Newspaper Page Text
Thurs., June 22, 1967
«<*<****<******
One mystery of Big Spring
was solved and another was
discovered by a pair of
Scuba divers last Saturday
afternoon.
For as long as most people
can remember, the legend
has gone the rounds that
Big Spring on Lyerly Road
is bottomless. Until now, no
one has come along to refute
that belief.
But Joe Davis, of Berryton,
and his nephew, Ron Saxon,
of Augusta, penetrated the
depths of the spring last
Saturday . . . and hit bottom
at 30 feet!
The divers also discovered
an underwater cave while
exploring the spring, but
time did not permit them to
exploit their find. They are
anxiously awaiting another
excursion into Big Spring to
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SCUBA DIVERS CHECK EQUIPMENT
Ron Saxon (L) of Augusta and Joe
Davis of Berryton check diving equip
ment before exploring the depths of
Court Upholds Butts Libel Award
The U.S. Supreme Court
has upheld a $460,000 libel
award to former University
of Georgia Athletic Direc
tor Wally Butts.
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A! nd what is so rare
-* as a day in June?
Then, if ever,
conic perfect days ...”
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 1819-1891
Not too hot. Not too cold. That’s the June
day perfection you enjoy every day with a
flameless electric heat pump.
This comfort conditioner replaces sticky
summer heat with a ^rosty-morning tingle.
Pampers you with sunshine warmth on raw
winter days. Eliminates those bothersome
between-season seasons.
You set the thermostat once. Then forget
it. Automatically, the heat pump reverses
its cycle from cooling to heating, as needed.
Operates economically. There’s even a
special rate for total-electric customers. And
budget billing means your electric bill is the
same amount every month.
Want June-perfect days? A flameless elec
tric heat pump gives you 365 of them every
year. Except leap year. Then you get 366.
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY
Scuba Divers Explode Myth of Big Spring
explore the cave.
The two boys are old hands
at underwater exploration.
Ron, who is a YMCA in
structor and a certified
diver, has been going under
water for about 11 years. Joe
has been diving for five
years.
Scuba diving is a relative
new sport to Chattooga
County. At present, there
are only a few of these
underwater explorers that
we have been able to dis
cover in the county area.
A complete outfit for this
fascinating hobby consists
of a mask, fins, snorkel,
neophrene wet suit, weight
belt, knife, depth gauge,
watch, underwater light, a
set of tanks and a regulator
with pressure gauge. The
Big Spring Saturday afternoon. The
boys also go in for spear fishing.
Mr. Butts won the judg
ment against the Curtis
Publishing Co. in 1964, as
the result of an article that
appeared in the Saturday
Evening Post.
©he ^ummermlk News
tanks alone weigh about 70
pounds. The initial cost of
the outfit is rather costly—
about s4oo—but it will last a
long time.
If the absence of breath
able air were the only dif
ference between conditions
in our world and the world
beneth the sea, it would be
comparatively simple to ex
plore under water. Providing
a diver with an air supply
is not a major problem. Air
can be carried in containers,
strapped like a knapsack on
the explorer’s back, or it can
be pumped down to him
through a hose.
Joe and Ron have ex
plored a great many places
around this area. Ron said
that when he was up from
Augusta several months ago,
On Dean’s List
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BOLLING FARMER
Bolling Farmer has been
named to the Dean’s List at
Hollins College, Roanoke,
Va., for the second time this
year. She is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Farmer,
of Summerville.
Trion Sailor
On Bausell
Off Viet Nam
Fireman Apprentice Joe
C. Bennett, USN, son of Mr.
and Mrs. J. F. Bennett, of
244 Pine Street, Trion, Is in
the Western Pacific with the
U. S. Seventh Fleet aboard
the destroyer USS Bausell.
The ship will participate
In operations along the
coast of Viet Nam and is ex
pecetd to visit ports in
Hawaii, Japan, Philippines,
and Hong Kong during the
scheduled six - months of
duty in the Western Pacific,
He Deposited
Some Money,
All Right
Officers at a Michigan
State Police post didn’t
know what to think when a
pickup truck pulled through
their parking lot and drove
behind the building, where
there is no road. The truck
smashed into a gasoline’
vent and came to a halt.
The driver told police he
thought he was at a drive-in
bank. He was charged with
drunken driving.
UNDERWATER CAVE FOUND
ice “would coat” their suits
as they “came up out of the
water."
When man goes under the
water, he enters a com
pletely different w’orld, a
world in which he really
does not belong. He cannot
even see clearly under water.
Things look out of focus,
partly because light refrac
tion is different in water,
and partly because human
eyes are not flat like the
eyes of a fish.
This is one reason why
divers wear masks. Like
eyeglasses, a mask corrects
distortion. But even a
masked diver must practice
before he is able to judge
distances accurately. Under
water, things appear to be
about one fourth larger and
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A LOT OF EQUIPMENT NEEDED
g:::::::::::: SIGHTED LAST WEEK
Those Flying
Saucers Again
Those mysterious fly
ing saucers have been
reported seen over Chat
tooga County again.
Two young boys, David
Patterson and Mike
Shireman, reported they
saw three UFOs last
week about 1 am. on
Bolling Road
The boys said at first
they thought they were
jets, but there was no
sound. David—who was
spokesman for the pair
—said there were three
objects. The first one
was “sort of white and
went up the mountain
toward Summerville,” he
said. The second was re
ported to be red and
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nearer than they actually
are.
The sportsmen say that
the best diving is in Florida.
Ron told of a spring in the
Sunshine State being so
clear that he could see
people swimming on the
surface from 110 feet under
water. He also told of a com
panion getting “hooked” by
a fisherman while under the
surface of the water.
Joe and Ron said it is not
difficult to swim under
water—especially with the
aid of fins. When divers
enter the watery world and
want to swim through it,
they strap fins on their feet.
These fins, or flippers, make
swimming so easy that it is
unnecessary to use arms and
hands to increase speed. The
diver has his hands free to
white and the third one
had “three big, red
lights” that were blink
ing as if they were try
ing “to signal.”
A number of these un
identified flying objects
were reported in the
Chattooga County area
some time ago—especial
ly around Trion — but
this is the first sight
ing reported in recent
months.
The youngsters Said
that the first object was
“kinda low,” but that the
other two were very high.
The reported sightings
were made last Wednes
day morning.
Phone 857-4561
pick up a lobster, to operate
a camera, or to take from
the bottom whatever inter
ests him.
Among the things the
divers have been called on
to do are aid in the recovery
of stolen automobiles, radios
and TV’s and even to look
for murder weapons.
At an Augusta diving club
to which Ron and his wife,
Mary, once belonged, mem
bers held an underwater
Easter egg hunt. The eggs
were hidden by diving teams
10 to 105 feet underwater on
submerged rock ledges and
crevasses of an old rock
quarry. Ron’s wife is also a
certified diver.
In all underwater activity,
the pressure exerted by the
water is the limiting factor.
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Diver comes up after exploring the
depths of Big Spring on Lyerly Road.
It was generally believed that the
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Air also has weight, but all
the miles and miles of air in
the earth’s atmosphere press
down on us as we stand at
the seashore at the rate of
only 14.7 pounds per square
inch. However, sea water is
so heavy that 33 feet below
the surface, pressure is in
creased by another 14.7
pounds or, as divers say, by
“one atmosphere.” At a level
of 66 feet, the pressure is
tripled, at 99 feet it is quad
rupled.
Among the many things a
Scuba diver must learn is
the importance of following
a timetable. Ron specifically
pointed out that "No one
should undertake Scuba div
ing unless he has completed
a thorough course under a
trained instructor."
SOLVE MYSTERY OF BIG SPRING
*t*O*4O****«*
Section B
The boys also go In for
spearfishing. The guns are
either air or rubber powered.
The latter type work on the
principle of a sling shot. A
diver must learn to gauge
distance. The first few
times, a spear fisherman
may go wide of the mark;
but with practice, his aim
becomes sure. It was pointed
out that the spear gun
should be no farther away
than five feet of the target.
Joe and Ron have a fer
vent desire to explore Round
Pond at Trion to find out if
it, too, has a bottom. Maybe
one of these days when they
get the chance, we may
know if the same legend
that has surrounded Big
Spring is true —or false—in
the case of Round Pond.
spring was bottomless. These divers,
however, hit bottom at approximate
ly 30 feet.