Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1879 — A Wonderful Lake. [ARTICLE]

A Wonderful Lake.

In Colorado is a ten-acre field which is no more nor less than a subterranean lake covered with soil about eighteen inches deep., On the soil is cultivated a field of corn, which produces thirty or forty bushels to the acre. If any one will take the trouble to hole the depth of a spade-handle be will find it to fill with water, and by using a hook and line, fish four or five inches long can be caught. The fish have neither scales nor eyes, and are perchlike in shape. The ground is a black marl in its nature, and in all probability was at one time an open body of water, on which was accumulated vegetable matter, which has been increased from time to time, until now it has a crust sufficiently strong and rich to produce fine corn, though it has to be cultivated by hand, as it is not strong enough to bear the weight of a horse. While harvesting, the field-hands catch great strings of fish by punching a hole, through the earth. A person * rising on his heel and coming down suddenly can see the growing corn shake all around him. Any one having the strength to drive a rail through this crust will find, on releasing it, that it will disappear al together. The whole section of‘country surrounding this field gives evidence of marshiness, and the least rain produces an abundance " of mud. But the question comes up: Has not this body an outlet? Although brackish, the water tastes as if fresh, and is evidently not stagnant. Yet these fish are eyeless and scaleless—similar to those found in caves.