Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-02-10

u
Prairie, Florida bit of land about
by miles In extent The survey
was made and the prairie described
Three or your years later new
Surveying expedition found that this
land had been transformed into a
body OF water, and it was put on the
map as Lake Alachua. 1t developed
that this lake-prairie plays Dr.
Ihkyl and MIR. Hdye game with it.
self, sometimes appearing as ono
and sometimes as the other. This
freak Is explained by the fact that n
stream loses itself In sink at the
northern end of the prairie, and
when this sewer can carry off all
the water the region Is level land.
When the sink cannot drain off the
water 1t accumulatcs until 1t be.
comes n lake. People living near
and desiring to neighbor with the
residents on the other side of the
lake-prair!e are driven to the neccs-
sity OF keeping a canoe at the front
coor and a horse in the stable to be
ready for whatever conditions may
arise. If a steady rain comes the
ffce of the landscape Is liable to
" change any minute
One OF the natural curiosities or
this country is the Hampshire ice
Mountain on the banks of North
Creek, &c miles from Winchester,
Va. For about quarter of a mile
the west side of this mountain is
covered with loose boulders ant.
stones of light color, the mass ex.
tending all the way down to the
river. BY lifting these stones on
any day in the year crystals of ice
can always be found securely hid
den in the creviccs beneath
The shortest street in the United
States is Hague street, in New
York 1t is only long enough to ac-
commodate two houses.
Not a Dismal Swamp.
The Dismal Swamp is not n
swamp at all according to the usual
definition of the term. 1t stands -
or 20 feet higher than the surround
ing country. and instead of receiving
drainage from rivers is itself a
source of supply to various streams,
cling them the water its spongy soil
catches and holds after rains. There
Is no decay of vegetable matter Of
any kind, logs and falling leaves be-
Ing transformed into peat by t!
Fure water. The purity of the wa
ter causes it to keep indefinitely, ana
Ii was in great demand In bygone
days for the casks OF seagoing yes
GELS. The climate is said to be pure
and healthful, and on this account
planters in olden times were anx-
ious to hire their slaves to lumber
contractors working in the swamp
The northern boundary line of
Delaware is circular in form. This
has been explained by the fact that
in colonial days William Penn want
cd enough land along the western
bank Of the Delaware River to give
him an outlet TO the sea He pro-
cured from the Duke of York a re.
lease of all title and claim to New
castle, "12 miles around it, and to
the land between this tract and the
sea" This" survey described a semi
circle, and when this particular COL
ony became state it still retained
the old circular boundary line.
The Crooked Mississippi.
fumorist las said chat :h-
Mississippi River is so crooked IN
places that steamer going south
las been known to meet itself com
ing North, give passing signals aud
, narrowly escape a collision with it.
self" Because man has never been
able to make the Mississippi ODE
dent and content to stay in one par
ticnlar channelmany interesting geo
graphical situations have arisen.
There are innumerable old channels
threading back and forth through
The forests of the lowlands, and
whenever there is an overflow or
particularly heavey freshet, the
river is quite liable to wander off
down one of these old channels and
leave some shipping point high and
dry. The town of Delta used TO be
three miles below Vicksburg, but
cutoff changed things so it is
now two miles above that point
Another little place called Blues
Point was formerly coated in Miss.
issippi. but one spring when times
were dull and the river needed a
diversion, it changed it's channel and