The morning news., 1889-04-26

/ Ihls grand jury has ordered the discharge
! OF one deputy and the jaier, as we deefne
them untitled for theirre pective positions. "
| On the subject of sinks the Tavares
| Herald says: Among the curious natural
| phenomena of florida, particularly the
middle section, ara small ponds, known in
| colloquial phrase as sinks They are
| usually of irregular, round or oval shape,
and are found scattered throughout the
pine fosests. Generally speaking, they have
| neither visible supply or outlet, and yet
their level scarcely ever varies from one
season TO another. They are not supplied
by rains, since they are generally found in
| perfectly fiat sections, where there is but
! little drainage. Their waters are perfectly
| sweet and generally cold, indicating hidden
springs AS the source Of supply. Some of
them are very deep, one in particular, in
Leon county, having proved superior TO the
length of all the sounding lines 10 the neigh
boring country They are usually of crys-
staI clearness and contain small numbers
| OF fish. Whether the evaporation Just bal
ances the supply, or whether the sink
| nave subterraneau outlets as well as lnletS
are still matters of speculation. Possibly
| the now generally accepted theory that the
whole of Florida rests upon a bed Of coral
as a foundation, may oder sons eXplana-
ton OF these facts. AS matters now stand
these sinks present the strange spectacle
OF ponds that are not effected 10y drought or
ram, and always maintaining the same level
from year to year. The Orlando Record adds
the following Information: Orlando mas
upon her eastern outskirts one Of these sink
holes, covering az area of an acre or two,
| and containing pura and clear water, which
appears to remain at about the same blight
at all seasons of the year, notwithstanding
| the fact that numberless other lakes and
ponds are continually being drained into it.
The water is perfectly pure, and numbers
OF Dream and bass abound in it. There IS
no visible or apparent outlet to this sink,
and it IS said TO be bottOmlesS. This latter
statement we do not vouch for, however,
but propose eQuipping "a expedition to
fashion, its depths, and viii let our readers
know the result"
Pensacola NetCS: 1t is not a generally
known fact that Pensacola is, but for an
interruption. the oldest city in the United
States The figures 1896 IN the city's seal are
OF the year in which the first permanent set
tlement of the place was effected. but there
was an earlier establishment than that in this
vicinity. Judge r. L. Campbell, the sage
OF Oaktield, who has devoted considerable
time and research to the early history Of
Pensacola, says a colony came to this sec
ton four years before St Augustine was
founded. The colony, which came from
Mexico, embraced a population of 1900
to 1000 souls. The hegira from the land
subjugated by CocteZ was during
instigated by the archbishop OF Mexico.
The head of the settlement was one Arlola,
whose memory is being perpetuated in the
name Of a lovely sheet of water that lies
back of the marine railway at Navy Cove,
and which is nov known as Lake Ariola.
The precise spot upon which the first settle
ment was effected has never been ascer-
tanned. Judge Campbell is of the opinion
that it was nos upon the present location of
the city. He thinks that where Pensacola
now stands there must have been in those
times -swauap, and that the action of the
waves in deposlting sand from the sea
effected the formation of the present terra
firma. Even witnln the memory of some
of Pensacolas older inhabitants there
was a ti-ti swamp on Palafox street that
extended nearly as far back as whers the
Continental hotel now stands. 1t is known
that Ariola made an incursion from the set
tlement that took him to the Coosa river in
Alabama, but no data is obtainable upon
which even a respectable suspicion of the
first Pensacole'S location might be based.
1t is related that the dissolution of the first
settlement was due to religious discussions
amoug settlers. At any rate they we're all
bundled up, bag and baggage, and sent
whence they came. 1t was many, many
years after they bad left, before Pensacola,
with its subsequent changes of location from
Barrancas to Santa Rosa and thea to this
point, was founded.