The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-30

! l6W SlldhGS III lilC 9WdlIlPs Ibll III ou'S especially upon sunny day they crawl out upon the ends of the canes and
 bushes that overhang the canal. Then,
 as one poles along, there is a series Of
 quick splashes as snake after snake drops into the water. One Well-groWn water moccasin made a serious miscal-
 culation and landed in our boat. There
 he remained an hour or so unknown to
 us, when growing bolder, he crawled
 out to meet his fate in the shape of | paddleblade. More pleasant to the eye
 are the small turtles or snappers, no 1 larger than our common wood tortoise,
 that abound in the ditches. Their black
 shells are besprnkled with spots of or-
 ange.
 The water of the swamp is one of it's
 most interesting features, The color Of
 it is rich dark coffee-brown as seen in
 the canals and in Lake Drummond, but
 nearly that of sherry when a small
 amount is taken up. This Is due to the
 vast quantity of finely divided vegeta-
 ble matter it contains. Notwithstand- ing, it makes an excellent, healthful
 drinking water, pleasant in flavor, and,
 if one may believe the local sages, tonic
 in its properties by reason of the parti-
 cles of juniper wood suspended in it. It
 was formerly much in request for sup plying ships about to depart on long
 voyages, The antiseptic virtue of this
 water is marvellous, Stumps and logs
 of cypress that have long been buried | beneath the surface of the swamp re-
 main in excellent preservation; and,
 now that the best of the standing tim Der has been removed they are being
 sought by lumbermen. Berries keep
 their color and plumpness for months in
 the water.
 The Dismal swamp, contrary to popu- 1 lar impression, is not an unhealthful place. Malaria is said to be unknown
 there and We were told that people vis-
 it the swamp in order to get rid of it.
 In that distant time which the south knows as before the war;" when vel low fever was periodical scourge in Norfolk an enterprising hotel keeper put a frame building on the shore of
 Lake Drummond and advertised a 1 health resort The place was soon l crowded with refugees from the pesti-
 lence, and throve for while. But mid
 summer came and with it the yellow l flies and mosquitoes. when straightway
 guests and employees left that hotel,
 never more to return,
 l Autumn is a delightful season for a visit to the Great Dismal, especially if one IS in search of sport with line or
 shotgun. Up to Thanksgiving, at least,
 the air Is soft and mild A light haze rests upon the lake and forest, through
 which glows the brilliant scarlet of the
 red maple foliage, the bronze purple of l the sweet gum and the yellows and browns of other dying leaves. The small ponds scattered through the swamp are visited then by many flock 1 of brant and geese and ducks on heir way to the sounds of North Carolina. Then the 'possums grow sleek and fat I upon persimmons and papaws or pos sum pocket apples, as they are called in the Dismal. Then, too, the black fruits of the cotton gum, or locally papaw, att tract the hungry eyes of Master Bruin Uncle Joshua, a kindly old colored man. who leads a hermit's life in a shack on the lake shore delighting with his sim pie humor and good nature every visi- tor to the swamp, gave us a graphic de- scription of the way bears climb the trees and feed upon these fruits, "an you can hear dem poppin' 'em 'atween their teeth a long way off,
 If he were content with such honestly come-by food, Bruins life would be happy and respected to green old age, for the odds are somewhat heavily against his career being terminated by a hunters rifle. But, when the beautl- full gilden corn stands ripe beneath the autumn moon and the field seems aban- doned to his pleasure, 1t is not in bear nature to resist the temptation to go marauding. Then, as he ambles clumsi- ly along, he is likely to encounter the cruel wire which pulls the trigger of cunningly set gun, and to get a skin full of slugs and bullets for his pains. I saw one day bears hide nailed up on a barn-door on one of the large farms that border the swamp. The sight re- called to mind many delightfully."- ghastly tale of heads displayed on Tenn pie Bar and of thieves creaking in chains at the crossroads
 Take 1t when one will or can, the Great Dismal has charm that falls upon all who go on pilgrimage thither. The very loneliness and vast wilderness of it helps to increase this feeling AL though one no longer hears the start ling tales of great monsters. lions and alligators and others still more impos- sible wherewith the rustics regaled Will liam Byrd, one time his majestys boun- dary commissioner for his domain of Virginia, there is not wanting a deli cious sense of unexplored fastnesses, far beyond our ken, in which the wild things of the forest have found a last hiding place. Tales of apparitions, such as Moore's white maid and the ghostly full-rigged ship that is seen on, Lake Drummond in times of storm, are firmly rooted in the negro folklore. Then there are many legends of desperate runaway slaves who took refuge in the swamp in ante-bellum days. With its native weird beauty, its strange history and yet stranger traditions, the Dismal swamp has come to hold place all it's own in the imaginations of men.-New York Sun
 REDUCED RATES TO CINCINNATI 1 VIA PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. I
 For the benefit of those desiring to | visit Cincinnati during the session of | the Peoples Party National convention, May g, the Pennsylvania Railroad com pany will sell tickets from all stations | at the rate of one first class fare for the | round trip. Tickets will be sold and | good going on May only, and return