The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-07

One of the natural curiosities Of this
country is the Hampshire lee Mountain.
on the banks Of North Creek. twenty-six
miles from Winchester, Va. For about a
quarter of a mile the west side of this
mountain is covered with loose powders
and 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 hidden in the crevices beneath.
The shortest street in the United States
is Hague street, in New York, 1t is only
long enough TO accommodate two houses.
The Dismal Swamp is not a swamp at
all. according to the usual definition of
the term It stands fifteen or twenty feet
higher than the surrounding country. and
instead Of receiving drainage from rivers,
is itself a source of supply to various
streams giving them the water its spOnsy
soil catches and holds after rains. There
is no decay of vegetable matter of any
kind, logs and falling leaves being trans
formed into peat by the pure water. The
purity of the water causes ii 10 keep in
definitely. and # was in great demand in
bygOne days for the casks Of sea-going
vessels. The climate is said TO be health
ful. and on this account planters in Olden
times were anxious to hire their slaves TO
lumber contractors working in the swamp
The northern boundary line Of Delaware
is circular in form. This has been ex-
planned by the fact that, in Colonial
In
along the western bank Of the Delaware
River to give him an outlet to the sea.
He procured from the Duke of York a
release of all title and claim TO Newcastle,
twelve miles around It. and 10 the land
between this tract and the sea" This
survey described a semicircle and when
this particular colony became State it
stiH retained the cid circular boundary
line.
\ humorist has said that .'the Missis-
sippi River is so crooked in places that a
steamer going south has been known 10
meet itself coming north. give passing
signals. and narrowly escape a collision
with itself Because man has never
been able 10 make the Mississippi ODE
dent and content 10 stay iu one particu-
lar channel. many interesting eeographi-
cal situations have arisen. There are in
Vulnerable old channels threading back
and forth through the forests of the low
lands and whenever there is an overflow
or a particularly heavy freshet. the river
is quite liable 10 wander off down one Of
these old channels and leave some ship
ring point high and dry The town OF
q. g.. !. IL.
burg, but "a cutoff changed things so ID
is now two miles above that point An
other little place. called Blues Point. was
formerly located in Mississippi but one
spring when times were dull and the river
needed a diversion ii changed its channel
and transferred Blues Point over into
Arkansas. II the big river had taken
such "a twist. between Missouri and I'LL
uois. before the war it would have re-
moved slaves from one State TO another
and thus set them free
Another practice i'm which the river in
dulges is island building. A snag in the
river, the wreck of an old boat, or a sub
merged tree is all that is needed for a
foundation for the brush and silt t.
settle upon. Chicken Island, near Mound
City, Ark, and just above Memphis
Tenn, was caused by the sinking Of thu
Sultana. a Union transport. which blew
up I'm midstream while carrying troops
home from the civil war. All islands
formed in midstTeam are government
property until some squatter takes pos
session. Should the island build toward
the mainland and connect. it is promptly
Gained by the farmer owning the shore
and crop Of lawsuits always follows.
A popularity of the Blue Mountains oil
Pennsylvania is that they are divided by
rivers that break through the walls al
intervals of tweuty-seven miles From
the SusqUehanua to the Swatara is
twenty-seven miles; also from the Swa
tara to the Schuylkill. from the SchuyI
Kill to the Lehigh from the Lehigh e
the Delaware, and from the Delaware L
the hollow in New Jersey known as Cul
vers Pond. the intervals are the same
II would be most difficult to account fol
such coincidence in the similarity il
these distances.
In Lake County, Indiana. there is q
strip of land that has caused much WORRY
and expense 10 the management Of Tho
three railroads which cross Il. Wher,
the Erie line traverses the strip there ha.
recently appeared a crevice that refuse.
10 be filled, although hundreds Of thou
sands of tons of gravel have been dumped
into it. The depression continues foi
twenty feet on either side Of the track
and has entirely baffled the engineerine
department. This sinking is an annua
event taking place about December Of
each year The point where il occurs i.
about eight miles east OF Lake Michigan
near the northern limits OF the region OF
swamp lands. It reaches about fifteer
miles north and south. The Indians VIII,
lived in that locality in the Sos haC
a legend that in the swamp there was AZ
entrance 10 the center of the earth. anC
laid out their trails so they widely
skirted the vicinity of the mysteriou.
sinking land.
An old. old vellum document. bearing
the signatures Of their Catholic majesties
Ferdinand and Isabella and counter
signed by the Viceroy of Mexico and Gen
Coronado, has been discovered recently
This document proves TO historians tina
St Augustine was not the first perma
nent city in the United States but tha
Tucson. ARK, has that distinction. hav,