Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1911 — IS NATURAL WONDER [ARTICLE]

IS NATURAL WONDER

Combination of Lake and Prairid in Florida. Section of Land That Changes WlSf the Seasons—Other Remarkable Phenomena to Be Found .In the Same Neighborhood. Among the strange things to be met with In Florida is a section of country which changes with the seasons, and is alternately a prairie and! a lake. It is two miles south of} Gainesville, and at certain time*! strangers wonder why it is called aj "prairie,” for they look out upon at broad stretch of water so deep that aj storm churns its surface into rolling! white-capped billows. At times the; commerce of the lake is done by} steamer, while at other times you cam go over the same route in a stage, from the wheels of which clouds'ofj dust roll. On the edge of the prairie, haU| walled In by rock, and dense with! Immense trees draped In long fec-> toons of moss, is a pool of water? called “The Sink." Its depth has| never been sdanded. \ From It an underground riverj flows, and makes Its way no ones knows where. Sometimes an acre of land, trres and all, will fall into the underground river, and then the drainage of the prairie becomes obstructed! and the prairie goes dry. In a year; or two the river will sweep aroundj the obstruction and the prairie be-; comes wet.

There are a number of these sink* In the neighborhood of Gainesville, alii of them as round as a dollar, and averaging from a quarter to a half acre ini extent. _ . > ■ . A little way north of Gainesville is; a pretty and mysterious spot, called the “Devil’s Millhopper." A large; stream of water comes down hill with! considerable force and disappears Ini a pool that has no visible outlet. Near Brooksville there is another pool very similar to the Devil’s Millhopper. A stream of water pours Into it, and Is swallowed up in sf whirlpool in the center. Throw a log in It, and it will be carried around the pool many times, gradually drawing nearer to the center. When It reaches; the center It suddenly disappears. The people In the neighborhood do not care to go too near the Brooksville pool, and It would be a very bold man who would launch a boat and trust himself upon It. j