The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-01-31

Mr:. W. J.. Trench. writing to the
London Times to appeal to the charita
BILE for aid for some unfortun ate families
gives this account Of the bursting Of an
Irish bog" He savs,;i lL
Il have just returned from inspectin Q
one of the most pitiful scenes of tn e
sort it has been my fate to witness since
l saw the remains of-the village of Visp
in&the -Rhone Valley, Switzerland, after
its destruction by flood some years
ago.
'Ihe scene to which i refer is tn c
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, at
Dunmore, by a small stream called the
Corrntel River fl wing through con
tlnnation of pasture and til!age Ian Is in
It's course. The level Of the upper sur
face of the bog was formerly 26G fe.
above the sea, aud that of the water at
Dunmore 100 feet, showing a fall of 70
feet. Up to fortnight ago this bog
presented the usual appearances ofrnost
OF our undrainrd Irish bosS, i. G., its
skirts, adjoining the arabic land, consist
lug of high turf baulss, being exceeding
iy wet and spongy-
'On the first of October the farmer
occupying a farm on the Corrabal strea m
noar the hog was digging his potatoes,
when hcsu 1dcnly abscrvcd II brown mass
slowly approaching him. He left his
SPADE in the ground, and went for the
nncciishhlbors;o on !his return the masl( (Which
was the moving bog, had half covered
his potato field, ana completely hidden
from sight Ills field of corn, with the ey
.e.ers.;.,.,-..i - lev ,steoks situated on3a
Knoll; they still remain an island in the
rhid'llei ni'd scere of dcs6lation. This
was but the ,commrnccmert, since then
The DO. has continued to advancc,in II
rolling nlasa, con,iiiui,i. its course ri III,
down the valley to nunmo Gu'tyinl
on Its way three farm hon .es, and c,ver
ing at least one hundred and eighty
acres of pasture and arabic lanl to n
depth IN some places. Of six feet. The
unfortunate oc,upiers of the three farms
have been turned, by this visitation of
Provldencs, farnllcss and homeless. with
their families, on the world.
AT Dunmore small brid 90 has been
removed, near the junction of the Cor
rabcl stream with the Dunmore River
to aif"ro ~olei' to the lands up the val
Icy, and bog laden torrent is boinr dis
charged into the latter river. The
worst maybe said to- be- over, but, the
discharging powers of that river will be
materially affected by this influx of sol
id matter. The source Of this disaster
PRESENTED a wonderful appearance. The
subsidence at the dischurging point can
not be less than about 35 feet. The
extent of the bog affected is most clear
ly dcfiaed by IL series Of black 'crevas.
ses, where the upper crust Of the boz
has, by the subsidence below. been torn
! osunder. The whole assumes !hc form
ofa orator half n u,le in diameter.
With considerable difficulty we pilot
ed our way to the centre. where foun
the brown liquid bog boiling out like a
stream Of lava and feeding tho moving
mass in the valley below. At the point
where the bog burst, tho turf banks
were forced right ov,r aud roua on
either side, and assumed somewhat the
.appearauce of'horaines.' s. Ii dieG
This aud similar disasters to which
this country is, liable must be attributed
to the absence, Of complete and good
system Of arterial drainage. a similar
catastrophe occurred two years ago, oc
casiened by tho backwater Of the River
Suck, near Cnstlcreh' t51l -
|. 4 El,An Heroic Flagniao. 4a