The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1893-05-17
FLORIDA'S VOLCANO.
A SECRET REVEALED AT LAST DIS
COVERY OF THE FIERY PHENOM-
ENON.

From the Orlando (Fla.) Recorder
Friday morning the Recorder reporter
saw the name of 81. @. Martin, Florida"
on the Magnolia register, and happened
to remember that Mr.. Martin was the
last on record among the many who had
tried to solve the "FlOrida Volcano mys-
terry, he hunted up that gentleman as he
was going to take the train for Peace
river country.
The reporters questions Mr.. Martin
answered substantially as follows:
~ had prospected for phosphate in
Leon, Taylor and Jefferson counties for
capitalists in Rome, Ca, and last sum
mer tried my luck in the country about
the swamp supposed to hold volcano.
1t is called the 'Pinhook' by the natives
and is many square miles in extent. 1t
lies on the Gulf of Mexico, partly in
Taylor and partly in Jefferson counties.
The reasons l came to penetrate this
swamp were two-t0 see if it contained
red cedar and to see if the land was high
enough and dry enough to attempt to
drain. Two of my helpers were sick and
the other had to go and see his sick fam
lily, so could do no prospecting for
phosphate for some time, and conclud-
ed to enter the swamp alone.
tAs the land outside sloped towards
the south | knew the swamp must do
the same and entered from the north
side to be bothered with as little water
as possible. Had my predecessors done
the same they would have escaped many
of the pools and canebrakes. | cut a
well blazed path due south and took my
time l had plenty of provisions along
and went back to fetch my things after
| had cut ahead some distance. The
growth was very dense at places, but |
was raised on the coast Of South Caro-
lima, and vas one of the surveying party
of the Okefenokee swamp three years
ago, so I was used to the work. I did
not find much of the red cedar, but a
kind of cedar or juniper, supposed to
grow nowhere else in the world than
along the Chattahoochee in Florida,
found in abundance. l saw plenty of
signs of, and heard at night, both bears
and panthers, but | saw very few. |
killed probably one hundred turkeys and
one deer.
"After having gone about one-third
the length of the swamp the ground be-
gan to be honey-combed with holes, some
times five feet deep, made by fire. The
ground was dry between them, but vines,
Drlars and fallen logs everywhere made
progress difficult. The water in the
deepest holes was salt, from which
take it that the land in that part is but
little above high tide of the gulf. One
night l camped in an open place and had
made up my mind to go back next day.
The mosquitoes and owls kept me awake
and | slept but little. l sometimes
heard booming noise in the distance
and saw flame reflected on the sky. |
had almost forgotten the volcano but
took my bearings and resolved to 60
there the next day.
"Well, / traversed verse ground than l
thought could have existed. Holes ev-
erywhere, with very miry bottoms;
some times ponds acres in extent, hollow
ed out by fire. The air was smokey,
and the stencil from dead fish and rotten
water terrible in the hot sun. At noon
1 came where the ground was still burn
ing-and here was the solution of the
mystery.
''The earth was solely composed OF
coarse vegetable matter which burns like
finder, when not too wet. In the heav-
lest rains some fire that has has got into
rotten log will shoulder for weeks
only to ignite the ground again when
dry enough. At some places kind of
moss grew, which shed water like rub
Der coat A subterranean outlet for
rain water drains the land. Sometimes
there would be heavy growth of pine
needles fall point foremost, and often
straddle the twigs. When the fire comes
to such place the dry pine needles burn
on the bushes to their very tops and the
flames next devOur the tops of the pines
themselves. The smoke is as black as
night and will ascend for days and b.
seen at long distance, and at night the
sky looks red. And this is all there is
about the Florida volcano.
II have heard that the New York
Herald has reward of $1,000 out fer