The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-03
SWEPT UNDERGROUND.
Adventure Of q BTilOl in a DiSap-
pelTilg River


the State Of Florida gives startling evil
dence of fimsiuess This country of
orange groves, sand and tourists is not
visited by earthquakes. for shake-up
implies a rash waste Of energy some
where, and energy is carefully avoided
among the crackers" But the rivers of
the Florida State have way, all their
own, of winding peacefully along for
dozen miles or so, then dropping through
hole in the globe-where to no one
knows.
Sometimes these streams reaPpear
miles away from their iumping-oh place,
and flow on in orderly fashion again they
t'never more on earth are seen and 1ur-
nish rich material for guessing match.
Another fashion in the subterranean
stream line is for the river 70 bubble up
from way down below somewhere and
form a sink hole or pool, with no APP
parent feeder or outlet. These subter-
ranean water courses from one Of the
natural wonders of Florida, and must be
classed with the alligator, the still un-
tanned Seminole Indian and the volcano
that smokes in the impenetrable depths
of the Everglade swamps, which no man
has been able to visit.
FRESH SPRINGS IN SALT WATER.
Eighteen miles below St. Angus tine is
the old Spanish fort Mantan1as, still
guarding the shallow inlet. Eight miles
out at sea is a living fountain of fresh
water In salt Atlantic. Somewhere back
In the interior a stream drops from day
light into the blRckness of a subterranean
channel, and flows underground until it
finds its outlet through the ocean bottom
of the Mantanzas coast. This strange
spring must have a source of considerable
height above the sea-level. For it boils
up through ten fathoms Of water and on a
calm day the surface is agitated in a
circle of ten yards diameter or more.
From the deck of a vessel the spring can
be seen from a considerable distance, and
with its bearing known, is easy TO find
Coasting schooners, fruiters and fisher
men stop here to fill their casks. For the
water is clear and sweet within the little
circle, and one end Of a boat may be in the
fresh water while the other is in the salt
brine
Not far from Gainesville. in the central
part of the state, there was a rich valley
not many years ago, called Payne's Prai-
RE. The land was watered by a spring
which boiled up in large "sink hole. -
There was no finer pasture and farming
land in the state, and the tract was COW
cred with cattle But the underground
outlet became choked up and there was
no way to clear it, as the hole was prac-
tically bOttOmless, so the other end of the
river kept on at the same old stand, and
continued to flow in.
FROM a PRAIRIE TO A LAKE.
The spring overlooked, the sink hole"
became pond then a lake, and in a short
time Payne's Prairie was a ripping lake,
Offering delightful sailing and bathing IA
cilities. Much good real estate was lost
to the community, which gained certain
advantages, however. Fish found their
way through the feeder somehow, and
the lake was well stocked in few years.
But at last the yachtsmen, the bathers
and the anglers were summarily turned
down, and Payne's Prairie was no longer
a popular summer resort. The one I'M
fortunate hotel proprietor found himself
with q large stock of useless advertising
matter on his hands. For nature pulled
the cork out of the bottom of the sink
hole and the original outlet was clear
again. In less time than the valley had
become lake the smiling expanse of
blue water became a much disheveled
valley, The underground river flowed
on again, and only the spring was left at
Payne's Prairie
The foolish river made much trouble,
for the hsh were left by thousands in the
valley, and after the inhabitants had
gathered in all they had use for, the re-
naming multitudes threatened to bring
pestilence, and the population fed from
the vicinity for a time. The dusty
backed alligators struck out across lots
for new and less uncertain homes, and
the pessimistic 1aminGoes broke up
housekeeping and moved, amid great and
clamorous complaining.
STRANGE UNDERGROUND RIVERS.
A young Englishman, Brookes yname,
at present riding on the Kissimmee cattle
range, has an exhaustive knowledge OF
the vagaries of underground rivers His
knowledge was acquired without any de-
sire on his part, and the impromptu ex-
plorer would have lodged the acquision
had it been possible. Like many other
young Englishmen, younger sons of good
family, who have been sent to Florida 70
make fortunes in orange raising, and, in
cideptally to get them out of the way
BrOokes has been compelled TO hustlo for
his grub stakes" while his orange grove
is growing to maturity. Last year. with
two other University-bred men with SINH
lar great expectations, he was one of the
crew at the United States lfe-saving sta
tiou at Jupiter Inlet
Three winters ago he went into the
Everglades after heron and esret plumes
and gator hides. While in this vast I'M
explored waste of marsh and water he
met with various mishaps and enough
good fortune in the hunting line to make
the trip fairly profitable. Bird plumes
were worth from 81 TO 81. so each, and the
Englishman and his chum pushed into the
heart of the saw grass, where there were
still many big heron roosts. Concerning
the wonderful encounter with the strange
river, which Rider Haggard should claim
under the homestead law, the account is
best told as BroOkes gave it to me as We
sat in a Seminole camp
HARD TO FIND CAMPING GROUND.
81 should think we were about 40 miles
below the mouth of Lake Kissimmee. We
were In a 20-fOot canoe yawl, light and
roomy, with space enough for sleeping anC
living comfortably aboard. We could moi
depend on sleeping ashore, as we Otter
failed to find dry land for days at time
We were cruising down the Kissimme,
river, intending to get into Lake Okee
chObee. Our custom was to explore tn,
creeks running through the marsh int,
the river, where the birds were mos
plentiful, sometimes running up thes
crooked streams all day. One morning
after camping OF little cypress island
we started out at daybreak and followed
down the west bank of the nam river
The wind was behind us, and we sailel
on for several hours. The river was set
ting very narrow and crooked. and w,
must have left the main cream withou
knowing it, in its tWIstings through thu
sawgrass. The big creek which we SCENE,
TO be in wound away toward the west
We anchored, cooked breakfast, and ther
T1TGNAd 7lnHar soil M r,oA1la