Handley Springs EarthCache
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a nice shady spring to have a picnic or what not. here is a little bit about the man it was named after.....
Captain William A. HANDLEY, one of the most distinguished private citizens of
Alabama, who died yesterday morning at his home in Roanoke, after a long illness, was
probably the wealthiest citizen of East Alabama, and he had given more money to
charitable and philanthropic causes than any man in that section of the State.
Captain HANDLEY had been a member of Congress, a State Senator, a member of the
House and he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1901, but his greatest
successes were achieved as a private citizen. Some of his friends said that Captain
HANDLEY in his successful business life had probably accumulated a million dollars, but
that he gave so freely to charitable purposes and especially to the cause of education that
he had reduced somewhat his large private fortune.
He has been one of the noted citizens of the State. What public offices he filled were given
to him unsought. He was a farmer and business man who was drafted into public service.
He was distinguished by an unfailing common sense, a remarkable tenacity of purpose and
by an integrity of character that never came under suspicion.
Captain HANDLEY was born in Heard County, Ga., December 15, 1834, and was
therefore not quite 75 years of age when he died. He came as a child with his parents to
Randolph County. The schools of Randolph County in those days were primitive, but he
took every advantage that they offered. In later life he remembered the unfavorable school
conditions of his youth and he labored in many capacities for the upbuilding of the public
schools of Alabama. He was a school mate of Major J. D. BARRON, of The
[Montgomery] Advertiser, and they remained life-long friends.
He was a mail rider for awhile as a youth. Then he went into the mercantile business in
which he had a special aptitude. He prospered in this beyond his fellows. But when the
war broke out he entered the 25th Alabama Regiment organized at Wetumpka as a
captain. He served with distinction until he was wounded at Murfreesboro. In later life it
was his special pleasure out of his own bountiful store, to help in any way he could his less
fortunate comrades of the Confederacy.
He was an uncompromising Democrat and was elected to the Legislature shortly after the
war. In 1870, without any effort or solicitation on his part, he was nominated and elected
to a seat in Congress. Major HANDLEY at that time had never delivered a public speech.
He called on General John W. A. SANFORD, of Montgomery, who stumped the district
with him in his interest and to the day of his death he remembered and talked of the favor.
General SANFORD was a friend and admirer of Captain HANDLEY, and he said
yesterday that he was one of the noblest and most useful citizens that Alabama had ever
had.
Early in the history of Birmingham Major HANDLEY realized its great future commercial
possibilities. He invested heavily in Birmingham property, and he appreciated the
importance of the hardware trade to a city like Birmingham in the mineral district. He
entered the hardware business there and succeeded in it as he did in all else.
His life was most useful and beneficent to the people of his home county of Randolph. It is
said that he more than any one else was responsible for the settlement and growth of
Roanoke. The schools of that section were his particular and special care. He was
instrumental in founding the Roanoke College and he was a leader in the movement that
put a cotton mill in Roanoke.
It is said of him that his death deprives Alabama of one of its strongest and most valuable
citizens.
now about springs:
A spring is a water resource formed when the side of a hill, a valley bottom or other excavation intersects a flowing body of ground water at or below the local water table, below which the subsurface material is saturated with water. A spring is the result of an aquifer being filled to the point that the water overflows onto the land surface. They range in size from intermittent seeps, which flow only after much rain, to huge pools flowing hundreds of millions of gallons daily.
Springs are not limited to the Earth's surface, though. Recently, scientists have discovered hot springs at depths of up to 2.5 kilometers in the oceans, generally along mid-ocean rifts (spreading ridges). The hot water (over 300 degrees Celsius) coming from these springs is also rich in minerals and sulfur, which results in a unique ecosystem where unusual and exotic sea life seems to thrive.
The amount of water that flows from springs depends on many factors, including the size of the caverns within the rocks, the water pressure in the aquifer, the size of the spring basin, and the amount of rainfall. Human activities also can influence the volume of water that discharges from a spring—ground-water withdrawals in an area can reduce the pressure in an aquifer, causing water levels in the aquifer system to drop and ultimately decreasing the flow from the spring. Most people probably think of a spring as being like a pool of water—and normally that is the case. But, as this picture of the wall of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA shows, springs can occur when geologic, hydrologic, or human forces cut into the underground layers of soil and rock where water is in movement.
now unfortunately this spring was covered long ago by a man-hole cover type thing. they built a nice park around it and pt up a big white pavilion.
for credit on this earth cache:
1: take a pic of yourself or your GPS in front of the manhole thing or the pavilion
2:email me approximately how big the base of the man-hole thing is
3:email me the condition of the grounds surrounding the area
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
rawbl