Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-02-13
He calculated upon making

| should have risen OU 1eet nlgner IN tne Iake'
On the 10Th OF May, the work was begun BY
gangs of so men, who relieved each other,
and worked without intermission, day and
night, with inconceivabe courage and per-
severance, neither deferred by the daily oc.
curing danger from the falling of fresh mass
es of the glaciers, nor by the rapid increase
of the waters of the lake, which rose 62 feet
in 81 days-on an average nearly two feet
each day; but il once rose five feet in one
day, and threatened each moment TO burst
the dixie by its increasing pressure or, rising
in more rapid proportion than the men
could proceed with their work, render their
efforts aborlive by rising above them. Some
times dreadful noises were heard, as the pres
sure OF the water detached masses of ice from
the bottom, which, floating presented so
much of their bulk above the water as led
to the belief that some of them were 70 feet
thick. The men persevered in their fearful
duty without any serious accident, and though
suffering severely from cold and wet, and
surrounded by dangers which cannot be just.
ly described, by the 4lh of June they had &C.
compshed an opening GOO feet long but
having begun their work on both sides of The
dixie at the same time, the place where they
ought 10 have met was 90 feet lower on one
side of the lake than on the other; il was for
tunate that atterly tho increase Of the per-
pendicular height Of the water was less, owing
to the extension of its surface. They pro-
ceeded to level the highest side of the tunnel,
and completed i, just before the water reach
ed them. On the evening of the 18th, the
water began to flow. At first the opening
was not large enough to carry of the supplies
of water which the lake received, and it rose
two feet above the tunnel but this soon en-
larged from the action of tho water, as ii
melted the floor of the gallery,an the torrent
rushed through. In 80 hours the lake sunk
10 feet, and during the following "a hours 20
feet more; in few days it would have been
emplied; for the floor melting, and being
driven off as the water escaped, kept itself
below the level Of the water within; but the
cataract which issued from the gallery, melt
ed and broke up also large portion of the
base Of the dixie which had served as its but
tress-ls resistance decreased faster than the
pressure of the lake lessencd and at o.
clock in the afternoon of the 25li of June
the dixie burst, and in half an hour the water
escaped through The breach, and left the lake
empty.
The greatest accumulation OF water had
been SOC, 10000 Of cutit feet the tunnel,
before the disruption, had carried off nearly
$50 COO. O00-Escher says 27O0OO,0O0 {;
but he omitted to odd 6O.OOo,OOO which.
flowed into the lake in three days. In half
an hour, $50, 100000 cubic feet of water
passed through the breach, or 30, 1000 feet per
second which is five times greater in guam.
tity than the Rhine at Basic. where it is 1900
| English feet wide. In one hour and half
the wa,or reached Mariigny, distance of
eight leagues. Through the first 10000 feet
it passed with the velocity of SO feet per
second-four or fyo times faster than the
most rapid river known; yet it was charged
with ice, rocks, earth, trees, houses, cattle
and men; thirty-four persons were lost, 400
cottages swept away, and the damage dono
in the two hours of its desolating power ex-
ceeded million of swiss llvres. All the
people of the valley had been cautioned
against the danger of sudden Eruption {; yet
it was fatal to SO many. All the bridges in
its course we've swept away, and among them
the bridges of Mouvoisn which was elevated
more than 90 feet above the ordinary height
of the ORANGE. If the dixie had remained
untouched, ii could have endured the pressure
until the lake had reached the level of its
top; a volume of loo, 100000 cubic feet
of water would have accumulated there, and
devastation much more extensive must have
been the consequence. From this greater
danger the people of the valley of the ORANGE
were preserved by the heroism of the brave
men who effected the formation of the gallery,
under The direction of nj. Vene,z. | know
no instance on record of courage equal to this;
their risk of life was not for fame nor riches
they had not the usual exclements TO per-
sonal risk, in a worlds applause or gazel,ed
promotion-,heir devoted courage was to
save the lives and property of their fellow
men, not to destroy them. They steadily
and heroically persevered in their labors
amidst dangers such as field of battle never
presented, and from which some of the
bravest brutes that ever lived would have
shrunk in dismay. These truly bravo Val
laisans deserve all honor!"
The devastation of Marigny was fearful
More than twenty years have not sufficed tt
restore the fertility of nature, covered as thu
soil then was with thick desoating mass
+ stones, sand and gravel.