The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-11-28
(From Article by Judge Emory
Sneerl

nave long Dten aWhIS ~ eAiD "t~"@
ines many enjoy through the induc-
tive philosophy Of a distinguished
and unpretentious son Of our state
Our University has honored him
and itscd Dy the degree, Doctor
Of Science. Dr.. John P. Fort was
the first who made evident how pra-
ctical and how beneficent are those
artesian wells whose copious and
healthful supply are now gush-
ing in every community and on
many farms in that FERTILE empire
known as South Georgia.
To have banished the wasting mis-
cries Of ague. the swift horrors OF
henorrhagic and other deadly fevers
TO have Improved the vigor and glow
Of health to- stalwart manhaod, the
rose and lilly to complexion OF now
radiant women, to substitute rud-
dy and clear eyed vigor, frosty
but kindly" for the ashen hue Of
age, have suficed to convince his
people that this thoughtful and OBJ
servant man has Teen benefactcr
to the generation contemporaneous
with his long and distinguished life,
and to multitudes which will live
after him.
To him also is ascribable the fact
that the luscious and juicy peaches
Of North Georgia, to the very foot
OF the mountains, will rival tie
mantling charms Of Queen Elberta
herself in the orchards Of a Hale, a
Rumph or a Willingham. A late a
chieyement in his demonstration
that the apples carefully cultivated
under the refreshing precipitation
Of Rabun, Hahersham and the con-
tiguous mountain counties, will sur
pass in beauty and attractiveness
this hitherto unequaled fruit as
grown in the state Of Washington
and other Pacific or transane states
where the Japan currant brings dai-
" to the vast orchards reyiying fogs
like those which rest upon the ro-
mantle Rabun Valley and gently
down through the Rabun, Testatee
and Unicoy Gaps to fruitfy and
beautify whatever gift Of Pomona
their soft yapors may caress.
The document which proves this
triumph of the Georgia apple hangs
on the wall of that high school in the
Tennessee valley maintained for tn
training and culture Of our noun
tain youth.
While all this is true the people
Of Georgia should know that recent
demonstrat on by this practical sci
enlist may be made of such value to
our state that il simnlv inestimable.
It is this-that underneath many OF
the counties Of Georgia there flows
or sleeps a mighty subterranean
stream or lake. BY tapping its pent-
up and inexhaustible supply Of liv-
ing water, the broad and long ter
ritory under which it lies may be
given productiveness richer than
the valley of the Nile. The attention
Of DR.. Fort was drawn to this great
subterranean supply when his duty
as a Confederate soldier called him
some miles south Of Tallahassee,
Florida. There he saw for the first
time the Wakulla River. At one
leap it forces its way from its sub
terranean Imprisonment. Itinstant-
" becomes a great river, twice the
width Of the Ocmulgee at Macon,
its waters clear as crystal and deep
enough, in the opinion Of the oh
river to float to the Gulf one Of the
Dreadnaughts of our navy.
The Wakulla is but one outlet of
the stream or lake underlying the
Eocene formation the state. An
other outlet it is thought Discharges
in the ocean between Brunswick and
Fernando. There the flow Of sweet
water from unknown source over
comes in a wide circumference the
brine 81 the Atlantic. The latter
stream, DR.. Fort concludes, is tap
ned by the artesian wells in the
country stretching from Midwife
and Millen to the coast at Tybee
t,, EIarsla