The Valdosta times. (Valdosta, Ga.) 1874-194?, April 22, 1905, Image 2

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THE The Forgotten City in Lowndes And the Mystery Surrounding It. A WRITER IN THE 8UNNY SOUTH TELUS OF THE RUINS ON AN CIENT CITY NEAR VALDOSTA— 80ME CONJECTURES ABOUT THE RACE OF PEOPLE WHO ONCE INHABITED IT—OLD FRANK- LYNNVILLE IS PROBABY THE CITY REFERRED TO. lar crescent-shaped embankments, about three-quarters of a mile apart Their convex Hides always face to ward the northeast, and the Inside of the soml-clrcle partly Incloses three mounds, a larger one near the em bankment, and two smaller ones at Hhort distances, ranged In a direct line from northeast to southwest. These embankments represent an im mense amount of labor, being from one-half to three-quarters of a mile in length. They are as mysterious as the forgotten city Itself. Did they mark the approach ttufome great temple, or palace, or www they erected as a mon ument to ^great victory? Some da7, perhaps, our savants will tell us all about these also. Another of Nature's Puzzlee. But even yet, we are not done with the mysteries of this strange section of the country. Five miles above the forgotten city is another puzzle, but this time it Is one of nature's making without the help of man. It may, or may not, have had somethiug to do with the location of Its neighbor in the ancient city. Certain It is that the wonder of it has perplexed the brains of the many generations of white men who have lived there abouts. At the point named, five miles above the forgotten town, the Withlacoochee river is about 500 feet wfde, and flows over a bed of quick sand. Then comes a long stretch of swamp, and then a steep bluff. At the edge of the latter, a part of the river, some hundred and fifty feet wide, leaves the main current, flows direct ly eastward at right angles to the course of the river, and plunges Into a cavern In the face of a hill that Is at least 100 feet high. From time to time vain attempts have been made to thoroughly explore this weird retreat of the waters. Ono courageous man succeeded in penetra ting ihe cave to a depth of 300 yards. In traversing this short distance, he passed through a series of .spacious chambers, connected by narrow gal leries, througt%whfch tho water roar- speed. The ' 6t sink holes er a mile. Then these /cease, but a fOw miles Mysterious Mound. lower down, on the opposite side of On the' bank of the Wlthlacoochee, ihe river, a great limestone spring about half way of the crescent bend, bursts out upon the surface. As a rises a large mound. Huge now. even rule. ‘he water of this spring Is as after ages of crumbling away, but clear M crystal. Whenever there Is showing plainly that It has once an unusual freshet, however, tho wa- been still more huge. Why It was ter becomes clouded, so ihat it would put there, nnd when and by whom tho seem that tho underground stream immense amount of work was done, from which the' spring emerges must no one knows, no one can even hazard have some surface connection. This a theory on the subject. Theorrles mysterious spring is in a direct line must have n standing point, a basis, with tho underground stream and It Here there is neither. This big mound believed that- the stream divides in la a fine field for the researches of ‘ho cave, or near it, part of Its waters antiquaries and savants. The wonder flowing down below tho main channel Js that It has not long since been dug ‘he river, crossing to the opposite into and thoroughly explored. Who sl, Io nnd emerging again nt the built that town? Wlm planted the spring. shade trees, erected tho defensive An Obscure Ancient Race, wall and heaped up that mysterious There Is another strnngo thing mound? Echo answers "Who?” No about this mysterious region. Goolog- one knows. History docs not give us lo.alty speaking, the country would the very least hint of the answer to "com ho of comparative!/ recent Everybody knows that there is in South Georgia a busy, enterprising lit tle town called Valdosta. Everybody does not know, however, that there It, ten miles north of Valdosta, a dead, ancient town or city, In sharp con trast to the living, modern town. Is, In very truth, a forgotten city, trace of what It once was, has long since passed away, except.the lines of noble oaks, set in parallel rows about thirty feet apart and extending for nearly a mile. Each street of this clent town is thus laid out. They were evidently about forty feet wide, and Intersected each other at right angles. There were many of these streets, for the town was fully a mile square. These hoary old oak trees show their great age, towering heavenward far above other trees near by, that are yet very far from being In their infancy. The graceful gray moss drooping frrom their outspread branches, rests gently on the tops of the smaller trees, as though laid upon them in benediction. The western end of the forgotten city overlooks a high bluff, at the foot of which the Wlthlacoochee river flows on Its winding course. For ages the waters have been busy at the foot of the bluff, washing away huge pieces of the sandstone, of which it is composed, and making its way up Into the streets that were nearest to the stream. Whatsoever race located and built the ancient city, had an eye both to beatity and defense. The river Just there makes a deep, sharp bend In the shape of a crescent, encircling the town site. From a point Just above the most northern line of trees and ex tending in a. semi-circle a little below the southern boundary, may still be traced a line of earthworks. This line was plainly the ancient wall that defended the town, and Is ono of the few known instances of walled towns in whnt is now the United 8tates. In some places this old wall is still easily to by traced; in others It can scarce ly be distinguiHhed. Its entire length can bo followed all through the plney woods on that side. Immense trees of yellow pine have sprung up from broken summits of those questions. So one knows. Per haps some day the government serv ants will roll up their sleeves and go delving below until they get nt the heart of this mystery, and, then, per haps. we, too, Nhitil know all about It. This forgotten city was as much of n mystery to the Creek Indians who lived thereabouts for many genera tions, ns to their successors, the whites. The Indians wero removed by the government In tho 30’s, but the country was not so fertile ns to at tract n large number of settlers, and th's condition obtains still, It is even now but thinly settled. The Creeks hud no town or village of their own anywhere near the old town truth, the formation. Yet from the prehistoric evidences scattered about, it Is proven to havo been old enough to have sup ported generations of ancient race, so very ancient ns to bo utterly un known, not even tho most ancient of tho known raceo having tho least clew to its Identity. Tho oversight that has left these mounds undisturb ed for so long Is ns mysterious, al most, ns the rest of this strange re gion.—Helen Harcourt, In the Sunny South. ROOSEVEt , SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1905. ffc« PrMidnl Books nnd Ki It is remarkable ties, President do a good deal of lbe April Century sa; I have no record of cent reading, but It be is "keeping up my friends are still ley’s three thick volum life. Tiie president, them promptly, gainli only a fresh but a Me view of the great confessed, he bad hl$bi derstiind, A publisher not long ago told me that Roosevelt seemed to liav hi* eye on the authors of their bouse auil now and then a private letter ful of appreciation would pn" r trough the publisher's bands on thor. in the thick of t., ^Onpalgn o 1901 i happen to knovf W /£e reread ull of Macaulay's ‘Tlin^Mof Kug land,” all of Rhodes' “nmm; of the I’nited States” and Dickens’ “Martin Chuzxlewlt.” • The other afternoon he was banded a new book, a not very long dissfrtation on a mutter of current iMerest. That evening be entertained a‘number of guests at dinner, and latex there was a musical party ut the White House, at which he was present. At luncheon the next day the giver said to him. “Mr. President, of course you have not bad time to look at that book?" “Oh, yes," sold the president, *“I have read it.“ Wherftipon he proved thats^e had done so by his criticism of the work. One day lately a book of short stories was sent to him. Almost by tpttpfrtnail came a letter thanking the sender and saying lie had already enjoyed the sto ries greatly In serial publication. How does be manage to do It? All I know about this is that, in the first place, he bas by nature or practice the faculty of extremely rapid reading. There are some men of letters and genera] readers" who never have been able to acquire this art Others can take in paragraphs or pages well nigb at a glance. The president must be one of these photographic readers, who take almost instantly the impression of a whole paragraph or nearly a whole page, tho eye running along tho line with lightninglike rapidity and leap ing fo the more Important phrases as by instinct. I have known the follow ing to occur: A congressman makes a statement to him and bands him a type written paper. Almost Immediately it president hands It back to 1dm, where upon tiie congressman any*' Atkr%r ^ n *- Ingly: “Mr. President, may I this paper with you? I an that you should reaiT Ilj era tho presli Tax Receiver's Notice. I will be at the following precincts 'on dates given below, for the pprpoce of receiving tax returns for the year 1905: Naylor, - - April 8, 12 aid 24 Cat Creek, ■ • " 18 ajd Halurn, • • /*■ 5, 14 and Clnb House, - “ 17 and Ousley, - - - “ 7, 18 and attvillo, - - " 10, 20 Ma ePark, - - “ 11,21 *' Dorsey’s School House, - - H Dasher, - “ Valdosta on all Saturdays, and rl^ily af ter rounds are made, until books close on Jnno 1st. C S. BACON, 3-7-mayl0 Tax Receiver. The farmer who does his best al ways nnd everywhere is the one who does most to lift up his country, state and township. Tho roots of good gov ernment aro deep down among tho good farmers of tho country. Tho warm spring rains have brought to the surfaco a number of little Republican presidential boom- lets, but It Is not yet too late for a killing frost, and some of them are pretty likely to get badly nipped. Money to Loan. Money (o loan, at ronMiuablo rates, on Lowndes county farm lauds. ERNEST W. EDWARDS, Attoraey-at-Law. TO REMOVE FRECKLES AND PIMPLES In 10 Days. Use . SATINOLA . The Complexion Beautifler ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦*>♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ The No Diasappolntmentt. Many a "tailor-mad* man’ has had t» disappointing experience of find- j n ing that ‘‘goods-in-thc-plece” and tho were afraid of it as the finished garments look entirely unlike. abode of spirits, whether good or evil. Thin is partly due to the colors—part- they knew not. but either way, it was ,v t,u ' pattern—and at any rate, it a place to be avoided. Their hunters j ts ofton to hid go how the fabric would not go near it. and tho wild an imals who sought refuge within the bounds of the forgotten city, were per fectly safe from pursuit. Tho old In dian lore was full of traditions, but there was never one word about this strange spot. But from tlrao to time, tangible evidences, beyond the walls and streets have been found that an alien race once had its being there. Bits of ancient pottery, of stylet and skill unknown by the Indians, and queer stone implements, with flint knives and arrowheads. These have been found along the bluffs, and were strange to the Indian tribes, strange to every one of them, who Inhabited America at the time when it was dis covered by Columbus. It is not alone within the bounds of this ancient city that strange things may be seen. Trending to the north east for ten or fifteen miles, are regu- will "make up.” The new ready-to-wear system pro vides particular men with clothing equal to a custom tailor’s work, about half his prices. It is easy to Judge the finished garment and there is no waiting whatever. Probably the best of ready-to-wear garments aro those bearing the famous Schloss Bros. & Co. mark. These are sold here by A. Converse, whoso announce ment appears on another page. The contract labor law and the Chinese Immigration laws do not ap ply to the Panama canal zone. This is fortunate, perhaps, as tho canal zone Is not a place where many white men care to work anyway. It costs more per pound to raise a colt than a steer, and th£ fight kind of colt will sell for four times as muck. C ATINOLA la s new discovery, guaranteed *^and money refunded if n fails to remove the wont case of Freckle*, Pimple*. Tan, Liver 8note, Sallowncee, Black heads or any other akin eruption In 20 dava—leaves the skin clear, •oft, healthy and restores the beanty of youth. Thousands testify to the merits of Sstinola. Miss Alace Lfretts writes; —Thibodeaux. La.. Oct., 15, ‘04. "For four yean my face was completely covered with freckles and pimples. AU remedies failed, until I used two packages ofSatinola, which completely removed the freckles sad pimples. My complexion ts now perfect, and hope every lady having freckles or pimples will try Sstinola." Price QOc. and $1.00, by leading druggists, or maiL NATIONAL TOILET CO., Parle, Teua., Bold In Valdosta by C. S. BONDURANT And all leading druggist. Spring Fashion COPTRIWJTEh 1909 SCHLOS^BRO; ino Cloths* BALTIMORE ’’NEW YORK ! demands many little differ ences of line and shape. The coats, you will no tice, are longer, the should ers better shaped, a most graceful effect obtained in the whole suit. These little style points are better shown in Schloss garments than any other clothes we know. And ■while the Schloss clothes lead in style, their ^ quality is sure as the Government stamp on a dollar bill, just as certain a guarantee of value. These are the clothes you ought to wear, the “BEST COR RECT CLOTHES FOR GENTLEMEN,” simply because they mean the most value for your money, look at it however you will. We're anxious to show you the new styles and have you slip on a coat or two, just to see how they “feel.” You don’t have to BUY because you try, glad to see you anyway. Specially glad to-day. A. CONVERSE, Valdosta, Georgia. 25.00? “Outfitter to Particular People.” Sptirtg, tldli t if Shoe FOR PPoAlEN A LIGHT STEP. No woman can afford to ignore her shoes unless she hands in her resignation to polite society. For her shoes determine her walk, and her walk decides her style, and her carriage, her pos ture, her whole attitude and bearing as she moves about. A lady’s shoe should always be light weight and flexible to the foot to enable her to walk in an easy, and graceful manner. This is the especial charm of tho “Queen Qhalitj” Shoes. Queen Quality OXFORDS.*'' $2.50. KIBO PATENT KID. Much and more flexible than patent leather. F.s*ct Reproduction of this Style Shot. They aro trim and neat ;in shape and actnally create an elastic, gracefnl step which is worth ten years of youthful- ness to a middle- aged woman. W. T. LANE, The Leaders in Staple Dry Goods, Heavy Grocries and Farmers’ Supplies.