Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-02-21
WIND ALWAYS BLOWS
TERRlsLEANp UNCANNY CAVITY
ON A TEXAS RANCH.
There the. Wind sucks and whirls
With Fatal Insistence in All Kinds
of Weather-Cattle, Horses and Trees
Engulfed in the Mysterious Hole.

In the Peach Greek neighborhood Is
place known as the Hole in the
Ground, which is the only place in
Texas, us far as known, where the
wind blows up and down. regular
gale. The hole is on the cattle ranch
belonging to Claus Baumgartner, and
close to the creek between high. wood
ed bluffs. Peach creek is really q
bayou, Its waters level with the sea
and running only during freshets
caused by excessive rains. High south
or north winds are the only ones to
rutf1e its usually placid surface.
But 1t does not matter how placid
the waters of Peach creek may be, how
straight and unbending tine trees on the
bluffs may stand or how lazily the
clouds drift through the air. there is
always gale at the Hole In the
Ground. 1t blows and roars and Wills
ties and shrieks as only raging hurri-
cane can do in Its mad career. The
hole is costly affair to the man who
owns 1t. The low ground on which it
is situated is the only place where his
cattle can get water at the creek.
1t would be all right II fence could
be maintained around the hole, but that
cannot be done. Every time the wind
veers to the east everything above
ground between the bluffs Is sucked
into it. swapping the stoutest fence
posts like pipe stems, and snatching
coils OF barbed wire as IL they were
flimsy gossamers. At such times
horses cattle and sheep that happen
to be on the fat are doomed. Strong
horses, caught in the eddy of the mys-
FERROUS wind, are us helpless as flies in
a gale. They plunge and leap and
struggle for minute, then they are
pressed down. whirled around a few
times and 60 down never to be seen
again
The hole itself is about 300 feet across
the top, with slanting sides. No one
has ever dared to go close enough to be
able to look down into it and see what
the bottom is like. The sounds Of the
wind vary from hoarse roar to a keen
whistling noise. The prevailing winds,
except an east wind, do not seem to
affect it in any way, for in calm aud
storm, rain and shine, night and day,
winter and summer, it puffs and sucks
and whirls and eddies to suit itself.
Twice in the memory of man Peach
creek has overlooked its banks high
enough to run into the hole. The last
time was during the general overflow
last summer. The water then rose to
a depth Of four feet on the fat where
the hole is situated. For a minute or
so the water would pour down with a
gurgling noise. then the earth around
seemed to hump itself for a moment
and the next there would be an explo-
siye sound. when 1t would come up
again in solid column 100 feet high.
When this column broke the waves
rushed against the adjacent bluffs and
were whipped into foam. This was re-
peated every minute or two until the
water In the creek went back again
within its banks. After the water had
receded and the hole had resumed Its
usual labor Of sucking and putting
wind once more. the ground around
was literally covered with the bones OF
dead animals on which. 1t had gorged
itself for many years before.-St. Louis
Globe Democrat.