regularity, the boulders which compose
them are never arranged in any order, nor
- there an appearance Of any work Of art
upon them.
The entertainments always separate q
piece Of low ground from the lake, but where
toe adjacent land 10 higher than the high
est water OF the lake no embankment is
formed, but the matsrisls arc simply crowd
cd against the shore until . Atcep. bold
bank, often covered with bouldsrs. 10 pro.
duced.
when they are composed principally Of
sand and gravel . broadly rounded ridge il
formed such Is We would expect from those
materisls but when conposed Of more
earthly materials they ere often very steep
and very marrow, and supported BY gro y III
Of vegetation upon them. Such % these
were seen on tho esst shore Of Rice Lake.
where they are IN some instances 90 marrow
that two persons cannot walk abreast on
them. although they are irsm four % elk
fsot high. 10 other places they arc often
woe enough Tor wagon road. but never
sufficiently even for one
The water in these lakes is almost always
!ow 10 the latter part Of the year, aid the
irose Vi winter still further reduces the act
ual depth, % that very little unhosen wa
ter remains in some Of them. This 10 often
koswn to Be the case and only . few win.
tiers ego nearly oil the fish Of Wall Lake
in Wright county were killed By that
means.
Il 10 evident that whoever the ice be-
came frozen TO The bottom Of tho lake. il
would freeze fast to, ard in many instances
enclose the boulders and gravel, which were
stressd upon its bottom. Nov when spvins
returned. the tee Seine saised By che rsios
ana melting SHOWS, would be carried With
its burthcns to the high water shore by Abe
prevailing wind. Let this process be re-
peatcd year after year, from see to age. and
II is evident that oil the bouldcrs within
resch Of the ice world in time be taken nm |
aud carried to the shore, and left exaotlv
wnere the force Of the ice ceased u act
Added to this, the almost constant dseh;n.
Of Ne waves against the beach du,ing ,he
warmer portions OF the year vcu,d h.ve s,,s
effect oil Carrying out large qusnti,,.. ~
gravel and sand which would comn,.,.,.
iubed the bouldcrs. There is also sno,hs,
cause which doubtless assisted more than
any other in giving toe embank mcnts their
definite form.
Tne whole surface Of these lakes freezes
up almost simultaneously, and 10
considerable depth. Now the natural
expansion Of solid cake Of IL.
from half mic TO I've m;l,e 4,
diameter. has. as every one knov.
enormous power, quite equal to any amount
required to throw up any and eli The boui.
dsrs We find in the embsnk ments. or cro-a
shen thiekly assiass shs sleeper sh,res
NO natural force would bring them back
again. and the annual repetition Of The
forces above rsferrsd 10 a6ossis sufF;c;.ns
explanation Of these phenomena.
It msy Be thought by some that The pro
cesses described could b TOO slov 20 pro.
ducs the results which wssee. but elewns
% quite in keeping With che mirAtle m.
srasions Of nature. 1.-THE Mills Of The I'D.
grind slowly, but they grind exceeding
ans."
The shores Of Crystal Lake show to sets
Oh amman sncnfn. nhowsnr sh~A -. |