, 1870-03-28
THE SINKING OF ST. JOHN BAR.
B0R.
Extraordinary rhcuomcnon-Dlsn
prarnncc Of Whnryr% aud Ferry
1nnotuE~-SuhtcrTn Changes.

PF&aEahhCC OF " unfSfk 11d Ecrry
neutrality-suspicious. Changes.
ffp.n tAt st John tX. n, Telegraph, yarehls
Yesterday morning, just before the COM
mencetncnt OF the SNOW storm. antl as the wind
WAS rising 70 rs to be heard within doors, a
strange noi-e, similar to that accompanying
the earthquake on the morning Of the 22a
OF October last, WAS heard By the residents
Of the lower end OF Protection street,
Carleton. The storms Of last fall and those OF
tho winter have made great havoc in that
vicinity, and mot only has tho breakwAtcr been
carried away and buildings removed from their
foundations, but the sea has washed away land
and ercroacht-d 70 much upon property AZ to
make the rcsllcnts Of tho ncighborhool dis
play more than usual interest in each Ap-
preaching gale. The noise referred to, ~ its
rumb1ing ceased. rouse1 many from their beds,
who, on Eeing down to tho harhor, found thai
a startling change had taken place in the ap-
rcarance Of the land and wharves The tiao
was nearly down, and, though it was quite
dark, it could BE- seen that tho old ferry
landing. which should bo several feet shove
water, had vanished Mernrs. Littlehale t.
Wharf-had nearly disappeared. 1t had been
p1lcd with deals, which belonged to Mcssrs.
Scammeu brothers, and that rart Of the wharf
on which the toals were did not break down as
though the bottom on which it rested had been
waahed ont, as At first supposed, but piece
A1NAk GuAtu ACC% D{QhG bu Huu RStLlGu
a9uszely down INTO tho water, md the
wharf beneath and tho deals remaining upotl m
it, hoated away into the hasbor, where it WAS
picked up Yesterday by Iii. james stack
noIse efs n, aa hi1 sa zen; n frontage Of ssv
from the limo Of the dcmolishol wharf towards
the breaEwater, hiss gone down, leaving steep
embankment eloping toward the harbor
About midway along this nov embankment,
and less than ono hundred feet from it. into
the harbor, il the place where the old ferry
made by Ar. Joseph 0'Rrieu. Mr. Clark, and
otheEs. aast evening, and where the old ballast
OF reef was tho day before. rising above the
water eight feet, they found ei1 fathoms Of
water, showing that oven 70 near tho shore
aa that the bottom had settled inst thirty
two feet. Near where portion Of tho wharf
settled away, or whero 1 molerately-sized
vessel used to ground At low water, there are bo-
tween si1 and seven fatlous at low tide, One
Of Mcears. Ada1nsa bnoyB, moored about four
OF fye hundred feet from tho shore. had die
appeared. and last evening, when the tide Was
1t its lowest level. tho cnrrcnt was Just show
Ing ripple over the top Of It. !As the tides
rise and tall about thirty feet in st. John hAr-
boz, and the chln Of this buoy had several
fathoms Of scope, It mas be inferred that the
bottom sank as much As nine or ten fathotns
It this point,
80 lar as could bo ascertAned yesterday,
after the binding snow storm subsided. it was
thought that at the surfa4'c Of the lsArb1r-lcd
portion extending over An area Of, perhaps,
three acres had been Affected. It would not
be surprising if. with the swift current Of tho
harbor. the bEeakwatcr on tho east side would
become Affected IN time. There will also be i
falling away OF additional portions OF Sand
Point for sorna time TO como. It WAS thought.
befoEe eouudings were made. and the falling
tide revealed the extent Of tho changes ma4le
that tho '.slide " waa caused bv the shifting OF
sind which hAd waahed over The bar but that
theory III now exploded, and the fact fully es-
tablishea that the phenomenon WAS canscd by
some snbtcrranean action beneath the bpof
affected so materially.