Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-03-08
WONDERFUL cAJAH POND.


IL lie Full of Floating IslHnds from which
ftshcrmcn Troll for Pickerel.
"A dispatch In n New York paper from .
place In Minnesota, announcing as remark
able Tact the discovery of floating island
IN small lake In that State, inclInes the
residents OF Honesdale, Pa, to the belief
that II one floating island In y State so
famous for natural curiosities as Minnesota
Is considered q wonder, they have been liy-
ing AL their lives with still greater wonder
close by without attaching any great impor-
lance TO II Tney have q lake a mile from
Honesdale which is filled with tioatsng
islands. This lake is known locally as
Calah pond. Il Is two hundred feet above
the village. II is dotted with dozen or
more Islands. These are covered with trees,
some OF them twenty feet high. and dense
growth OF thick foliaged bushes
The island bottoms are marshy, but the
soil IL stir enough TO sustain easily the
weight Of tho fishermen who troll for pick
ereI from the islands In the summer fishing
season. In the summer these little islands
are pleasing variations In the beauty Of the
scene the lake presents 10 the spectator as
he gazes upon IL from the hills that encircle
It IL the wind happens TO be strong and
variable, as 1t generally Is on the lake, tho
visitor who looks upon the lake for the first
time can hardly help being startled TO sec
these islands moving about from one point
OF the compass TO another ss the wind
shifts. On one day these islands may be
seen huddied together In one spot, and on
another day, perhaps, they will be seen
scattered widely apart. An island from
which the fisherman casts his line mt one
end OF the lake to-day will, in all probable
ity, invite him to II from the other extremity
tomorrow.
The largest OF these islands was some
years ago partial to the lower end OF the
lake, and hugged the shore there with only
slight changes in position day in and day
out. During stiff wind one day this island
tackled first to one side and then 10 the other
side OF the lake, moving slowly the while TO
the upper end, until IL was fioated against
the shore at that end II remained there for
two or three years through some of the
hardest winds that blew OF that shore. One
day while three pickerel hshermen were
fishing from the islands outer edge IT sud.
denly was seized with within, induced or
prompted only by gentle wind, and before
the fishermen knew IL they found them
selves fifty feet from shore The island
hoated slowly across the lake until 1t had
almost reached that shore, when q counter
breeze struck II aud sent II down tho lake.
IL finally landed near the spot where IL
started from year ago, and II has remained
in that vicinity ever since, simply taking .
snort trip now aud then 10 and fro across
the lake, but always returning to or near
its old mornings.
Although these fair islands are constantly
shifting their places In the lake, they an
nualiy add perceptibly TO their area. There
are six or eight OF them, and the scientific
theory Is that In time the roots OF the trees
that cover them will extend down into the
water 30 far that they will anchor the
islands in the lake, and that by tho slow but
certain processes Of nature they will DO in
creased in size until tho surface Of the lake
will become solid land