Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-09-12

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"Tvlk about D~ Va -. Gavin
NcNab to a San frau jscn t..".t'.', r.
porter, Il know q spot in tol. ~.a:"
where no living ih.ng can rAIst liy,
seconds. aud tn, pl t is within 80 irrto
a travelled country ad.
Tell rs about it, said the gentlcmen
cluetniei around tn speaker.
well. said MIR. ,lcNab. Il will. bul
if did not know t. was a Sup2rahun
dance of proof conc, rning the story am
about to relate to you | would hesitate to
tell it, Along the foot of the McndOicilu
Mountains, in the unity by that nama,
runs much Travelled road. which leads
from the town of H0pcIand to Un.Ih.
The road is on a bench. or shelf. above a
valley created by the Russian River.
which, like nearly all California streams.
is constantly changing its channel. and
hence it is sometimes within a hundred
yards of the road at the nearest point anC.
again half mile away. When the an
nual overhowS occur it spreads over the
whole valley and a mile ormore wide.
/ mention this in order that you may
understand the ma IRE of the valley. Ii
is dry river bed, all sand and gravel,
with here and there a bunch of Scrubby
willows.
I'm a clump of these stunted trees, at q
point about three iles from Hopeland
and about 30 feet t.pm the road | have
| ,e
clcarest sparkling water you ever saw.
The only thing peculiarly noticeable
about the spring flom a distance is the
loud kissing sound it makes as it gushes
up ont of the gravelly soil. 1t sounds
more like boiling water, with occasional
jets of steam escaping, than it does like
the ordinary purlh.g of a stream.
"Approach it and you will be startled
to see lying around the spring the skele-
tons of hundreds of birds, scores of small
animals, such as coons foxes, and the
like, and nearly always there will be a
body or two of birds or animals in more
or less advanced state of decomposition
near the edge of the spring. If man is
wise he will be content with an inspec-
tlon of the unattractive spot from a dis
tance, more especially if there happens
to be the carcass of steer lying beside
it with the nose an inch or two from the
water. The fact is, gentlemen, that
there rises constantly from the spring
gas so nOXious and 50 deadly that one
Whit of it is sufficient to eXtinguish life.
"The terrible character of the spring"
continued Mr.. McNab. is well known to
all who reside in the neighborhood, and
they tell some horrible stories concern
ing it. One day the little year old
daughter of farmer living near the
spring wandered away from home. Her
absence was not noticed for an hour or
two, and then the parents went in search
of their child. They found her lying
dead beside the spring with little dead
bird clutched in her hand. She had evil
IDENTITY seen the bird lying beside the
spring, and, being attracted by tho
bright colors of its plumage, had tried to
pie, it up, and i'll SO doing had inhaled
the gas rising from the water and died
with the bird.
Another time, said the narrator of this
strange story, "a squaw who WAS sup
posed to be recovering from a spree wan
dered down by the spring, She probably
started to the river to get a drink, when
she discovered the spring and lnelt be
side it, dying in that position. The
strangest thing a}out it is that, welt
known as is the deadly character of the
spring, there is absolutely no warning
posted, no fence around it, nor protection
against it of any kind other than Il few
limbs of trees and bushes thrown over
the place by farmers to keep their stool,
away from it, and the last time l saw the
place even the brush had been scattered
until the spring was uncovered. a ven.
turesome man once held his breath and
nostrils and leaned over the spring tC
hear the noise it made, which he des-
cribed as something terrible.
The water is thought to be compara-
lively wholesome, but nothing is known
positively about it, as it has never been
analysed. There can be no. doubt. how
ever, that the spring is certain and in
stant death to every living thing tina;
approaches it.