Newspapers / The State’s Voice (Dunn, … / Oct. 1, 1934, edition 1 / Page 1
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Either traditional conjecture outlives demonstrated facts or there has never been any scientific measure ment of the . depth of Duplin. 'County’s- principal “Natural Well.’* . t"* • r--- ^ ... * I have at hand r recent picture taken of the well by that excellent photogpraher, Mr. B. Potter, of Magnolia. Here I give you his words about the phenomenon: . - */•>> • :■ r “This is a hole about one hundred'feet across. It Is about 35 feet from -the top Of the ground to the water. It has io visible inlet or outlet. WTO' I WATER HAS BEEN* INVESTIGATED TO A l DEPTH OF SIX HUNDRED FEET BUT NO BOT : TOM HAS - EVER- ■ BEEN FOUND. **■ The f'wcll” is right out onra sand bin and is said td have no bot tom.” ' .. Now I quc^e the most-pertinent paragraph In a volume on the “Geology1 of Eastern North Carolina,,” as follows: • ‘ - % •' - *, . V* "About one-half mile west of Magnolia there are several sinks. One is about 100 feet in diameter.' Water comes to within a few feet of the surface in the form of a pond without outlet Its depth is UN CERTAIN (caps oura) but ntiw no^ very deep.” ?: There you are L The former statement is from ja. man who lives in Magnolia—within one to five mjles of all the “natural wells” of Duplin. The latter- is from the most authoritative volume I could readily lay hands on in Rleigh, and apparently the latest quasi-authoritative or scientific report upon Duplin’s, long noted, natural phenomena.- * "The Depth Uncertain But Not Now- Very Deep.” If there has ever been a more indefinite or unsatfe factory statement palmed oflE in any ;scipntii|c worlj than the foregoing .from what purports to be a scion* discovered. iti ^The depth- is qnc^rtain J^ut hot mow very deep.” if the' author didn’t measure it, how does he know whether ft is “Very deep or not” If he did measure it, why does he say that‘‘the depth is uncertain?” \ . f The “bottomless” dept of Jhis well J}ty8 been tradi tional sinqe the early days of the settlement of wess, tern Duplin, 175 years ago. As an aunt of. the writer’s lived within a' fewr, miles. _of. thp- well, he heard of them in very childhood. In fact, the aunt’s postoffice was named “Natural Wells.”, Col. C. M. Faircloth Visits Well. A few weeks ago I had a letter from Col. C. M. Faircloth of Clinton, who had recently Visited the “wells’ and thought I should write an article about them. Col. Faircloth, considered, thenj„worth a visit. Ten days ago, when I was at Magnolia, I took occa sion to ask several questions about them, but did not become aware that one of-them is only a half-mile from Magnolia and the most historic one, historic because of record- of Ms hundreds of .various kinds of fossils, is only two miles away, according, to the book consulted, . I was under the impression that they were several miles from Magnolia, as they were said to be several miles from my aunt’s and were indicated in a direction of at least 45 degrees from the direction I had gone to Magnolia. I should at least have seen the nearer one, seemingly the one referred to by, Ijoth My. Potter and the author of the volume of the Geology of Eastern North Carolina, if I had known it was no near. -If the two writers did not refer to the same well, it- would seem that the scientists have missed the reat “bottomless’’ well ft is too late to get. further, information from. Mr.; Potter if this article is to accompany the- Duplin sketches. But the contradictory reports-of the depth of -the well justifies the inquiry; How" Deep is Duplin’s “Bottomless” Natural Well? ' " ;• ^ . . vy • >v There are numerous “wells” or sink.Judcs, in this section of Duplin. Only one sternsto retain the. reputation of being .“bottomless.” The book is defl-, nite about the depths of '&e "othe'rs. The one “two, siiles from Magnolia” is that which has received “iore study, and that , means much stqdy, so far as fbe structure of the walls and the varieties of fos 8ils are concerned. The volume contains a list of hundreds of varieties of shells and "other fossil forms found at this well. * \ • ; V % " ' , . The “Duplin Iimf^stwie.JLedge.’*.. The area of eastern ~ N*brth ;.Carolina ’ containing ^heli marl beds, is known tp the geologists as tht “Duplin Limestone’^, area—“area” is not1 the word CM used, but it escapes me just now." a fwiri amt about ■ W^ccamaw Lake is said x to belong to the '‘Duplin Limestone"—! believe 4t is “ledge,” and Lake Wac-: camaw is away oyer. in .Columbus county, near the South Carolina line, Sampson bOuaty JSes“‘j[t| scat tered shell marl beds-^-one within two miles of my boyhood hotpe showed even sharks’' teeth among' its fossils, A few mUes above the highway 60 bridge on‘Shr~Runs, -16 miles-below Clinton, are lime pits frbm-whtch the lime Took was Woi»t to be burned for quick lime.* * •■'*■*** -**• k /•- ■*?. - Wftiile I was fu -the£vMuseum building consulting : thole volumes Which' Mr. Davis, assistant to-Curator Brim'ley, had. provided mek a Mr. Fosoue, of High ■ Point, but of Jones' county extractlbn* came, as I ", hid' done, inquiring fbr State Geologist Bryson, and was-, answered as I had beem -that Mr. Bryson now his his office to Chapel Hill. " ik developid-that Mr. Foscue was seeking information about -shell marl, too, and the possibility "of isellittg ^possiBly the larg est ! deposit in the state”*-Lffdwh on Tfcent Biver im . Jones ’ county, f *- f>- - >•-' f Unquestionably, . the first -shell • marl beds'found in the state, or colony, were in UiupUn; -and that of the ■tfafls Of the' well ttfo' iniles;"fc6Ui Magnolia was prob-^ ably the discovery that tensed tb$ ledge to .be driven the name of “BueJipfewhich in,those old days, in. eluded Sampson, or most of its present 'area. i ; >1 ; v , . Accounting* for the Wells. , ■ " •; Whatever the depth-of the wells* their origin. is definitely accounted fori>®*e theory is that the lime farther marl has been, dissolved'ont'by waterandthe' hole- left, That is gpod'&o far as it goes. The.,tr<Bd-s: ; marl ,rock»K. If there ; „aethe ifc*C “to %ea Jbotr.'. •' What thhfO' is i^uid hdye ;ai>sprhM;iaUTc6ie ‘Ihnesf'ittfc loiss-thfre Is' an % underground stream carrying -the. charged water away, and if there;;is such a streain, thehr there must be a supply sources ' Analysis shows' that' water ■of' the. Wk4wb miTes I from Magnolia b^ttifi8'’a"tritce'' djf' fioK" afiScft"! 1-1!‘ parts t»r the ttioasand ln' Welgbt, Tber aBatyidS Joes not indicate the quantity of limecarried'bytbe ,.;-A*-v • - -■ < v".;4f vH 'T-^. ^‘f'^9 A ' -<J-' "tv-.«■ water. »rr?u: v Evidently, w^tte- these-greatiiotes were t>einr eateu out there was. both a source of water supply and an underground outlet, else the deeper "wells” " have- been, formed,.. .. :As evidenced by the photograph of the well made „ >y Mr? JPottep, tias“|a^d. a Magnificent growth C^ogupf! fern*, siderable else is shown athwart .the weTL apparently' lying - on- the water^for the picture seems to have been taken from an .elevation* The tree was' prdlK ably/uprooted. hx tip! cuunbling oElhe walls' of the welipecehtly, p^'pd^IllS^^ tB«D£decaps!^d,~fdf!^^ heart of a iongetrawed pine does hot soon .rot—in* or out of water. ■■•.,■»* ■ -The shrubbery, much of its apparently lu flower, shows up beautifully in the picture. The, water ap pehra, as a large darkarea.. .1 was -tempted to print; the picture, but. it jvoul(f haye been chiefly for the sakr Of the Shnibbery. for^hol^ self has few attractions. ; But, as' Cutat6r„“®Wihl03r remarked, one there can find the real wilderness, al most, a jungle of-coastal plains shrubbery,- - "■ Col. Faircloth seems to have thoughfhis’ visit well" repaid. . It 4» easy ~te. <reaoh the .“weUs?!.. from either^ highway* 60, #om Derwai^-br from. Warsaw -of-Korn- - ansvilh* If -te onMeight mHw'r|^t,;dom.'the ,raiIr . ...... ..^— g«.vl; it is probably a «Hg ■*». ‘The; writer should; irremeut - ^*the rdepih",t>#’-Hbmpd) • *^-"-r • ,• *** O'* *’•-*? '2^4*7 made*, so'thht" tM question wiii\be .definit^y1', "afid for,.: all time, answered—How Deep is' DuplinT? Bottomless; Natural Well? ■i i"M; Arthur E. Morgan’s articleon “Democracy” in the October American is, I believe; the most succinct and discriminating article on the subject I have ever read. • It is very brief; but makes a radical distinction be* tween the “principle” of democracy - and ..the “prac tice” ofoit ' V u The principle of democracy never' changes; the method, or practice, of democracy must never become ossified or immutable. True democracy must con stantly adapt its methods or-practice to the’Changing . . • ' . • ’ ■»- .. - . --- .J. ■ — ,■ . » -S-W . circumstances. • >■ The meaning of the word is “rule by the people.”. In , tyrranies,. autocracies, monarchies, and . aristoc racies, government has too invariably beep.dominated by the interest of the monarch or the ruling group. The “demos,” or people, as a whole, has been very lit-, tie considered. But; so long as human nature en dures the ruling group may be expected to . rule, in great measure, in its own interest.* That has been too constantly the practice, except to so-called democ-, raciejs. and republics, in which the .majority of the people is supposed' to be* the; ruler,* the , dictator of policies, and in which the'rilling class, the people, has .an .irrefutable right; with injustice to no fodir / vidual or group, to rule in their own interest. ^ But I repeat: The people have too frequently re signed their rule and their interests to selfish groups who "have dominated affairs in their own interest. » The Forms of Democracy Have Not Had Its Essenee. . - : : Thus the theory of the people’s rule has-existed, and its forms have, without any corresponding es sence. There has never been a real democracy—A government of, by,"end for the whole people^-no real republic, which means the control of the public’s af- . fairs in the public interest—a system in Which the common weal is supposed to be the Ain concern of government .The meik, the humble, the poor, the weak, the* unfortunates, have composed the majority In aUy g<>vernmeht**yo% may name; In bur^own, i the shibboleths of democrat were beifig mold wible race was enslaved, the' “poor whit$ trash” bad no voice in the government. .And to these latter days of our own memories, not only baye tb§ laws been made to conserve and ptosper' the intef ests of the strong, but tbe very economic practices; permitted and protected under tbe- ages of a Repub lic, professedly concerned with; the common^ weal, in. a government alleged to be “of the people, , by. the people, and for the people*” have permitted'the ittt poverishment of the alleged rulers, the ipajority of the people. ■ ~v';' ■; ' ■ /.;-{}• \ Hie Method of Democracy Never Adapted . to Its Principle.' - v ■ •' '*crs( - it is evident (that the method of democracy has, - never been**adapted to the' principle of democracy;. The attempt is being made.’ But as 'the; adaptation, necessarily, must be wrought’ from the ground up* ifc is not surprising that it is a slow process, particu larly whefl^ the former masters of the destinies Of. America’s millions are not yet prepared to surrender the forms "of democracy - for. its fear1 lest the shibboleths be destroyed unaware* of the real- essence.. y ij£. . utterly Mr. Morgan illustrates his distinction, between the immutability of tbd. denjpcrattc principle' *fn® ' necessary changeableness of the practice, .of demoe racy( for I believe he does- not use the- terni “method” at ail ) by^ the principle of 'the automobile and the adaptation of that, principle. Tfae-H&t.. model- Mr. Morgan sugge^s,' is ba^ thdyld^fc? tical principle that the flrwt . crude horseless earring wasrbbt: year after year* has seen a greater ahdv « greater perfection of the adaptation of the firinciple in practice. We amend Mr. Morgan’s illustration suggesting the* impossibility of a* leap' In*'®fie ‘W^rir years from the “horseless carriage” stage to the 19M Stage of-automobile -perfeetfoa^Tbat* suggests ^Mr.5 Roosevelt’s task. Indeed, it is vtery doubtful' if'he himself has ever fuli£ accepted -the~ principle of e government far the infereist of all: the people, e gov ernment in which' th^ perforifter; Of day . essential task in as perfect a* manner as that task can be par formed, however menial it’may >be* should be dented no necessity or essential comfort so long as anybody. else/ whatever his job or his. status, hga* gobbled up or'Is accumulating more than Tie could pOsSfbiy use to the betterment of himself and .(Continued on Page Ffoefc ’■ - -> Wv'i- . TAV+
The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1934, edition 1
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