New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-17

is the manner in which they destroy standing
timber. They work their way along beneath the
. surface Of the. sWamps, meeting the roots Of
cedar and other trees as they go The heat of
the fires is SO intense that the green. wet roots
are no obstacle to ignition. They are quickly set
10 burning The fire follows every underground
branch to its very extremities. leaving NOTHING
bl- devious lines of Goals and ashes in its place
The tree above stands as green and apparently
as vigorous as it ever did during this fiery un-
derminiug Of lis life. but suddenly falls With
crash. exposing r9oUess base to the astonished
gaze Of the spectator Not that alone is the
damage the fires do. They feed on the sub
stances that make the reclaimed lands valuable
for farming. and steadily remove them from the
soil In the same way tiIabIe black dirt mead
ows are burned. which either destroys them for
farming or makes necessary years Of costly
artificial fertlliziug to restore them.
To one who drives along the Drowned Lands
roads at such time the amazing sight viii be
presented Of great jets Of blush smoke rising in
hundreds of places from the surface Of wide
tracts of meadow land bordering the swamps.
The tangled bottoms of the swamps are also
beIching great volumes Of smoke No fire is Wis
ibe- The fire is beneath the surface, eating its
way not only to the right ana left and backward
and forward. but steadily devouring the land
downward toward the water level Deep draInage
bitches surround the tillable ground about the
swamp borders Against the dry banks of these
bitches sparks from the burning underground
and dead pines and cedars. carried by variable
winds lodge and eat their way into the soil,
F until the great underlying masses Of peat that
are part Of it become steadily increasing beds of
living fire The stranger passing through and
seeing only ar occasional dead pine or cedar o.
patch Of underground burning would be mysu-
ned as TO the source Of the clouds Of smoke that
rise constantly from the ground and hover over
the district, but in the night time the mystery
would be revealed.
. If he could stand then on the summit Of Mount
Eve 9r Mount Adam. or on Decker's Hill, or on
the crown Of old Pochunk Mountain, rocky and
woody lnlinencez that overlook the whole eX-
panse Of The Drowned Lands. an awe inspiring
. scene would greet him. For many miles north
and south he would see below him q field Of
tire-not wild. leapinE roaring tongues Of flame,
save as some dead trunk might suddenly blaze
up among the living timber OF the swamp-but
. fiery CLEANS and glows and fantastic shapes
close 10 the surface Of the meadows and about
the timber bases in the swamps. These are ap-
parent7y not flaming upheavaIs, but the refiec-
ton and radiance Of the raging furnaces below.
brought up by the rising jets Of smoke,
BIINDING MASSES OF SMOKE.
/ Some Of these follow the volume Of smoke sew
eraI feet above the surface. while others sway
and dance T4GEAt4 near the ground ''ii'si-
sionaIIv one wiz burst suddenly into sight in
portion Of some field where there was nothing
but darkness before marking the advance 81
. the sub.sr~anaan conGagration to that spot
Fiery Daaoranas such as this have been known
. to spread away over ten miles of the great do
mains length and 10 its entire width, save
where the dark WauhIu River dIaEEed its
sEothflI and snakeke way through the swampy
region dividing the burning area into two sec
. lions During the continuance of these spectacu-
lar but destructive visitati1as. sometimes eX-
ceeiing q fortnight. the smoke from the miles Of
fire rises in the daytime hundred feet OF more
in the air and there hoyers Ike an enormous
cloud varying winds moving IT hither and
t-jth.r Toward evening the cloud of smoke de
sends and gradually euvelops the land in
+ binding. sulocatiuG volume. Through THIS il =
possible to see scarcely yard away. The sui
f-rings of the people such times have been in
tense. sleep being almost impossible II mas been
81 that no one not actually compelled TO do So
,eutured 10 drive over any Of the Drowned
Lands roads while a smoke blockade was on.
and at many farms bells are runE. like fog sig
rais to locate points where certain necessary
farm work is 10 zoe done. It is at these critical
rjrses that jewellers on the Drowned Lands Of
the waikiki would welcome the old time floods
that we're once the great dread Of the peculiar
region
Tr-TTU IfJFpgpyC