Page 8 Saturday, November 5, 1977 Having made a concerned and serious study of all reports of susquatches, yetis, the Loch Ness monster, Ogopogo and kindred curious phenomena, | was quite prepared to embark on a study of the quiet, contained and sometimes sinister surface of the Castor River. For days in good weather and bad | sat with my World War 1 binoculars aimed at the placid and enigmatic river. What secrets did it contain? There had been reports of an enormous creature not far from Cochrane's Dairy farm where the river flows beneath a patchy and scabrous concrete bridge. On this bridge | posted myself, aiming my binoculars at the water and, sure enough, was rewarded by the spectacle of a mighty creature ascending from the deeps, a giant turtle, not quite of the Galapagos variety, but almost large enough to pass for one. Encrusted with rusty growths, his enormous shell curved like a First War German infantry helmet, this nightmarish creature from another world heaved up from the muddy brown water like an imagined horror from the deeps. A moment later he had gone back into the depths whence he came, leaving me peering in bewilderment through the frost- Beaver Bob Strange Sightings on the Castor ed lenses of the binoculars. A few days later came a report on the bank. Who could have been so ill-advised as to destroy this fantastic phenomenon -- from man's earliest times? | never found out. Perhaps he was shot. Per- haps he (or she, as the case may be) simply died of old age. Perhaps he (or she) was cut up by the vanes of some passing paddle-wheeler. Of that | have been able to find no evidence. Hearing later of the emerg- ence of a suspicious sand bar on the South Nation near Chester- ville, | rushed to the spot, shouldering way through the gathering and __ intemperate crowd. It was a phenomenon with which | was familiar. Why in Brazil, only a year or two ago, a similar episode occurred. This was attributed to a flying saucer diving into the bottom of the river and remaining there for several days. In the South Nation episode, experts from the Conservation Authority were called. They refused, for security reasons to give their names but they were quite willing to speculate on the origins of the strange phenom- enon which had been a sand bar all of fifty feet long come into being overnight. "'Looks like the changing course," said. The other expert just nodded his head. Since he wasn't being paid by the work, there was no point in wasting any. river is the expert This did not end the affair. What strange and horrid creat- ures, O Castor, does thy bosom conceal? In case anyone thinks that's a personal question let me add, after a good deal of consideration, that | resumed my careful scrutiny of the river a few days later and not far below the iron bridge where the Castor wends its placid way through Russell | discerned through my trusty binoculars a large, round, shiny object which correspond- ed in every respect to the descriptions of the sea serpent's convolutions in the reports from Loch Ness. On calling one or two reliable witnesses to the scene (the question of substantiation is very important in scientific observat- ion) they gave the opinion that the object was nothing more or less than a plastic garbage bag out for a morning float. | told them that their services were no longer required and resolved forthwith to conduct all my future observations on my own. The Ontario Ministry of Transport has approved an application by loacal resident Martin Bielz for the establish- ment of a bus line to Ottawa. 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