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Show RIVERS THAT HIDE SOME TftUANT 8TREAM8 OF THE FAR WE8T. Many Run for Mllea Underground and Reappear Above Non-Porous Sell Peculiar Course of Oregon River. Tho "lOBt rivers" of the far west ns a rulo head In mountainous nrcaB and rush downward Into bowl-llko valloys, where thoy Incontinently vanlBh. Somo of them r.cappear miles from tho vanishing van-ishing point, while others tiro lost forever. for-ever. Tho floors of tho valleys Into which they How gcnornlly aro comparatively level nnd nro built up or loose sands and gravels washed down from tho rocky nnd forest-chid slopes, which iibsorh tho water and through which It percolates slowly beneath the BUifnce. When the slow-moving underground current encounters tin obstruction, as It often docs, lu the shape of a natural dlko or tho rocky rim of tho lower end of tho vnlloy, tho water Is forced to the surface and tho stream Is born ugnln, Thus tho Santa Ana river in California Cali-fornia sinks In tho wash above Hod-lands, Hod-lands, rises to the surface above Hunker Hill dike, sinks below it, rises from Klversldo to Iledrock canyon, below be-low El Hlncon, sinks in the wash nbovo Santa Ana and finally partly rises again In tho largo peat land springs ubovo Talbort. The San Gabriel and tho Los Angeles An-geles rivers exhibit the snmo characteristics, charac-teristics, hut disappear and reappeai less often In their much shorter course to the scs. At somo points those sunken rivers flow for long distances under a wide stratum of impervious material where tho water Is under considerable pressure. pres-sure. When wells nro driven through this stratum an artesian How results. Another peculiar stream Is tho Deschutes, Des-chutes, which drains a large area lu central Oregon. It Is known tohydrog-raphers tohydrog-raphers all over tho world for tho extraordinary ex-traordinary regularity of Its How throughout tho year. This Is accounted account-ed for by the porous lava formation which constitutes a portion of tho dralnugo area. When tho streams encounter en-counter this sheet of lava they aro taken up by tho sponge-like mnterlal and disappear from sight, passing beneath be-neath and through tho lava and finally emerging through dark caverns nnd deep canyons Into tho mnln stream. This wonderful lava bed Is 'nature's regulator. It swallows up tho Hoods that come down the steep slopes. It absorbs tho rnlns and snows and then releases them slowly through a Alter miles In length Into tho Deschutes. Day after day, year nfter year, Its How Is uniform and Its waters sparkling spark-ling nnd clear. For this reason, probably, prob-ably, It Is tho Hneat trout stream In America. Now Mexico uIbo has a truant stream tho Itlo Mlmbres. It drains many miles of mountain country In tho southern part of tho territory, and for a tlmo Is n stream of Importance. Then, nB If tired of existence, It Hows out upon the plains near Doming and Is lost forever, swallowed up In tho looso sand and gravel. Tho Pecos, too, is a truant at times and seeks seclusion beneath the Bur-face, Bur-face, coming up miles below In arte-Blan arte-Blan springs of groat volume. |