News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-07-05
AT ASALTL LAKE RESORT.
Where Swimming is Easier than
Rolling OFF a Log, but Diving
Difficult,

rTOu me 6uft ItpuDIlChus
Mormons and Gentiles, men and
women, old and young, short and tall,
all bobbing up and down like animated
corks in the water-such is the scene to
be witnessed any day at Garfield Beach,
the fashionable resort on Great Salt
Lake, near Salt Lake City, Utah.
The water here is % per cent salt. Just
what that means may be illustrated by
the statement that ordinary sea water
contains about 7 per cent. salt, SO that
the percentage of saline material at
Garfield Beach is more than three times
as great. The beach is so shelving that
a person of ordinary height will have to
go about fifty yards from the edge ii
the water before getting beyond his
depth. But that will make very little
difference, for, strange as it may seem,
much he may try. In the deep water
one may float on his back in the ordin-
airy way, and without the LEASE possible
himself, retain q perfectly ~perpendicu-
lar position, and when thus standing"
in the water his shoulders will protrude
above the waves.
In the water of Salt Lake the exper-
fenced swimmer has but little advantage
over the merest tyro, since excessive en-
deavor does not produce rapid advance
ment. The better ways appears to be to
take a moderate stroke, care being observ-
ed to keep the feet from coming to the
surface. Wilhelm ordinary water a swim
mer maintains a position of about forty
degrees from the horizontal, in Salt Lake
he very nearly skins the surface. This
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and, the limbs being in motion, of course
the tendency is for them to come to the
top. Probably as good a way as any is
ming hand over hand, in what the boys
call E'dog fashion" In this way good
progress is made with but slight exer-
ton. Diving is almost a physical i'm
possibility, unless one jumps from an
elevated position. Even then one sinks
hut q short distance aud pops up again
like n life preserver that has been forcib-
ly submerged. There are spring boards
for those who like this kind of amuse-
ment, and adventurous spirits are able
to keep out of sight an unusual length
of time by carrying weights in their
hands when they take the plunge.
The famous Black Rock, upon whose
summit the watch fires of the Indians
were seen and dreaded by the early set
tiers, is about three-quarters of a milo
from the Garfield Beach Hotel, the beach
itself extending even beyondit. The rock
is now 200 yards from the shore, and the
water at its base is nearly twelve feet
deep. As late RS 1865 one could walk out
to this rock dry shod, but about the time
indicated, the WI er in the lake began
to rise and has continued to incre
ase in volume almost ever since.
This is one of the mysteries of
the lake, since the average rainfall has
not been ~perceptibly greater than before
that time. Another marvellous phenom-
enon is the existence of clear, pure
springs on the islands in the midst of
this great sea of salt water. On Antel-
ope Island there is a spring furnishing
water enough for a good-sized mill
stream. This water burts from near the
top of the highest point on the island,
several hundred feet above the level of
the lake. So near the top of the island
is it that a tunnel of ten feet through the
crest of the hill would turn the entire
flow from the west to the east side of the
island. On Fremont Island there are not
many strong springs, but number of
artesian wells have been bored and in
every case they have furnished water of
a fine quality and il abundant quantity.