The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-07

winters on Doniphan lake, Kansas, and
one of its tributary streams. The fuel
for thdse uncanny fires Is natural gas,
which bubbles up through the water
ali the year round; but it is only dur
ing the vers cold winter nights that
it is thus temporarily stored under the
ice in immense bubbles or pockets.
sometimes ten or twenty yards in ex-
tent. BY merely breaking the ice with
the point of his skate and applying a
match the benightsd skater has in a
few seconds a roaring flame at which
10 warm his benumbed fingers.
Near BakG. the center of the Russian
petroleum trade. there are to be found
vast natural reservoirs Of crude oil,
formed by the overflow from the wells.
When the drill taps the underground
springs. the oil rushes out with such
frightful velocity as 90 flood the sur
rounding country for a considerable dis
lance, and the terribly infiammable
stuff settles in every depression. The
application of a torch to enc Of these
petroleum lakes would cause a fearful
explosion, and their continued pres
ence is a menace to the community.
At one Of the towns in the Punjaub
there are situated a number of small
lakes, reputed to contain large sums
of mone-r. There IS a fair held annu-
ruary, and it is the custom of the pill
grims instead ofGiving their money Of
ferings direct TO the priests, 10 bury
them in the mud of the lakes, where
they take their sacred annual bath The
poor priests have to enter the water az
terward and recover all they can by
cropping and diving in a most undigni-
fed fashion. RumOr hath 1t that they
would very much like to see this irri-
can be- no doubt that they fail to find
a considerable percentage of the money.
Cough Neagh, in Ireland is said to
pOSsssH petrifying qualities, and several
lakes in the United States are reDuted
to have this strange characteristic in
a much more marked decree. wooden
figureb and carvings being converted
to- or ANYHOW coated with, stone by
le5ts than a months immersion in the
chilly waters. There is a gloomy pool
in the recesses Of the Mammoth cave
of Kentucky, the unfathOmable waters
of Which are jet black in color, and
harbor weird fish which possess no
eyes, these having apparently become
atTODhied in obedience to an lneXor-
able law of nature.
America boasts of several more or
less well known medicinal lakes, buh OF
these. Medical lake" near Spokane
Fails. is, perhaps, the most remarkable
The lake covers an area Of over LOCO
acres, and is encircled b. low, wooded
hills. The waters are saGd TO hold in
solution salts of sodium, potassium,
Ithium, calcium. magnesium, iron and
several other minerals. A great va
ridty of ailments are reported to have
been cured by bathing in the lake,
chief among them being rheumatism,
and certain skin diseases. One OF the
properties Of the water is that it forms
a latheT whenever it is Violently agl-
tated or rubbed quickly on the hands
or the surface Of the body. No fish or
other living thing can be found within
the waters, which are rather muddy
and repulsive in appearance The 60
ahead Yankee sees money in the cuga-
tive POWERS Of the water, and nuner-
Gus factories have been established Tor
evapOra.ting the water and packing the
salts obtained. Within a very snort
time a considerable settlement has
sprung up and hotels are being erect
ed to cater to the streams of invalids
1 who are expected TO flock to the lake.