Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-02-10
SOME OF THE MANY
FREAKS I'm AMERICA
Odd Bits of Nature Thai Are Found in
This Great Land of Ours Queer Noun
fains and Singular Bodies of Wafer.

snag In the river, the wreck OF Al,
Old boat or submerged tree, is all
! that 1t needed for foundation for
! the brush and silt to settle upon
! Chicken Island, near Mound City,
Ark, and just above Memphis, Tenn
/ was caused by the sinking of the
, Suitana Union transport whicn
exploded in midstream while carry
ing troops home from the Civil
! War. All islands formed In m:G.
| stream are government property un-
til some sluattcr takes possession.
Should the island built toward the
mainland and connect, it is promptly
claimed by the farmer owning the
, shore and n crop of lawsuits al.
ways follows.
Twenty-seVen Their Number.
a popularity OF the Blue Noun
tains of Pennsylvania is that they
are divided by rivers that break
through the walls at intervals OF
26I miles. From the Susquehanna
TO the Swatara is 81 miles; also
from the Swatara to the Schuylkill,
from the Schnylkin to the Lehlgh,
| from the Lehigh to the Delaware.
and from the Delaware to the hol.
low in New Jersey known as Culv-
ers Pond, the intervals are the
same. 1t would be most difficult
to account for such coincidence
i'll the similarity in these distances.
Has an Annual Drop.
In Lake county, Ind, there is Il
strip of land that has caused much
worry and expense to the manage.
ment OF the three railroads which
cross It, Where the Erie line
traverses the strip, there has re.
Gently appeared crevice that re-
fuses to be filed, although hun.
dreds Of thousands of tons of gravel
have been dumped into it. The
depression continues for 90 feet on
either side of the track and has
entirely baflied the engineering de-
partment. This sinking Is an annuai
event, taking place about Deem
Der of each year. The point where
1t occurs is about eight miles east
of Lake Michigan, near the north.
en- limits of the region of swamp
lands. 1t reaches about Is miles
north and south. The Indians who
lived in that locality in the thfrties
mad a legend that in the swamp
there was an entrance TO the cen
ter of the earth, and laid out their
trails so they widely skirted the
vicinity of the mysterious sinking
land
Tucson the First City.
IA old, old vellum document err.
ing the signatures Of their Catholic
Majesties Ferdinand and Isabella.
and countersigned by the viceroy of
Mexico and General Coronado, has
been discovered recently. This doc
ument proves to historians that ST.
Augustine was not the first perma.
rent city in the United States, but
tina: Tucson, Ariz has that distinc.
ton. having been founded in 1862.
1t seems that Tucson was a pueblo
of some size when the first pillar
in the old stockade was set in
the soil at ST. Augustine.
Washington Pretty Clean.
II is claimed that Washington is
the cleanest city in the United
States. If they were so disposed.
the ladies might wear their best
afternoon gowns on the street with
out having them soiled. The general
v.eanliness of Washington Is ,lue
. the noticeable absence of factor
ie., with the sofe-coal smoke, and
the asphalt streets are kcut so
c:ean that there Is little dust or
dirt in the air. There are 171
miles Of asphalt pavements in the
Capital City. An almost forgotten
;acL is thu" Washington Wa FIRST
called Rome and creek which
flowed through the site of the city
Hfs spokel o as the Tiber Oddly
enogh, the FIST owner of the land
upon which the capital is now 10.
Gated was named Pope.
Water Pecullarities.
Green Lake, Col, is not only
noted as the highest lake in the
United States being 10.252 feet
above the level of the sea, but
also for the fact that it's water has
Il REGULAR faculty for petrifying sub.
stances that are placed In 1t. The
water of. Medicine Lake, in the