Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-05-21
(AWoNpERfuL Ho,r-
1orrents OF Sea Water Have co. ,
.iit to 1t In Year. p. N"He Il

a'i't to 1t In Years Pat o'ne Il.
One is reminded of tho nro.
about Arethusa and Alpheus nv liable
rious story In Casters Magazine Gu Gu
In the ancient narrative it was na'
water river into which tho ,nI resi-
lover was changed. and the f o.s
which represents the metamorns u'aA
nymph has been identified; wbila ~
less romantic tale now told 'ae
water stream disappears into , ~, sa.t
the ground, and all the rest +. .o'e N
found mystery. pro
,. On the coast Of the Greek ,s,o,s !.
Cephalonia, near the town of Arna". o.
there are two little fumes or os"'s
leading inland from the Sea n ~. A. :.
lance Of about one hundred foot W. NY,
then discharging their contents , Haa
rudely excavated pits, through vt .a'o
badly assured, rocky bottoms tbo ~..'
Immediately loses itself. AT lea,. 'e'
long ago as 1885 a mill was nm a.
power from one of these fumes. ,ra!
second mill was built beside and on..
ated by the other q little while 49, ~.
ward. The mills themselves ~. ns
In ruins, but the flow continues NV NV
remarkable state Of things has eri.,as
for over sixty years, and very ILL.,
for q century. '>e''
One cannot help asking in ama,o,.,.
where all that water goes to ~.
Messrs. Crosby. who furnish tho .o
count which Casters prints. estim. ~
that the flow in each channel amounts
to 1000 cubic feet per minute or .
100000 cubic feet per day in both Two
smaller passages of a similar characts.
hav been observed in the same neiuh.
borhood; and it is added that alon,
the shore, "at all points between tho
two mills, and for IN unknown distance
beyond each, the water is eyerywhers
percolating through cracks and fIssure,
of the limestone and sinking into tbo
earth. The openings in the sea bottom
are. no doubt, mainly closed by weeds
and gravel; vet no tinconsiderohla
amount OF water must find its wov IN
these mysterious depths through sucb
an extent of beach. lying on rock that
is practically as porous as a sieve,
(. 1t is difficult to decide which IL
the greater marvel, the Sea Mills them.
selves or the fact that they have ~.
mained practically unknown to the
scie ntific world up to the present day
although described by several authors
mentioned In the guidebooks and viz
tied by 'admirals, generals, bishops and
distinguished civilians"
Almost the only explanation hitherto
offered assumes that evaporation goes
on rapidly In some subterranean cav.
e1n, and thus disposes Of the water
But as 1t is admitted that the remain.
ing. salt from the two mill streams
alone would amount to 4S,GOO cubic
feet year, 1t is hard to understand
why the subterranean cavern III there
he one) does not fill up The Messrs,
Crosby offer a different hypothesis,
They ask the reader to imagine two
great assures descending 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
bottom of one to the bottom of the
other, SO that the subterranean heat
can get good chance to act on any
stream passing through 1t. 1t then he.
comes easy to suppose that cold cur.
rent of sea WAGER comes down through
one branch Of che system and is forced
through the otf,er by thermal inHu.
ences. l.4.
The rocky island of Cephalonia, like
some of its neighbors. betrays the effect
Of earthquakes innumerable In times
past. aboundingin fractures and vaults,
caverns and subterranean rivers. None
Of the springs on Cephalonia contain
any large quantity of salt, however,
and 1t is difficult to regard any of them
as the outflow of the food which disap-
pears at Argostoli. But it is possible
that. as Alpheus Is said to have DONE
It takes dive beneath the sea and
zones up on some far-off island.
J." Tho Old-Time Sand Man.