The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1894-08-09
DEVIE,'S CHIMNEY.
THE MYSTERY OLA CENTURY SOLVED
BY A BAND OF EXPLORERS.

They Found That the Supposed Volcano
WAS Merely tile Burning of surface oil.
An Exploration In Which There Was
Danger Of Death Ia ti." Jungle.
Mr.. T.. NJ. Oliver II Gainesville. Fla.
writes to The N,'orld that he has solved
what he calls tie great Florida volcano
mystery. He was II member Of an tXpy-
dition tha went out and solved it. He
has come To III" conclusion that the -
called volcano was caused by the ignition
Of gas, oil and sulphur.
Mr.. Oliver shall tell what he found in
his own picturesque way:
.'Having accomplished Il work, l will
nov give to your readers the result in
plain facts, to which We will make Aft
lavit. ON our arrival at st. Marks,
within III miles Of the supposed volcano,
We first interviewed the keeper of st.
Mark lighthouse, from the tower Of
which this mysterious column Of smoke
ha, ever been plainly visible, and after
also interviewing quite Il number Of the
intelligent old settlers in that section we
learned that the smoke from the Devils
Chimney, as they all term it, ceased to
exist during the volcanic and seismic dis
turbancCs at Charleston. OF for three or
four years since.
All admit having seen frequent forest
fires, but that permanent and plainly visi-
BILE Devils Chimney column of smoke,
entirely unlike any ordinary forest fire,
had ceased. This fact having been cstab-
lishcd to the satisfaction of our expedition,
and having no object to run our compass
to or to direct our observation, we moved
u expedition to the famous PinhOOk
-. l. --l,r, J-la, NI"l;+. J-l~, J,,-,-
Bell Of our city, Mr.. Cox and Colonel
Barber of Washington and a number of
others had camped and laddered immense
pines to a height of from 100 to $50 feet
from the ground to gain observation.
We divided u expedition into squads,
and all under the direct guidance of Cap
tain James l.. Oliver of st. Marks, an old
and intelligent settler and hunter, each
party or squad closely searching for the
extinct volcano. We found three distinct
assures or chasms in the cone or top of
rock mounds, varying i'll height from Is
to 80 fcct-fissurCS from which q column
of smoke and fire had in the past issued,
leaving melted lava, broken and shapeless
rock thrown OF uphCaVGd in every direc-
ton.
THE matcrial upOn which this fire fed
must have been gas, oil and sulphur, and
burned until the coal supply was exhaust
ed, cooled down and extinct, leaving i'll
assures or round wells, seemingly of great
depth, water covered with a perCCptiDle
coating of oil, while the walls or fiues were
fire charrcd, leaving great tags of lava and
rock to Enthusiastically show a hot,
seething furnace once existed. Specimens
of this material can be seen on exhibition
at the store of Judge James Bell at Gaines
vile.
THE only plausible cause Of these crup-
lions is the great supply Of oil, gas and
sulphur present in that section of country.
Every stream and pond has a perccptiblc
coating Of Oil, and oil keeps issuing from
the rocks M banks of streams and sinks,
while sulphur is plainly visible in the
cracks and c~rCVicCs of the rocks. Tho
oil and gas, escaping, We believe
caught from time to time from forest fires,
and, ~cXhausting themselves, burned out.
I'VE do not doubt or deny that there
may be other assures existing and perhaps
more recent date in that great wilder
ness Of ~uneXplored junglcs of three rivers.
But we are positively certain that all are
the same nature, fed by the same mate
rial, and are surface buTnings and not
chimnCyS from the internal lakes of vol
fire.
"Only two CT our Gainesville expedition
saw these assures, accompanied by James
l.. Oliver, Mr.. COmfOrth and one or two
The Timcs-tniOn correspondent
and cOexplOrer at this time had struck out
in a direction Of his own, accompanied by
one of the Gainesville expedition. They
lost down in the salt marshes, and
perhaps would have persisted or been de
vOured by wild beasts had not Providence
come to their aid (Whcn thoroughly
.umblcd) and directed them to a cedar
where Il good Samaritan fed and
them until they were able to re-
trace their steps, feeling on entering camp
wiser if not better men.
No man who has ever attempted to
that awful Jungle Of three rivers,
and sinking, forming fathomlcss
II whirlpOOls on their treacherous
partly subterrancan course to mother
ocean, can form any idea of it's wild, rough
and hideous appearance. There is nothing
to cheer the explorer in his work. No
sound of hammer or hum of saw; no
sweet, refining notes Of female voices;
nothing save the most hideOus wilderness
Of jungles that the Almighty, in his myS- |
FERROUS providence, ever stuck together
black muck, saw palmetto and BAN
boo bricrs, where only the boot of the owl,
scream of the panther and believing and
nuttering of the alligator can be heard on
very sidc-the last two of which with
keen eyes to discover and ravcnOus jaws to
lcvOur the exhausted cXpIorcr-while the
is pcrChCd upon Il limb, waiting and
hoping hat a mOrscl may be left for his
share, while hOOting "a farewell requiem
over the bleaching bones of the poor way
,arer. After these ~avenous beasts are