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Show t THINGS I I UNUSUAL By T. T. MAXEY (, 1924. Western .Newspaper Union.) INDIANA SAND DUNES Indiana rubs elbows with I.nka Mlcliipan. On the border line the prolonged, pro-longed, Incessant and combined labor-lngs labor-lngs of such artistic elements as glaciers, gla-ciers, water, wind and sun have produced pro-duced the most scenically-famous stretch of landscape in the Hoosier state a land reiaote, as It were, yet within a few hours' ride of the homes of some five million people, a Nature-made Nature-made park of strange formations unlike un-like any other in our broad land. A dune is a hill or ridge of sand which has been piled up by the wind. Here, the unbelievably large quantities quanti-ties of sand the plaything of the wind have been blown and whirled Into countless forms and shapes hills, mounds, peaks, domes and ridges in wave-like array some approximately 200 feet high. Due to the antics of the wind, the architecture of the dune region is constantly changing. Sometimes charges occur with surprising rapidity and sometimes with dogged slowness. There are two kinds of dunes live and dead. Live dunes travel, dead dunes are motionless, although their shape may change. Live dunes overtake and sometimes completely cover up trees, buildings and other objects which are in their path the sand-submerged object coming com-ing out from under the other side of the dune as it moves on. Dead dunes usually become such because of a foliage foli-age growth which binds the sand and prevents disturbance. Thus Nature produces a paradoxical situntion in that the dead dunes are those on which the foliage flourishes, whereas the live dunes are devoid of plant life. This "dune" region is rich in Indian lore. Mounds built by the so-called Mound Builders centuries ago are occasionally oc-casionally met with. It was also the haunt of the red men and the pioneers. Some of their trails can still be traced. The beauty of the flowers has made the region famous. As if a meeting place for flowerdoni, the sassafras from the South, the trailing arbutus from the North, the beach pea from the East and the cactus from the West meet here on a common ground. Animal life is rather abundant. Opossum and raccoon inhabit the woods. Mink are found in the streams. Muskrat, skunk, squirrel and rabbit also live here. The variety of bird life Is also surprising and said to be the equal of that of any place in America. |