The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-08-21
THE DISMAL SWAMI.
Es No Healthier Spot in til
world, snys II Scientist.

" oTlGg bust a.
The public at large has a very err
roneous idea of the Dismal Swamp"
said Prof. William Palmer, chief taxi
dermist of the Smithsonian institution,
who lately returned from a trip through
the swamp.
The idea seems to be that the swamp
is Il low, marshy waste, with an I'M
healthy, fever-breeding atmospheric
place one enters at the peril of his life,
both from the foul air and from the
sting of snakes. In point of fact there
is not a healthier place in the world
than the Dismal Swamp. There are no
unhealthy OF even unpleasant odors.
5wamps, as generally -;novvn, are wastes
poorly drained and rendered unhealthy
by the rotten vegetation which is de-
posted in the damp depressions. In
the Dismal Swamp the drainage is per-
feet. The soil is sandy and the water
%percolates through the sand, making
the most approved system of drainage.
The water in the bitches themselves is
not unpleasant to the taste. 1t is dark
in color and rather thick, much of the
consistency of coffee, yet we drank the
water during our entire stay, and suf-
fered no i'll effects. In fact, we grew
to like it, and l for one found it much
more palatable han our Potomac water.
There is very little land; one might
almost say there is no lane at all. The
soil, as L have said, is of sand, and from
this grows u vegetation of considerable
size and of great density. This sand is
a few inches below the surface of the
water, and the woody vegetation, grow
ing and falling during generations, has
gradually formed a layer of wood and
leaves which rises q few inches above
the water in some portions. In the dry
season this built-up layer is of sufficient
stability to permit it being used in the
great lumber industries.
Lake Drummond itself is nothing
more than a depression in the swamp.
1t is oblong in shape, about az miles
long by three miles wide, and in no place
is it deeper than 10 feet. The lake is in
valuable for transporting the lumber,
and is now being used as a feeder for
the ship canal being built to connect
Elizabeth City with Portsmouth.
This will not drain the swamp; the
swamp will never be drained; it would
be of little use if it was. Some efforts
were made to drain the great area, but
the scheme only succeeded in lowering
the water in places ten miles from the
boundaries of the lake. The soil thus
disclosed is very sandy. and although it
is being cultivated to some extent, it is
not sufficiently valuable to render such
a scheme financially profitable.
1.-THE great commercial value of the
swamp is its i~nexhaustible supply of
timber. The region is covered to such
an extent with a thick growth that one
finds the swamp dark on the brightest
days. The trees are of enormou size,
and we found some cypress stumps
which measured ii feet in diameter.
AS these stumps had been cut off years
and years ago, ono can only imagine
what the size must have been before the
stumps were worn down by the water.
bitches have been dug which traverse
the swamp in all direction and by these
bitches the lumbermen transport their
logs to Lake Drumnond, and from there
through an outlet TO Albemarle sound.
The lumber industry is by no means in
it's infancy there. Over a hundred years
ago some of the same bitches which are
now in use to-day were dug. George
Washington controlled heavy interests
in the lumber industry, and when he
died he left 100000 worth of stock in
the several companies. His wonderful
engineering ability was exercised here
for many years, and n of the prin-
waterways in use to-day was COM
menced and finished under his super
vision and from plans formulated by
him.
'These waterways are extremely mar
row. and their great age is evident from
the great mass of moss overhanging the
artificial banks. sOn this moss and
among the branches on the banks are
to be seen enormous numbers Of snakes,
with which the region is infested. The
snakes are not poinsonous and are
Still few persons care to see
all the time. The snakes are.of
he species known as the king snake,
like this one" ard Mr.. Palmer drew
rom a box n snake about six feet long
md Of the circumference of an ordinary
The snake Immediately coiled
Itself tightly around Mr.. Palmer's arms,
and the bright sun brought into view
The beauty of the firm, black scales,
with white. The darker scales
we're beautiful in the iridescent rainbow
,oloring and Mr.. Palmer explained how
The rings and head easily showed it to
De a harmless snake.
although the snakes are everywhere
20 be SEEN" continued Mr.. Palmer,
they are not pests, and a person should
never kill a snake wantonly. They are
IF incalculable value for the unceasing
var which they wage against mice and
Every barn in the country has
/ b~lacksnake, and every farmer will tell
rou that it is worth its weight in gold
or the good it does during the year.
rhe pests of the swamp region are the
mosquitoes and flies, which are uncom-
ortably numerous during this season
If the year. Mosquitoes are bad enough,
they can be borne. The flies, how
,ver, are murderous in their intent.
They go forth in swarms, and woe be-
ide the person or animal on whom they
t return 10 our original subject"
aid Mr.. Palmer, in conclusion, "the
light which vas viewed by the first man
Who entered the Dismal Swamp by way
# Lake Drummond must have been one
# the most beautiful which nature has
hown to man. As is evident from the
Jumps to be found circling the lake,
he entire lake was lined with a forest
# enormous and beautiful Expresses,
light, ten and fourteen feet in diameter.
The branches intermingled in an i'm
mass. and, covered with
moss and foliage, the scene in
II It's silent grandeur was the most stu
'endous spectacle Of Gods nature I can
Observation-Disclosures Post.
HE NORTHERNER AS A LOVER.
Southern Woman Comes to His De- ]
Tense Against False Accusers.
Under the title, 1.-The Northerner as
Lover" Lizzie Petit Suffer says: I
THE southern oman who illumin-
ted the pages of a contemporary re-
,ntly by her views of The Northern 1
an from n Southern Woman's Stand +,
pint ought to have entitled her III
Gle, The Northernu Man from the ,
tandpoint of One Southern Woman :,
Hoe Had Rnt TiffIa Exnariapoa Of