Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-03-28
UNDERGROUND RIVERS.
Warehouses Lately Found.
The List of Subterranean Streams Is
Now a Large One and Contains
the Name Of Every Country
on the Globe Mysterious
Channels.

come quite an extensive one. 1t was onl,
a few days ago that tt dispatches gave al
account of the discovery of one of thes
streams in one of the eastern states and il
exploration for miles in Il canoe bv twt
adventurous discoyerers According t,
the published account taIs stream is ever
more remarkable than that found in tn
Mammoth cave IN Kentucky. This latter
flows a distance of 800 feet beneath tn,
earth S surface between banks about tnirt,
feet apart, and is volumne of waite
forty feet deep. Rolling on for about ;
quarter of a mile it disappears in a banl
of fine sand, veiled in both its coming anC
its going as the mystery of lite itself. Les
known, or rather less written of. is tn,
river Lys, which, on its entrance into Bel
GUM, dashes abruptly over a precipic,
and is lost to sight for nearly half mile
The Meuse also has subterranean course
extending to distance of SIX miles, Will,
the River Dromme in Normandy on near
ing the sea, plunges into a hole thirty-nint
feet wide. known as the Pit of Soucy, from
which 1t never reappears, except in the
form OF new springs, which are supposed
to arise from the lost waters. In Derby
shire, England, there are two small streams
called the HampS and the Manifold. Form
ed by the union of several small springs
they flow IN the open for short distance
and then turn IN close together under the
face of a hill range Here they have made
for themselves passage through the soliC
earth, and for miles they flow underground
each maintaining Its own complete individ
uallly until at length they re-emerge to the
light by apertures 0nI Y fifteen yards apart
That their waters never interminglt
is proved by this experiment any
floating body thrown in where the river
enters the undergrown passage reappears il
the separate river into which it has beer
thrown when the strange streams Of water
issue into the light of day.
A somewhat similar condition of affairs
is said to exist about little Cornish lake
called DOzmere OF Dozmary pool. supposed
to be that mere into which the good sword
Excallbar was thrown 1t has neither
visible outlet nor inlet, but it is said that
articles thrown INTO the lake will reappear
in Falmouth harbor, which is at least six
ty miles away. There is quite an Arthur
ian flavor of romance about this story, it is
true, but the thing is vouched for as a
fact by several reputable oldest inhabi-
tants.
Sometimes the conditions are reversed
and the river, instead of disappearing be-
fore 1t reaches the sea, comes from the sea
and disappears in the land In the article
in Nature of January. 1886, entitled Curl
Gus Phenomenon in Cephalonia, the writer
says: The sea runs into the land in a
strong stream, tuning a water-wheel on
the way, and disappears in the earth about
100 yards from the entrance Imagine, "
says the contributor. that the water must
be converted into steam which comes out
either at Ae4~>es or CsrEslonia.' -
This is by no means the only seated
river, it appears, for very soon after the
publication of the above statement it was
followed by another from New York
gentleman, who said that such were COM
mon in Mexico, where they were known as
'zanates. While passing through Yu-
catan In 1870" he writes. Il saw a large
river running with torrential speed within
a large tunnel, not ar from the Seashore,
and probably over one hundred feet below
the surface of the Oeean. Its shaft-like en-
trance was adorned by a picturesque old
Spanish well-curb Of stone, furnished with
standards of fancifuly wrought ironwork.
Nothing on the surface indicated the ex-
lstence of the vast civern under the monot-
onous and flat lowIands of the peninsula of
1ucatan; and though not breath of air
stirred, the deatenITg roar of the torrent
under our feet cOulO not be perceived un-
III we were fully INSIDE of the cavern. A
rapid descent brought US to the level of the
pumps used for lrrlgdtlng very extensive
Xtl plantation, and from here we could see
by the light of our torches the yellow foam
OF the waters upon the underlined back
ground of the chasm below. Descending
still farther, the full stream could be seen
through a wide fssue in the limestone of
the cave. 1t had the rounded appearance
of a stream flowing horizontally under
great pressure, ten or twelve feet in diam
eter, and looking like a gigantic black
icicle lying on It's side. The large volume
of water plunged with great swiftness into
an unexplored and dark chamber with a
terrific roar, producing noises which re-
sembled the hollow echoes of heavy explo,
sions heard now and then above the per
petual rumbling of the rushing water. The
mouth or entrance of the zanate was only
twentyeight feet above the level of the
Gulf of Mexico. and as my barometer in
dlCated descent of 140 feet it meant that
the river was flowing l12 feet below the
level OF the sea. The manager Of the plan
tatiOn near which was found the subterra-
mean stream informed the writer that there
were many other such Zanates along the
coast, and that they were looked upon by
the natives with almost superstitiOus rev
erence, and spoken of as great miracles
which have always been as they are
now
The relationship between subterranean
rivers and lost steamers Is a very close one.
the latter being a tiuvial aspect with which
we are more familiar.
The phenomenon of a stream flowing
merrily down from the mountain and then
disappearing Is, in the west. very COM
mon one, says d writer In an early number
of Science. In following down the Ric
Grande on an enlarged map we find many
streams entering into 1t in its upper course
In going down a little farther, reaching
the San Luis valley, they are found to sud
denly give out on the northern side, and a
few miles farther down. on the southern
side also. The principal streams of the
valley, the Rio Grande excepted, come IL
full force down the mountain, flow freely
on, and terminate in marsh or a small
lake on the sana The beds of those which
should empty into the Rio Grande are there
but there is no water in them. Similar
streams are common all over the southwest
and the various streams show all the diff
ferent stages, from those which really q
somewheres all the time, and those which
alive and full of water above, ALWAYS fai
to reach the stream to which they ar
headed below.
"One time. saws a writer. Il had the
curiousity to examine the stream at tht
point where it was lost. Ii was the Ri
Hundo, Just south of Santa Fe We haC
crossed it lower down, and, through tn
ravine was seventy-fve or one hundre,
feet deep. we found it perfectly dry. W,
followed up its south bank for a mile O
two until We struck the foothills, an,
there We found a bright. ripplin,
stream, leaping down from ledge to ledge
very picturesque. with some shattere,
trees along the bank. and so broad that /
was not easy to pass over it. leaping fron
stone to stone and remain dry-shod. From
here my friends drove back to the crossing
and walked down TO see where and HOY
a stream could lose itself with such vol
ume Of water and a path well marke'
out for it / followed 1t down i
ran on merrily in the midst of little val
lev no more than SIX or eight rods wide
along which we're pretty meadows alter
mating with clumbs tf bushes. 1t passe
through the various incidents Of streaai
here a little fall. there a rapid owe
thickly set stones. little further on a pool
There seemed 10 ,se nothing unusual In II
when suddenly | noticed that the little val
lev widened to double Its previous width
Z IL l. -