Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-09-26

Sseapes with loud sound not unlila tba+
I'm 'ne escape pipe of an engine. froI.
Whlen II Is called the Steamboa+ -
The amount of steam eiectad 60, 80
aperture is very great The So" -. :.
quite hot, and often rises several hundred
feet high and it is elected in regular pul-
satiOns, as by an engine at work, each
pulsation sending the steam up fifty to
seventy-tive feet. On the same side of the
ravine as this Steamboat Spring and some
Fl fly rods below, is the greatest attraction
of this land of volcanic wonders-the
Witch's CauldrOn. It is an unfathonable
pool, near seven feet in diameter, filled
with viscid, Stygian fluid, which at a
temperature of 200 degrees, is continually
boiling and spiashing, seething. and roar
ing, with a most unearthly smell and ap-
pearance. The rocks that form the back
wall to this internal fount are for many
feet begrimmed by the heat and sulphur
Gus gases, and ornamented above with
crystals of sulphur, The fetid odor of the
sulphuretted hydrogen gas issuing from
this Stygian bowl makes the visitor think
of putrid eggs, suddenly mashed, would
be relief. There are other wonders here
to be found, such as springs only few feet
apart, one cold and the other seething hot;
| and other springs issuing apparently from
! the same orifice, of waters of different
color, smell, taste, and chemical compost
ton; some assures through which steam
will be issuing with gentle murmuring
sound, and one close by emitting a loud
and terrible wheeze; one spring out of
| which spOuts pure clear water, while one
close by is seething with a vile, miry,
inky compound; one place where the visi-
tor can get breath of fresh air, another
near by where he is suffOcated by noxious,
mephitic vapors; and many similar con-
ktrasts. -
/ t'tHere we would turn up a patch of
brown, crumbly soil, and find clay that
looks like blue vitriol; near by, under a
shelving ledge, is brisk, bubbling pool,
overhung with verdigris encrustings, a
few feet off sputs a beaded jet of hot water
which sheds dismal brown casting over
| the surrounding earth a little way furth-
er still, is spring that looks like pure
hot ink; then we discover rock Of alum
that weighs two or three hundred pounds; ;
then a small fountain Of Epson salts; not
far off, again, basin apparently of boil
ing sOap-suds; then iron springs, soda
springs, white, red, and black sulphur
springs; and soon a foul Stygian sluice,
close to the wall, from which a steam ex-
hales that covers the overhanging earth
with Shiny deposit which eats your
clothes, if you touch it,. as ravenously as
;. aqua fortis. Yet, it is not at all times that
these phenomena can be seen. At times,
the steam is not rising from any of the
Il apertures exceptin small quantities at 9TH
er times the various vents are putting away,
and the steam rising three or four hum
: dred feet; at times very little commotion
! is experienced, and the subterranean
: | forces seem slumbering; at others the din
I and tumuIt is deafening. 1t is stated that
/ the hot water and acids are decomposing
: the rocks around some of the most active
7 lGeysers, and the ground is gradually
{ sinking" About four miles up Pluton
I Canon are situated the Little Geysers.
i | They consist of number of hot springs
along hillside. Many of the effects seen
: at the Geysers may be here witnessed
Z but the water is pure. Several forms Of
; vegetation are seen growing in this vol
l. canic region. Some low forms of growth.
; | such as alg8 and cOnferva, grow on the
y surface of the water that stands at a tenn
u perature of from 100 degrees to 200 de-
!, grees. The Geysers were first discovered
q in l847, and have since been visited by
= tourists and pleasure-seekers in great
y numbers from almost every part of the
world. Those who see 1t in favorable
, times, when the Grand Chemist has his
10 works in full operation, are sublimely i'm
. pressed with the scene. TYPO.