The Newtown bee., 1902-08-08

HE TELLS SOME GOOD STORIES.
 THING ABOUT HIS ATTRACTIVE
 PLACE.
 page of illustrations of the damage wrought by great flood at Decorah, Iowa. 1t has something of local in- terest as this town was the home of our friend and townSman, D. c. Bacon, for about B or 40 years, previous to his returning to Connecticut II years ago. Wishing to learn more about this town and the great flood, the editor turned his footsteps, the other day, toward his pleasant homestead in South Gen. ter. :.
 The flood in question did damage amounting to $l 100000 and had some features that were very peculiar. The inundation was caused by. cloud burst which followed ten days rain. A wall of water eight feet high rushed down Dry Run, a small creek which passes through the town, destroying much property and drowning two per sons. M. T. Torsen, who was near his barns, was swept away, but managed to grasp the handle of neighbours pump, to which he clung until he was rescued. His barns were borne along for several blocks and were deposited Ill UIle nluUlc Ot tt SClccU, WlULOuC udn age to their contents, which included horse and COW. A hose cart was washed away from an engine house down street, the hose unwinding as the apparatus moved on. Richard Bucknell's One-stOry cottage was car ried three blocks and lodged against a large brick house. The rising water drove the family up to the attic, and MT Bucknell cut a hole in the roof through which he and his wife and children climbed into the second-story window of the brick residence and were saved. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul branch railroad was torn up for several miles. Two railroad bridges were swept half a mile from their foundations and piled together in smashed condition in a grove. A section of the railroad 459 feet long was carried down stream, and 12O feet of it showed under the lowest wire of a barbed-wire fence without disturbing the latter. Nearly 100 feet of rails was bent into the shape of figure 6 with out breaking the post on which the strain must have come. In some places rails were twisted around trees and broken off. A third railroad bridge
 was landed in picnic ground. This
 was the fourth disastrous flood in
 Decorah during the past 27 years, but, as in the previous instances, the in
 habitants went energetically to work
 to repair the damages, and now the town is itself once more.
 Brother Bacon tells story about ]; Iowa that would make the average
 citizen shake his head and think he , was either deranged or on the road tC
 beat AnaniaS, but knowing him to be square man and a citizen of inf1ex ! l~1 I~v md of fv ho1
 every word of his story, for he ha6 , documentary evidence in addition tt
 his own testimony which was enOugl to convince us. The story was de scription of a natural phenomenon cave near DecOrah, varying in widtf
 from three or four feet to 15 or 20, ant about 200 feet long. In summer tn . air in the cave is so cold that ice form
 in sheet several inches thick on tn ] hottest days. In winter. however, tn !, cave is so warm that it will not freez and all signs of ice disappear. M v Bacon told of man living some dis tance from the cave who started to di 8 cistern. He had not gone very dee
 when he struck draft of cold air an T being an ingenious man he change T, his plans and made a refrigerator l u place of a cistern. This he did b Q putting in an ordinary dry goods bo>
 which in summer is as cool as refrlg d orator need be, and in winter, strang
 as it may. seem, is warm and will nc l. freeze even though it be exposed to tn coldest weather. Speaking of tn Il natural ice box reminded one of tn II others of a well which is also locate
 near Decorah, but at the same time D. a considerable distance from either tE
 refrigerator or the cave. The Watt le in the well is so cold in summer ths ., the surface frequently freezes over an y ice forms on the curb stones, but r. winter the water is too warm to
 used for drinking. No explanation W; oe afforded as to the cause of this phenor
 enon, as no one felt capable of solvir ne the mystery of nature. Several scie - titic men, however, including Pr Vt Agassiz, have made a study of it al ne have written articles concerning it.
 Taking it all in all we were amp
 repaid for our call on D. c. B., and t