The daily gazette., 1883-03-20

1
II the telescope eye Of the imagination be
| turned back into the dim recesses OF the
past; If it be directed upon that period Of
the worlds history antecedent TO the settle
| ment Of New Jersey by some hundreds Of
thousands Of years, and II the uncertain
light of that prehistoric age be concentrated
| upon the focus established by modern scien-
tific investigation, it will be discovered that
where the good city of Philadelphia now
stands was once wide, troubled waste OF
waters. So deep was the flood that the tall
est tower of the tall City Hall would not
have reached to within half mile
of the surface. So much, at least, has been
| found out by q patient Delaware geol-
ogist, into whose well-stacked library q
| Press reporter stumbled some days since
while roaming through Kent county in
search of rural sensations. Against the
wall of the cosy study hung huge map,
| whereon were depicted the various towns,
! villages, creeks and cross roads of that little
State, together with the dates of the crea-
ton, discovery or establishment of each.
Books and papers lay scattered in confusion,
| and upon the cheek of the geologist there
burned an enthusiasm begotren Of some
/ years Of patient study and investigation, To
| the reporter he unfolded the result Of his
labor, which the reporter in turn win briefly
describe and in his own language.
PREHISTORIC FACTS.
A good while ago, before Moses was
thought of, the Atlantic Ocean stretched,
with high water line, diagonally across New
| Jersey and New Castle county, Delaware,
down through Kent county, Maryland, to
| Talbot county, and thence over the Western
Shore into Virginia. At this time the val
leys of lower New York and Eastern Penn
sylvania, including Bucks, Chester, Mont
gomery and Delaware counties, were
covered in places with water. A violent
agitation broke down the barriers forming
an opening for the Susquehanna. The
mighty flood pushed the then ocean line to
Delaware City, where the canal now begins,
| and buried all loose matter, such as shells
| and sand, under 80 feet of water. The high
water mark of this period is clearly shown
| by the mold found at this distance under
| the surface of the ground. Phosphate
| beds were made, which afterwards were So
| lidifed into coal deposits. The ocean, still
| advancing, carried tar out over the high
water mark huge boulders, clay in masses
and clay in solution. The grit and sand
were washed free and eddied in every direc-
tton. At the first opportunity they settled,
and the primary step had been taken In the
| formation ofa Peninsula. 1t was this ere
alton by jerks. as it were, which resulted in
the peculiarly irregular character of the
Delaware soils and sub-soils, and the general
facing of the drift south and from left to
| right Little by little the land was formed,
like bars at the mouths of creeks. In dig
| ging wells In Kent county and the lower
part of New Castle county distinct mold
line will be found from so TO 100 feet below
the surface.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
The only geological survey OF the State
ever attempted was made In 1888 by James
c. Booth, and he was unable to discover any
continuous strata of the clay beds of New
| Castle county. The iron ores In the western
part of the upper portion of the State, which
arc 30 thoroughly commingled with the soil
and sub-soil, giving the rust color and fine
flavor to all fruits, but particularly to the
peach; retaining moisture in an unusual
degree; and in many places converting the
gravel into "hard pan, were washed from
the ore beds of Pennsylvania, and held
evenly in solution with the clay and
mud deposits. The copperas, which
has heen found in such quantities IN
Sussex county as to excite the hope
that it might be proftably worked as bog
ore, was deposited by leaking swamps from
adjacent soils. This process may also ex-
plain the existence of the gold found few
months since in the chimney of an old
house in Laurel, the discovery of which
threw the neighborhood into intense excite
ment and nearly resulted in the demolitio.
of every chimney in the town. The
gold was no doubt swept, along with the
loose mud, from the gold-bearing deposits
upon which Philadelphia is built. In this
| connection Ex-Governor Pollock says, that,
| could the precious metal be extracted there
would be yielded a thick gold leaf two
inches square TO every brick. 1t may be the
leaking of this duf1im which gives the pecu-
liar flavor to the Schuylkll water The
water-holding sinks or basins 50 numerous
on the Peninsula's S dividing ridge were most
likely made by the surface eddies, just as
basins are to-day found at the mouth of oul
creeks. The steady, onward march of the
waters from their original line is observable
everywhere. In the north of the State are
rocks, but, as the south is reached, the sane
becomes more and more plentiful, showing
how the ocean pushed it before 1t, dropping
rocks and boulders as long as the supply
lasted, and keeping the light sand in ad
vance, in constantly increasing quantities
like snow before sweeper, and finally
launching 1t in vast masses around Lewes
and from there to Berlin and Ocean City
Sussex's famous cypress swamp stands al
anomaly in the sandy formation. Tn
present growth is four feet above a vas
forest, long since buried, which may, il
time, have superseded, at a similar height
another growth; and thus the process ma
have gone on for ages. Even now, a secont
cypress swamp is forming above the presen
one, and along the Indian River.
THE ORIGINAL SWAMP.
. At the time OF the formation of the orig
nal swamp, the ocean line probably extende
in about a straight line from the mouth {
Milford creek to the west side of the swamp
The reccding of the water, and the will
drawal of the pressure, was followed by
! falling OIL Of the currents, which droppe
their deposits along the then water lint
Thus was made basin OF red clay, Gu
from the new formed river channels, whi
the light sands washed from these ella,
were carried by the currents further out
taken up by the wave action of the oceai
D | and deposited as a reef, where now exis
the sand ridge from Millsboro to DagsborC
The sinking of the waters left the entil
Peninsula high and dry, and the great basi
remained an inlet, to grow up as a cypre.
swamp.
To touch again on the drifts and eurren
: and their sources, 1t is likely that a larl
!, portion of the Peninsula below Indian riyI
q was formed by the Susquehanna. What a
tlon was exerted by the Delaware river W,
y accomplished at first when the waterhea
was very great, rushing the currents to the
EXTREMIST limit of pulsation into the oceal
One other peculiar formation, that of Il
.e Lewes sand dunes, remains 20 be me-
e toned. The sand pushed down from Ne
&c Castle by the onrushing waters was au
:. mented by that washed up from the sea al
IL twisted and rolled into immense hillocks,
variable as woman's desires, as treacherol
aS a Damhler'S affaptiOn and O narnatu