Litchfield enquirer., 1840-04-09
From tie American Ciiisen.
RUNAWAY POND.

| - ,. RUNAWAY POND.
This is the name given to a place in the
| town Of Glover, Orleans county, vi. moi
where there is now pond. but from which
as the name intifnates, n pond once ran
away. The facts in regard to this spot were
published in 1910, but by many may be for
gotten. There was pend Of wafer about
three miles in length, and some half mile
IN breadth, from which issued a small stream
running to the south and mine+ing in its
course with the waters that flow into the Con-
necticut river. There was another small
stream taking its rise little to the north and
west of this pond, the waters of which were
discharged to the north, falling into Barton
river, and finally finding their way through
lake Memphremagog into the st. Lawrence.
On this stream there was mill; and the
owner having viewed the make of the ground
to the north end or head of the pond, and
finding its elevation SO small as to oppose but
trif1ing obstacle to its running in that d.
rection, conceived the idea of turning its
course to the north, so as to aid in the opera
lions OF his mill. Accordingly on the 4th Of
July, himself and number Of others went
with spades and shovels and commenced dig
ging They very soon found that few inch
es from the surface there was nothing but.
quicksand, and the moment the water began
to run In that direction, this gave way very
rapidly, cutting channel, and the whole
water of the pond soon appeared to rush to
that point-the banks of the new stream ca
wing in, were>swept on by the flood SO that
the party were only able to escape with their
lives The owner of the mill seeing at
once that there might be more water than he
desired, and that his mill might be in danger,
very judiciously made a rapid movement in
advance Of the water, and arrived just in
time to apprise his wife of her danger, and
enable her to escape from the mill which she
was attending in her husbands absence. AS
the flood moved onward it bore down every
thing that opposed its progress, taking along
trees, earth and rocks, and in narrow places
IN the valley, the moving mass would rise Of
ten to the height Of .fiffy or sixty feet, and
again reachinga broader place would spread
out and leave immense masses of timber,
stones and earth, which, after lapse of %
years, are still visible. The beholder who
was not apprised of what had been done,
was struck with absolute Amusement, as the
tcater, the moving cause, was wholly invisi-
bic. He saw trees of all sizes, and every
othersubstance which could be accumulated,
rolling onward, roaring and crashing and
shaking the hills and leaving perffaacc.. assala-
ton in its courSe--the forest and the moraSs
were both obliterated. the hills were laid
low, and the valleys were exalted. 1t swept
in this way some twenty miles, the whole
distance to Lake Memphremagog, where,
finding nothing to resist its course, it gradu.
ally mingled with its placid waters, having
erected at every step the most enduring mon
uments of its resistless power.
The width of the track of this flood was
from 6 or rods to near half mile. When
the mighty torrent rolling onward, struck
the mill, for whose; benefit this "letting out
OF waters" was Undertaken, it was crushed
into atoms, and SO completely obliterated that
not a vestige has ever been found. There
was only here and there a solitary tree left
to show that forest had been there. In
one of them fish was found 20 feet from
the ground. 49, ~
Among the extraordinary and almost in.
credible exhibitions of the power of this
flood, is the fact that rock was moved about
half a mile the enormous bulk and weight
of which, may be gathered from the follow
ing facts: It was granite, and has lately
been prepared for use by the USUAL process
of splitting. 1t furnished stone for under
pinning two houses, and church, and most
of the cellar of store. There were also
four walls for stones prepared from it for
tagging in front of the church, which are
l6 feet long and 8 inches thick and 2 feet in
width. In splitting the rock great deal was
wasted-the person who did it not having un-
derstood the business. Its estimated weight
was fifty tons.- 500. ~
The pond lay between two mountains, &C.
cupying the whole Space nd on being drain
ed it was found 10 have been 10 feet in depth.
Through the bed of :. Runaway pond" the
whole three miles,. there is now a road OF
considerable travel, leading to Montpelier.
The town of Glover has been greatly bene-
fitted by the opening of this road. A delight
full little village now occupies ground which
was made by the flood. 1t may be asked
what was the fate of the inhabitants below
The answer is, that 90 years ago there was
not house, and no building except the mill,
in the track over which the food passed.
Runaway pond will long continue an object
of much curiosity, and the history of its un-
ceremonious exit will continue TO be told by
generations yet to come. ~ -, -.
=. SAMUEL CHIpmAN.
Sooing Seeds and Causes Of Failure. Much
tof the complaint which is made of the fail
ure of Seeds Is owing to the want Of proper
ces than their bad quality. Many. kinds Of
seeds are very small. and if these have more
than slight covering ofearth, they will not
vegetate. And, on the other hand, when
slightly covered, one or two days of hot sun
will dry the earth, so that if they have
spronted they will be inevitably destroyed:
Some kinds Of small seeds will not vegetate.
we'll unless the earth is rolled or pressed
firmly in contact with them. (Thus it will
be seen that small seeds should be sown 10
fine EARTH covered lightly, and rolled or
pressed down and the bed should then be
shaded from,hot sun and watered frequently
in dry weather) Some seeds have a hard
shell or Pericarp, and require several days
soaking before sowing, in. order to cause
fhem IN TveOetatp freelv IF theSe a re eown