The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-02-08

Once a Year.
Some years ago a topographer was
sent out from Washington to make a
survey Of what was then Payne
Prairie. Florida, a bit Of land about s
by 5 miles in extent. The survey was
made and the prairie described.
Three o. four years later a new ur.
yeyiag 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
la%ke-prairie plays a Dr.. Jekel and
Mr.. Hyde game with itself, sometimes
appearing as one and sometimes rs
the other. This freak Is explained by
the fact that a stream loses itself In
a sink at the northern end of the
prairie. and when this sewer can. car
ry of all the water the region is lev.
Ell land. When the sink cannot drain
OF the water It accumulates until 1t
becomes a like. People living near
and desiring to neighbor with the res
idents on the other side Of the lake
prairie are driven to the necessity of
keeping q canoe at the front door
and a horse In the stable to the ready
for whatever conditions may arise.
II a steady rain comes the face Of
the landscapt is liable to change any
minute, says T. J. Haskin in the Bal.
timore American.
One of. the natural curiosities Of
this country is the Hampshire Ice
Mountain on the banks Of North
creek, 20 miles from Winchester, Va.
For about a quarter OF a mile the west
side of this mountain is covered with
loose boulders and stones of light col
or. the mass extending all the way
down to the river. By lifting these
stones on any day in the year crys-
tails of ice can always be found Sc.
curely hidden in the crevices be.
meath.
The shortest street in the United
States is Hague street, in New York.
It is only long enough to acocmmo-
date two houses.
Not a Dismal Swamp.
The Dismal Swamp is not a swamp
Mt all according to the usual deini.
ton OF the term. 1t stands 15 or
20. 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 spongy soil catch.
es and holds after rains. There is no
decay OF vegetable mailer OF any
kind. logs and failing leaves being
transformed into peat by the pure
water. The purity Of the water
causes 1t to keep Indefinitely, and it
was in great demand In bygone days
for the casks Of seagoing vessels. The
climate is said to be pure and health.
full, 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 Della
ware is circular in form. This has
been explained by the fact that Ia
colonial days William Penn wanted
enough land along the western bank
of the Delaware river to give him an
outlet to the sea. He procured from
the Duke of York a Aleese of all
miles around 1t, and to the land be.
tween this tract and the sea-" This
survey described a semicircle, and
when this particular colony became
a State 1t still retained the old circu-
lar boundary line.
The Crooked Mississippi.
A humorist has said that "the Mis-.
sissipli ,river is SO crooked in places
that a steamer going south has been
known to meet itself coming north.
give passing signals and narrowly es.
cape a collision with itself.c Because
man has never been able to make the
Mississippi obedient and content to
stay in one particular channel many
interesting geographical situations
have arisen. There are innumerabie
old channels threading back and forth
through the forests Of the fowiands,
and whenever there is an overflow or
a particularly heavy freshet, the river
is quite liable to wander Oft 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 a cutoff chang.
ed things so 1t Is now two miles above
that point. Another little place called
Blues Point was formerly located In
Mississippi. but one spring when
times were dull and the river needed
a diversion, 1t changed its channel
and transformed Blues Point over
into Arkansas. If the big river had
taleu s,,eb n twist hefwahn At,ssou.t