Another garden mystery

Dear Editor:In reply to John Vincent's "Garden hose mystery," (Letters to the Editor, 9/16/10) I have one true story. In the house behind ours, our neighbor police officer Robert Drees, his neighbor Mr. Joe Simon, and my father Mr. John Bunny, were trying to flush out a gopher. They ran water into one hole, hoping the gopher would pop up out the other. It did not happen so they stuck the hose in the hole. By now a few other neighbors and all the neighborhood kids were standing around offering advice. Water bubbled out of the second hole then quickly receded. AT that time the hose started to be sucked into the ground. The three adult males could not pull the hose back out. Several other adults also lent a hand but to no avail. The water was shut off and the hose continued to be sucked into the ground. The three guys finally cut the hose and gave up. By the next morning the stump of the hose had disappeared into the ground. We kids liked to think the gopher won and pulled the hose down. The adults figured it was the collapsing tunnel and vacuum that sucked the hose down. Is the hose still down there? Probably. Are there more lost hoses? Probably. I do know this happened. I was seven or eight at the time and it made for a fun Saturday afternoon. -- Margaret Blackburn, Downey

********** Published: September 23, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 23