The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-07

IL supplies water Enough to Flcat
MRn-of-War-Thc Water Clear as
Air-The River Long One-Land
SpecuiationS.
Maitland Cor. New York Sun.
The Silver Spring river is one of the
shortest in the United States. The entire
course from the spring in which it rises
to the Ocklawaha is only nine miles. The
two streams are so different in character
and color that there is no room to doubt
the identity of each. The Ocklawaha Is
a sluggish. muddy sluice. winding through
an immense cypress swamp; the other Is
a dashing stream of pure crystal, with
channel deep enough in most places 10
float a steamship.
1t is hard to realize in ascending "the
rum" as the stream is called locally, that
the entire body of water flows from the
ground in one great spring. There are no
tributaries and no feeders. except in the
river bed; right out of the ground in
the Silver Spring pool and from the rivers
bottom comes all the water that rushes
with tremendous speed into the Ocllawa-
ha.
The river is wide enough in most places
TO float one of the big Hudson river boats
and deep enough for any ship that has
over been built. But there are some
would make trouble for a big boat Every
few feet a fresh volume of pure water
gushes up from the bottom, sometimes
from assures between the rocks and some
times from natural wells. These wells
in the bottom are circular holes in the
rock from four to six or seven feet in
diameter, going down often ten or fifteen
feet below the bottom. Every we'll is a
fresh spring of pure water. cool enough
for drinking and warm enough for bath
ing without discomfort.
There is not house or sign of habita-
ton or cultivation on either shore of the
river between the Ocklawaha and the
Spring. The shores are well wooded but
the ground is too marshy for profitable
cultivation. A traveller may make the
trip a dozen times without seeing a hu-
man being on shore. There is hardly a
more lonesome spot in the whole state
though Grahamsville Is only three or four
miles away on the east, and Ocala, pop
ulous town, is ten or twelve miles to the
west In one spot q green prairie of sew
eral thousand acres is a relief to the eye
looking like a beautiful field of grass; but
it is only a delusion, a swamp of saw
grass; of no value. The garfish and cat
fish have that region to themselves. Eye
less catfish are occasionally speared, and
tho natives think that they have been
swept from the underground river that
supplied the springs.
The last pull in the river was the hardest
and the little propeller shot ahead with a
velocity of almost eight miles an hour
when, after rounding sharp curve, she
noated serenely on the surface of the great
pool Silver Spring is by far the largest
and most important in Florida, a state
where large springs are plenty. With its
numerous bays it covers a space fully as
large as the city hall park, and the depth
varies from a few inches to 81 feet. No
where away from the shore is it less than
20 to 30 feet.
A great pine forest covers the whole
region growing out of the pure white
sand. 4 mile or two to the east of the
spring the ground begins to fall away, as
Capt. Branch puts it, or to become lower
and the lower it goes the more marshy it
becomes, until it runs into the great swamp
which borders the Ocklawaha river, where
nothing grows but moss-coVered cypress
and swamp bushes. 1t is in the higher
land that the spring bursts forth, in the
midst of the pine forest.
As seen from the mouth of the river, the
spring is nearly in state of nature. On
the right are several implanted ware
houses with a wharf in front, at which
steamboats, lie. Some distance to the
left of this is a smaller wharf, where
rowboats are kept for hire; and between
the two, some distance back from the
water, is q hotel Two or three native
dwelling houses are in sight, and that is
all that man has done for Silver Spring.
All the rest is pure nature, and the place
does not suffer at all from having been
let alone Having said that the water in
the river is clear, a writer needs some
stronger word to describe the waters Of
the pool. To float over it's surface in a
boat is like floating in air. Many articles
that visitors have dropped are seen lying
14raon he heftOm E,D1rlfW fin cans w iph
mark the former presence Of man in the
deepest depts Of the Florida forest are
not wanting; and it is startling to sec
how plainly the labels on some Of these
cans can be read, lying under fifty or
sixty feet of water. The bottom is pure
white sand and pure white rock.
The water rushes into the pool through
scores of apertures, but the main one is
almost directly in front of the warehouses
and wharf, and about twenty feet be-
meath the surface. Here a ledge of rock
protrudes from the steep bank, and a
river of sparkling water rushes out from
beneath the ledge. AS St pours out It
carries along particles of sand. which
glisten in the sunlight like millions Of
silver coins fresh from the mint 1t Is
this silvery appearance which gives as
spring its name. The water rushes out
with such force that it makes a bubblng
upon the surface. like a boiling spring.
A boat lying by the wharf would be car
ried downstream unless securely tied
There can, be no question in the mind Of
anybody who sees the water pour out from
beneath the ledge Of rock. that that point
is the main outlet Of great underground
river.
No name but well could be given to
these deep holes in the bottom Of the
pool There are a dozen or more Of them
each about FIVE feet IN diameter. as
smooth and straight in the sides as though
bored into the rock with a big auger
The top Of the deepest one Is about forty