The Coolidge examiner., 1933-01-20


with snakes, most of them harmless,
however.
The Feeder is 80 feet wide. Clogged
with debris from years of log raft
ing, the former seven-foOt normal
stage has dwindled to three, and
with low water the ditch Is almost
impossible.
The so-called Juniper water" of
the Feeder and Lake Drummond is
In reality a blend of the teachings
of water from gum. cypress. maple,
and Juniper" (southern white ce-
dar) peatland. which cover several
hundred square miles.
The occasional visitor to Dismal
Swamp cannot distinguish between
the various waters or the blends !;
but a small amount of juniper leach
ings is required TO make other
swamp waters palatable. Pure gum
a feeling Of distress after drinking.
Cypress water is palatable and OF
a lighter color and will keep longer
than gum water, which will not re-
main sweet an entire summer. Pure
juniper water. however, Is smooth,
healthful. and palatable. 1t is of
a beautiful. sparkling color. between
rich chrome yellow and orange.
Given the same kind of food, timber
workers who drink other swamp wa
ters never look as healthy as those
who work in the cedar forests and
drink pure juniper water
Jungle Hard to Conquer.
The ak means little to Great Dis
NAL. II was wild before the lum-
herman came. and after he passes
1t reverts to it's former state. The
jungle, with its claws and thorns,
returns. and the bear. the deer, the
panther. the raccoon, again come
into their own.
One lumber company operates
more than 80 miles of narrow
gauge railroad in the section ly-
Ing southwest of Lake Drummond
and extending well into North Car
olina.
There Is little high-grade timber
left. The greater portion lies south
of Lake Drummond. There are i'm
mense areas OF hardwoods in which
most Of the trees are worthless (;
still others where the never-failing
cedar will appear and the slow
growing cypress; and miles of
scOrched standing timber of all
kinds, unfit for any use except fire
wood. Then there are the square
miles of scattered clearings, where,
In places, the peat has burned
eight and ten feet. down to the
sand and clay.
The only permanent human hab-
itation in the Lake Drummond will
derness is the house of the govern
ment-employed lock tender at the
Waste Weir clearing. two and three
quarter miles west of Dismal
Swamp canal and a quarter of a
mile from Lake Drummond.
Six gates, or wickets, regulate
the flow from the lake. Until the
government obtained possession. in
1929. the Feeder and canal were
privately operated. Now the lake
and canals are controlled by
the United States army engineers,
whose orderly methods are bring
ing new day to Dismal Swamp.
Indian Relics on Sand Bars.
During the abnormally low water
of the winter of 1930-31 many
sand bars were exposed along the
shores of Lake Drummond. In
places the water receded more than
a thousand feet. One can find ar
row-heads. hammers, and other
weapons and implements along the
north shore. where the Indians had
hunted and fished for generations.
Few Indian relics are ever found
ashore. They were soon covered by
the decaying vegetation that forms
the peat. while acids in some of the
woods disintegrate the very bones
of men and animals.
Only three of the swamp's many
canals and bitches are now in use
Dismal Swamp canal, the Feed
er. and the Albemarle and Chesa-
peake canal. All the rest have been
abandoned. Many of them were
dug by slaves.
The Jericho canal for the most
part passes through clearings. Near
the lake its banks are lined with
stately trees whose tops lean in
ward. East of the Jericho ditch
deer abound.