Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-02-04


ment.
The following confirmations were made:
j. E. Skipper to be Clerk of Washington
county;J. NJ. Owens to be Assessor of Orange
county; w. L Frierson to be Judge OF
fernando county; A. Reid to be Clerk of
Suwannee county.
Some light on a Dark S1bject-The
Florida "What Is Hts'-LOcalIIy-
What Has Been Seen-COunITy
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 30 be Met-A
Suggestion 10 the NabObs-TVvO
Good BilIs-HIt at the Mails How
TO be Popular-Wbat Pese and BilI
Think OF BOb-GIve EBisbee a
Chance.
TALLAHASSEE, February 1.-The following in
formation respecting the Florida volcano %,
geyser (?), boiling spring (f). or something
else was obtained from an entirely reliable
gentleman of jefferson county, who lived for
several years within some eight or ten miles,
as he supposes. of the phenomenon. My
thanks are due him, and are hereby rendered
for his kindness.
The scene of this mystery is situated on range
3, s and E., in township 8 or q. The smoke
and light have been visible, to the positive
knowledge of my informant, since 1858, from
the most southern range of hills running E.
and w. in Jefferson county. At times this
smoke can be observed quito constantly every
clear day, and the light at night, for a month
or two in succession
The coun ry south Of this range OF hills Is
almost as fiat as fl :or. with very slight fall,
not over fifteen feet in eighteen miles,
to the Gulf OF Mexico. There is scarcely an
elevation. except an occasional indian mound,
higher than the hill Of q asalamaader. The
country is thickly dotted with ponds grown
up with cypress, gum, pine, vines, water
plaatS and saw grass, interspersed with deuse,
| b0ggy swamps. and traversed by numerous
streams whose course is generally southerly
Lime sinks are frequently encountered.
In spots there are large quantities Of rock,
varying in size from masses weighing several
tons to small fragments. Soma OF these pre-
sent the appearance of having been subjected
to the action Of fire, and have eviJently once
been in a molten condition. They lie in I'M
natural and irregular Positions and convey
the idea that they have been forced upward
by some powerful agent from below.
The pillar OF smoke, to be seen frequently in
clear weather, resembles In size that of col
unn ascending from the stack of an ordinary
steamer, and is usually black in color, chang
log at times to lighter hue, and again re-
sembling thin vapor.
At night, when the atmosphere is clear, and
the wind lulled, the smoke settl in a cloud
over the spot, and far above the trees can be
seen reflection of light from below as if pro-
ceeding from combustion.
There are several points on the coast from
whence the phenomena mentioned can be dis
cerned Notably among these there is huge
rock known as the Grey Mare"
NY informant has no special theory to ad-
vance upon the subject of the mystery, and
has never been engaged in an expedition to
discover its origin. The nature OF the country
10 fn6 izC tlnfn ND
ties to be encountered so great that although
several parties have been organized to solve
the problem, every effort thus far has resulted
in failure.
The gentleman alluded to advances the opin-
ion that with the aid of one or more expert
enced wcodmen, competent surveyor and
some stout lahorers, the point sought could be
reached in fifteen days. Boats, light and
strong, would also be required.
The impedimentS are the tangled masses Of
vines and scrubby underground, through
and the soft, oozy quagmires that impede the
progress of explorers. A person falling into
this yielding mud of unknown depth would
incur considerable risk of being completely en-
gulphed.
This subject has excited great curiosity, and
general desire is expressed to discover So
luton. IL of volcanic origin, may it not have
some connection with the currents of poison
GUS water that sometimes appear in the Gulf,
destroying myriads OF its finny inhabitantsf
II some of the wealthy Northern visitors
now in Jacksonville desire to gild their names
with the halo of immortality, and satisfy the
craving thirst for knowledge, let them take
thousand dollar 6ill out of their bulky pocket
books. organize and equip a suitable party
with the necessary appliances, settle this
vexed question, and take their places among
those famous on the roll of benefactors. AS
Colonel Sellers would say, there may be mil
lions in it." AT some future time / may say
more Of this matter.
Mr. Byrne. member of the Assembly from
EScambia, has introduced the following excel
lent bill, which, it is to be hoped will soon be-
come a law:
the business OF any other person, willfuIly and
malicious y, by using threats Of violence or in
timidation towards the employees of such
other person, shall be deemed guilty Of mis-
demeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall
be punished by fine not less than twenty-five
dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, or
be confined in the county jail not more than
three months !"
Such law as this is needed to prevent the
repetition OF such disturbances as occurred
last summer, during the strike of the hands
employed Ia the saw mills Of Jacksonville.
This difficulty resulted in the death of police
man, the conviction of his murderer who now
lies in the DuvaI Jail, under sentence of death,
the interruption of business and the great
anxiety of the whole community.
Those who will not work themselves should
not be allowed to prevent those who desire to
labor from pursuing their avocations, and such
bill will probably deter those dogs in
During almost every session there are one or
more bills introduced for the relief of officers
who have incurred loss by transmitting pack
ages of money through the mails to the differ
ent departments in Tallahassee The follow.
ing bin of Dr. McMeeEin, of Putnam. is in
tended to act as remedy. BY the way, 1t is
rather severe commentary upon the security
of our present mail system
"All moneys and papers of value, transmitted
by authority of law by one officer to another
shall be transmitted through reliable express
risk of the sender.
This is not verv complimentary to Uncle
Sans post office arrangements, or to those en-
trusted to their management but the "a q
ouency of such accidents has created the me-
cessity of such statute.
A good and sensible resoluto was adopted
in the Senate yesterday-that no memorials to
Congress be presented in either House after
the 5th of February. These documents with
which the Legislature has been flooded, are
delusions, humbugs and Jack-a-Lanterns.
They consume time, cost money and effect
nothing. One is granted about as often as a
man draws the capital prize in a lottery
They, however, give some eclGt to the hon
0raole or! member from - county, and Bill
slaps him on the back, and roars out, "Old
fellow Have you seen what Bob Pleasum is
going to do for us Z Why he's going to get
Congress to clean out Coon Branch and Pos
sum Creek. Maybe some catfish can get up to
where we live, when there's freshet and we
can get mess now and then / always said
Bob was smart fellow, and looked out for
poor people. tell you, Pete. the best thing we
can do Is to send hinA TO Tallahassee again II
At some leisure moment. intend to aggre-
gate the amount Of the intended raids upon
the National Treasury as an item for the In
formation of those curl us upon such subjects
The sum total viii be rather startling
It wouldn't be surprising at any moment to
have DR.. Crawford. the worthy Secretary of
State. apply for additional clerical aid to pre-
pare copies OF these multitudinous papers for
the guidance OF our members at Washington.
Would 1t not be q firstrate idea to turn the
whole batch over to Col Horatio Bisbee He
has only month longer to serve. has never
accomplished anything for Florida, has the
reputation OF being ambitious and cheeky,
and could, by pushing these matters through.
have q grand opportunity OF winding up his
Congressional career In perf It blaze OF
glory.
ter: W.H.B.