The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-01-31
Bursting Of a Bog.
STRANGE SCENES OF DEVASTATION IN
IRELAND.

Mr. w. j.. Trench, writing to the
London Times to appeal to the charita
BILE for aid for some unfortunate families
gives this account of the bursting Of an
Irish bog. He saws :;
Il have just returned from inspectinr q
one of the most pitifnl scenes of tn e
sort it has been my fate to witness since
saw the remains ofthc village Of Visp
in~the Rhone Valley, Switzerland, after
its destruction by flood some years
ago.
Ihe scene to which 1 refer is til {
result Of the bursting of bog, situated
about three miles east of the town OF
Dunmore, in the northern part of Ga
way county. Heretofore this bog was
connected with the Dunmore River, ut
Dunmorc, by a small stream called the
Corrabel River h,wing through con
tlnnatl"n OF pasture and til!aga Ian Is in
It's course. The level of the upper sur
face of the bog was formerly 26O fe It
above the sea, and that Of the water at
Dunmore 100 feet, showing a fall of 70
feet. Up to fortnight ago this bog
presented the. u"ua i appearance Of most
of our undrainrd Irish bo.s, l. G., its
skirts, adjoining the arabic land. consist
lug OF high turf baul;s, being exceeding
:, set and spongy-
'On the first Of October the farmer
ooe upylnga farm on the Corr.bal stream m
n0ar the bog WINS digging his potatoes,
when he su 'dcnly nbscrvcd brown mass
slowly approaching him He left his
SPADE IN The ground, and went for the
neigh bors; on his return the mas (Which
was the moving bog had half covered
his potato field, ana completely hidden
from sight his field of corn with the OK
ze.>r.:->..-nt y lew Stocks situated on II
Knoll; they st'l remain an island in tie
middle nf'a sccrc Of dcsoation This
was butthc conimrnccmcnt, since then
The DO. has continued to advance an :,
rolling niass, con'illiii. its course ri III !;
down the valley tn nunnnra. lnrvin.
on its way three farm hol<cs. and c,ver
ing At least one hundred and eiphtv v
acres OF pasture and arabic lanI to n
depth in some places Of six feet The
unfortunate oc,upcrs of the three farms
have been turned, by this visitation of
Provldenos, larnIlcss and homeless. with
their families, on the world.
AT Dunmore small brd 90 has been
removed, near the junction Of the Cor.
rabcl stream with the Dunmorc River
to afford relief to the lands up the val
ley, and q bog laden torrent is boiny dis
charged into the latter river. The
worst may be said to be over, but the
discharging powers Of that river will be
materially affected by this influx of sol.
Id matter. The sourcy: Of this disaster
.II'csentt1 a wonderful appearance. The
subsidence at the discharging point can
not be less than about 35 feet. The
extent of the bog affected is most clear
ly dcfned by series Of black 'crev.s.
ses,' where the upper crust Of the bog
has, by the subsistence below, been torn
aSunder. The whole assumes .hc form
of orator half n mile in diameter.
With considerable difficulty we p;l9t
ed our way to the c,ntre where W foun
the brown liquid bog boiling out like a
stream Of lava aud feeding tho moving
mass in the valley below. At the point
where the bog burst, tho turf banks
were forced right .ov,r aud rou,A on
either side, and assumed somewhat the
appearance of'moranes.' -E 9
This and similar disasters to which
this country is, liable must be attributed
to the absence Ola oonpletc and good
system Of artcrial Drainage 4 similar
catastrophe occurred two years ago, oc
casiQncd by the backwater Of The River
Suck, near Cnsilrrea' fe