The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-07-25

from the side of the small glass
bottom boat floating on the surface
of the water near the center Of the
head spring is beautiful beyond de-
scription, and we'll calculated to pro-
duce a powerful impression upon the
imagination. Every picture and
confguration of the bottom of this
gigantic basin is as distinctly visible
as if the water was removed and at
mosphere substituted in it's place.
The shadows of our little boat, of
over-hanging heads and hats of pro-
jecting crags, and logs of surround
ing forest, and of vegetation at the
bottom were distinctly ando sharply
defined; while the constant waving
of the slender and delicate moss-llke
algae, by means of the currents Gre
ated by the boiling up of the water
and the swimming of numerous fish
above the miniature subaqueous for
est impaired a living reality to the
scene which can never be forgotten.
And if we add to this picture, al
ready sufficiently striking. those Oh
ieccts beneath the surface of water,
when viewed obliquely wer fringed
with rrismatic hues we shall cease to
be surprised at the mysterious phe-
nomena with which vivid magma
ton has invested this enchanting
spring, as we'll as the wonderful
properties of it's waters.
On bright day the beholder
seems to be looking down from some
lofty, airy point on a fairy scene in
the immense basin beneath him; a
scene whose beauty and magical ef-
feet is vastly enchanting by the chro-
matte tints with which it is invested.
Florida should see that every man,
woman and child in the state gets
acquainted with this exquisite beau
ty of the wonderful formations and
the beautiful colorings in the bed of
these. springs; and the trip down Sill
yer river is something that no resi-
dent of Florida or tourist should
miss.
The most wonderful thing about
Silver Springs are the many rooms
or springs ranging from ten to
eighteen feet wide through the solid
rock and each one from thirty-eight
to ninety feet deep. They are all
named: Jacobs Well, the Ladies'
F2rlor, the Shell Room, Florida
Snow Storm.
The Shell Room is about eighteen
feet across. The volume of water
coming up from below is about eight
feet wide and the white shells are
kept in whirl all the time.
The Ladies' Parlor is about as
large as the Shell Room, with all
kinds of flowers and vines looped
together as completely as if done
by deft fingers.
The Florida Snow Storm is almost
"a square room sixteen feet across
and ninety feet deep. In the crew
asses of the rock at the bottom,
something like white chalk is boiling
up, and the water comes with such
force as to send this white substance
all over the room. 1t is as white as
the drifting snow In fact it looks
exactly like a snow storm have
seen in the mountains.
In going from one room to an
other in this spring the water is not
over four feet deep. In am sure the
whole formation in this spring is a
solid rock. This spring is as large
as a city block. There are nine of
these rooms which range from forty
to ninety feet deep. Some of the
most wonderful formations are here
that can be seen in no other body of
water. The Bridal Chamber is the
most beautiful, I think
After going over all these wonder
full rooms in our glass-bottom boat,
the man at the wheel will back the
little boat in little cove and call
out, "Come up, little fishes, man
wants to see you, come right on"
and they come by the hundreds. He
gave me loaf of bread and told me
to hold it down in the water. l did
that and the fishes devoured the last
crumb from my hand. This is done
daily. He has them trained.
In my next l will tell of two In
dian lovers at Silver Springs, Ock-
lawha and Winonah.
J. Russell Wright.
Johnston, S. C.
BEN HOPE EXPRESSES THANKS