Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1906-05-17
BLOWS HOT
AND COLD
Imaginative Correspondent
Writes of Nature
Heated Fields

try, Idaho county, who has an imag-
ination that is a thing of beauty
and a Joy forever. The pranks
which he makes Nature play in his
environment are things which i'm
pei the reader to sit up and take
notice, for a fact. Here are two of
his recent efforts to amuse and en-
tertain:
Farmers in the vicinity of Law
yer's canyon have discovered a
phenomenal condition that promises
to be of great value to the country.
For some time it has been noticed
that large tract of land adjacent to
the lawyers canyon breaks has not
been affected by the snow, that snow
melts shortly after falling. 1t is
now believed this land is heated by
a subteranean heat channel, and
from experiments made it has been
determined that the section is par
ticularly adapted to the growing of
fruits and tender vegetables. Large
tracts are being planted to fruits
and vegetables this season and it is
expected the growers will derive
large profits from the sale of their
products to the prairie farmers and
the railroad camps. -
Following this ''hot one" he
springs an arctic proposition that
sails along on the wings of fancy
in this way:
Last summer w. L. Jewell, who
has ranch across the Clearwater
river from Kaimah, made an unus-
ual discovery which has created
At the foot of a bluff of lava for
! nation he started to dig for water
and at a depth of two feet encoun-
ered hard frozen ground. This as
pnished him, for it was in July and
thermometer registered ninety
trees in the shade, and the spot
exposed to the direct rays of
Sun all day. Slide or shellrock
scattered all through the soil
the whole mass was frozen as
exposed to extreme cold for
this. Mr.. Jewell continued the
E up the job on account of the
Ardness of the frozen stuff. The
ice seems to be of unusual GOODNESS
and stands great deal more heat
than ordinary ice. In Crevices is
found clear, pure ice, and last July
pounds, put it into a sack and
carried it to Kamiah. Although it
was very hot day the ice had not
yet begun to melt upon his arrival,
but had frozen to the sack instead.
&C. ]. Johnson and Baxter Rem
shaw were over to the place one of
the hottest days last Summer, and
Mr.. Johnson says it was impossible
to stay in the hole, and in the
morning sheet of ice two inches
thick covered the bucket, and at the
same time tomatoes were ripening
only short distance away. There
are small open crevices in the
ground through which at times
come draughts of air that almost
blows PERSONS hat off, and the
breeze is intensely cold, more SC
than any winter winds ever exper.
fenced
1.-TWO weeks ago several Kamiaf
business men visited the place
During the winter the hole haC
filled up with slide rock and now
it is only about three feet deep, bu
as soon as a person steps into it ;
was still ice standing out in the sun
light and the sides of the hole, al
most to the top, and the bottom wa
a solid frozen mass, and strange t.
say many spring flowers wer
blooming around the spring.
match was struck and held near tn
crevices and there was sufficien
breeze coming up to almost extin
guish the blaze.
lone of the local theories ad
vanced as to the cause of the phe
nomenon is that it is caused by som
chemical action similar to the pro
cesses used in the manufacture c
artificial ice. Another reasonabl
theory is that there might be larg
ice caves beneath the surfac
through which come the col
draughts which freeze the ground
Mr.. Jewell intends to do some NOR
excavating this summer and woul
be pleased to hear from any on
who has theories as to the cause {
the phenomenon.