Show HELLS HELL'S HELL HALF ACRE mountains In the mountains near Hot Springs Ark is a queer bowl or lake of small rocks which is known in the section as Hells Half Acre We are arc not accustomed to think of rocks as fluid though coal has been crushed into small particles which flow and sands quick-sands sep sep- separate separate sep separate arate readily to permit the passage of a heavy body and fill in and smooth themselves out when a hole has been dug in them The rocks of Hells Hell's Half lIal Acre are ite f sizable and in no way comparable to the grains of crush crush- crushed crushed crushed ed coal or of quick sand yet in a away away away way they act like them Groups of visitors often amuse themselves by digging the rocks out until they have made a large hole bole eith eith- either either either er in an effort to reach bottom or orto orto orto to uncover pirates gold supposed supposed supposed ed to be hidden in the bowl The mysterious thing is that upon returning returning re- re returning turning to the patch a few days later the visitors always find that the hole they have sunk with so much exertion has lias filled in and the rock heaps which they piled up have smoothed out leaving the surface of the odd formation Just Justas justas justas as it was before they ruffled it Geologists explain that the for for- formation formation formation mation was caused by a pressure fold which broke up a mass of me me- me metamorphic metamorphic rock Ouachita stone Some people have thought that the patch was the debris of an out out- outflow outflow out outflow flow from an old volcano but this is not accepted by the scientists However no scientific explanation has been advanced which will sat sat- satisfy sat satisfy the natives of the section Though Though Hells Hell's Half Acre lies in inthe inthe inthe the midst of a n section noted as hav hav- having having having ing the second greatest diversity of vegetation in the country it is almost barren Only a few hardy lichen have managed to attach themselves to the the tho stones here and there Another curious feature is the echo effects If four or five people are scrambling over the forma forma- formation formation formation tion they can scarcely hear each others other's voices vices at a distance of ten feet because their footfalls send countless echoes running in every through the loose rocks producing a bedlam of noises Prospectors have been lured by the mystery of the spot The writer who is preparing an article on the tho rock patch for forthe forthe forthe the American Guide the tho Govern Govern- Government's Government's Government's ments ment's forthcoming volume 6 trav trav- travel travel el handbook found that at the mere mention of Hells Hell's Half Hal Acre the eyes of ot most any old miner ot of the section will gleam and he will begin to mutter about gold Spanish diggins diggin's Mexican Jew V Jewels Jewels els cIs and the Lost Louisiana Mine The precious metals have never been found in paying quan quan- quantities quantities quantities in the Hot Springs area however though small pockets of extraordinary richness have bC been n uncovered The region indeed d Is Isa Isa isa a land of lost hope for miners miner and everywhere one finds souvenir of vanished dreams in the form of abandoned mine shafts According to tradition there was wag once an old miner and gambler who used to disappear into the hills near the rock patch whenever he had been cl cleaned out and r return tu n to town a few tew days later with th a buskin of gold He has bas played his last game and nobody knows where he found hi his stakes Gone too is 3 isa a Hot Springs doctor who thou thought ht that he had located the wall vall of the Lost Lol Louisiana iana Mine and tried to sink a shaft shat into ells ell's Half Acre until a fellow townsman got out an injunction to stop him h Im from destroying a natural phenomenon The last of the timber which the doctor used for shoring is rotting at the rock patch and the mine mino is still till lost |