Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-08-14
THE POOL OF 49,.
A Sparkling Spring That ~
Which None Con n. IShales

or DEATH.
A Sparkling Spring Th.t
Which Mono Can Breathe -sna'es
Talking about Death y ,ra t,'
Gavin McNab, ACCORDING valley
Francisco Chronicle. II isno 10 the
this State where no liyina 1t 4p! asp
list five seconds, and the 81 . a salng cal
twenty feet of a travelled CONF count1 Is v
tell us about it, /" and tho esr =
clustered about the speaka re gentle
We'll, said Mr.. McNah Ct -
II did not know there was = VIII "
abundance of proof conce as q s.
story I am about to rel Ivtulag
should hesitate to tell It. A., 70
foot of the Mendocino M,n along q
the county by that name runs nan II
travelled road which leads a., N
town of Hopland to Ukiah. rr from
is on q bench or shelf abovol me
created by the Russian River sv
like all California streams, il NV, W
~ changing its channel, and be soas
within hundred yards Of tho eu ICE
the nearest point and again - hi iua
away. When the annual ov q aali.
cur it spreads over the whols 0 "
and is a mile or more wide. Inv,
this in order that you NAV nnd ael
the nature of the valley. Il ~
river bed, all sand aud gravel
here and there a bunch of scrnhbu
lows. 'ooy
an clump of these stunted tro.]
q point about three miles fro nee
land and about thirty feet trom
road l have mentioned, there bnbhI
spring of the clearest, most snsr J
water you ever saw. The onlv !.
peculiarly noticeable about tho W
from distance is the loud b;p
sound it makes as it gushes out ~ ~
gravelly soil 1t sounds more like
ing water with occasional lets Of -
escaping than it does like the ord,
purling of stream. Approach i
you will be startled to see living an
tho spring the skeleton of iundrad|
birds and scores of small animals
rs coons, foxes and the like, NJ
always there will be a body or tr
birds or animals in more or les,
vanced stage of decomposition pear
edge of the spring. If man is wi,
will be content with an inspected
the unattractive spot from q data
more especially if there happens h
the carcass of . steer lying besid
with the nose an inch or two from
water. The fact is, gentlemen,
there rises constantly from the spriI
gas SO ncxious and so deadly that
Whit Of it is sufficient to extinguisb
"The terrible character Of
spring." continued Mr.. McNab, sis
known to all who live in the neigh
hood. and they tell some horrible SD
concerning it. One day the littl
year-old daughter of a farmer III
near the spring wandered away
home. Her absence was not notice
an hour or two, and then the pa,
went in search of their child.
found her lying dead beside the sp
with little dead bird clutched ii
hand. She had evidently seen The
lying beside the spring, and being
tracted by the bright colors Of isp
age, had tried to pick it up, and
doing had inhaled the gas rising
the water and died with the birl
Another time,p said the narrSA
this strange story, "a squaw who
supposed to be recovering from as
wandered down by the spring
probably started to the river to
drink, when she discovered the sp
and knelt beside it, lying in that
ton. The strangest thing about
that, we'll known as is the deadly q
acter of the spring, there is absolu(
no warning posted. no fence aroun
nor protection against it of any
other than a few limbs or trees
bushes thrown over the place by fs
ers to keep their stock away from it,
the last time I saw the place even
brush had been scattered until
spring was uncovered. A ventures
man once held his breath and most
Ind leaned over the spring to hear
noise it made, which he describes
something terrible.
"The water is thought to be conI
atively wholesome, but nothing
known positively about it as it
never been analysed. There can be
doubt, however, that the spring is
tain and instant death to every liv
thing that approaches it..