Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1897-12-15
4 WONDERFUL HOLE.
eo-repts of Sea Water Have Gone iHfs ~
 In Ncsrs Past.


 One is reminded of the pretty Ia ble about Arethusa and Alpheus py l. curious story in Cassier's Aaga zine But in the ancient narrative fl was a fresh water river into which tbe pursuing lover was changed, ana tbe fountain which represents the metamorphosed nymph has beer identified while in the less romantic tale now told a salt water stream disappears into a hole in the ground and all the rest Is a profound mys tery. |,
 On tbe coast of the Greek island of Cephalonia, near the town of AT qostoii there are two little fiumes' or canals. leading inland from tht sea to the distance of about 100 feel, and then discharging their contenn into rudeIy excavated pits, through whose badly fssured, rocky bot toms the water immediately loss itself. At least as long ago as lSSs g mill was run by power from one of these fumes, and a second mlh was built beside and operated oy the other a little while afterwafd The mills themselves are now il ruins. but the flow continues TnR remarkable state of things has e4 isted for over 60 years and very hEe Iy for a century.
 One cannot help asking in amaze ment where all that water goes to' The Messrs. Crosby, who furnish tne account which Cassier' prints, esti mate that the flow in each ehanne amounts to 1000 cubic feet per nIin ute. or a. Oe0, 900 cubic feet per da! in both. Two smaller passages 0 similar character have been ob served in the same neighborhood and 1t is added that along the shore ''at ali points between the two miil' and for an unknown distance beyont each, the water isey anywhere perco lating through cracks and Assure of f@the limestone and sinking ini' the earth. The openings in the se' bottom are no doubt mainly close by weeds and grave Yet no Incon siderable amount of 7ter must flTH' its way to these ny ious del',s through such Es eE--..7 of beach lying on Q rock th-t s I-aclics4ly a' porous as sieve. It is difficult L decide which is the greater marvel the sea mills themselves or tho fac that they have remained prscticall. unknown to the scientific world IT to the present day, although de scribed by several authors, men tioned in the guidebooks and visite6 by 'fadmirals, generals, bishops anc distinguished civilians"
 Almost the only explanation hith erto offered assumes that evapcra ton goes c1 rapidly in some subtei ranean cavern and tLus disposes O the water But, as it Is admitteI that the remaining salt from tht two mill streams alone wosle amount to 4S, 500 cubic feet a year. it is hard to understand why tht subterranean cavern-if there bt one-does not fill up.
 The Messrs. Crosby offer differ ent hypothesis. They ask the read CT. to ima zine two great Assures de seending into the earth and meeting below, like the sides of a letter V or U. Then they suggest that perhaps one arm Is shorter than the other, and that there is a long, very gently rising passage leading from the bot tom of one to the bottom of the oth CT, so that the GubterTanean heat can get a good chance to act on any stream passing through it. It ther becomes easy to suppose that cold current of sea water comes dow1 through one branch of the system and is forced upward through th, other by thermal influences
 The rocky island of Cephslonia. like some of its neighbors. betrsy, the effect of earthquakes innumer able in times past. aboundiAg il fractures and faults, caverns and subterranean rivers. None of ths springs on Cephalonia contain any large quantity of salt, however. and It Is difficult to regard any of them as the outflow of the food which disappears al ArgostOi. But it t possible that, as Alpheus is said tc have done, it takes a dive beneath the sea and comes up on some faro5 island