Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-04-23
BALD MOUNTAIN.
The Mystery Explained A Yankee
Preeedenf-How n New Hampshire
Mountain EruPfed.


There is an underground w-ater-cours
from Bald Mountain extending to and
probably under Boggan's Cut, a point
on the North Carolina Central Railroad.
Boggan's Cut is a slight elevation of
granite and sandstone in Arson county,
through which a deep cut is now being
made for the track of the Carolina Gen.
trail Railroad. Col. Ames, one of the
contractors on this road, is using a vast
amount OF nitro-glycerine IN blasting
out granite, lime, and sandstonein Bog
gan's Cut, keeping a large force at work
night and day for this purpose. This is
done by charging immense blasts with
nitro-glycerine and discharging them
all at a time with a patent battery.
arousing the country for miles around
with the terrific thunderof the explo-
sions. The writer further says that
any one who will take the trouble to
note the time of the day or night when
the rumbling sounds and reports are
heard at Bald Mountain, and compare
it with the time when these fearful dis
charges are made at Boggan's Cut,
cannot fail to come to the conclusion
that they are both produced from the
same cause; due allowance should be
made, however, for the time necessary
for the sound to travel from the cut
through the underground passage to
the mountain, well known to every one
at all acquainted with acoustics that
sound, the momentft is produced, dis
seminates itself IN every direction, uu-
less it meets with obstruction to its
passage, and also that sound can be con
fined ina great measure within certain
and will travel in the direction
least INSTRUCTED. We all know the mar
wells of this nature often witnessed in a
speaking gallery. If two persons sta
ton themselves, one at each end of a
tube an eighth of a mile long, they can
converse together through the tube in
whisper, although they could not
hear a loud shout outside the tube from
one to the other. Here then is one of
the causes to explain this mystery.
Another link is, this Bald Mountain is
IN part limestone and tits awell known
fact that a stream of considerable mag
nitude discharges itself in one of the
adjoining mountains and disappears.
For such a stream there must be an
underground course for a long dis
lance. These underground courses and
passage ways r quite common In all
limestone regions. The great cave of
is a case in point everybody
is familiar with. There can, therefore,
be little or no doubt but the base of
Bald Mountain is tunnelled with
these passages, made by the action of
water on the limestone, and that these
passages extend for a long distance,
discharging the water into the earth as
it goes along. This must be so, other
wise the water carried along these SUBJ
terranean passage ways would have to
come out In a volume somewhere. A
part of it may and probably does feed
hundreds of springs onits passagefrom
the mountain to the lower lands. In
travelling along the section of country
from Bald Mountoin to Boggan's Cut,
on the Carolina Central railroad, it
has been noticed that there are numer-
Gus springs of pure cold water of the
same taste.
Here, then, is a natural, simple and
at the same time scientific explanation
of the great marvel which has brought
from the North, East and the West, to
this wonderful mountain, many wise
men, with goose quilts behind their
ears, representing metropolitan news
papers, to investigate the phenomenon.
Apropos Of the Bald Mountain SEN
sation, the Nel0 York Post of the 10th
inst says:
1.-The volcanic symptoms in North
Carolina which have lately attracted
so much attention are singularly like
some exhibited nearly a hundred years
ago in New Hampshire, in n Of the
hills of the Connecticut valley. The
scene of this curious phenomenon was
West River mountain, which rises 10
the height of nearly a thousand feet,
on the east bank of the Connecticut,
in the towns of Hinsdale and Chester
field, In Cheshire county, in the south
west corner of the State, and a few
miles from Brattleboro, Vermont.
1.-The fullest account of the matter
which We have seen is to be found in
the once famous, but now nearly for
gotten, Travels in New England and
Nvw York of the Rev. DIR. Timothy
Dwight, who was President of Yale
College from 1895 till his death in 1917.
The account is given on page so of the
second volume. DIR. Dwight states
that in 1898 he made a journey on pur-
pose to West River Mountain to inves-
the reported eruption, which he
states occurred twenty-three years be-
fore his visit. He reports as the result
of his inquiries on the spot that In 1775
the people of Hindsdale were suddenly
alarmed by a loud noise, resembling the
sound of cannon, proceeding from the
mountain. One of the inhabitants, a
Barrett, went to investigate and
found a hole forced through the side of
the mountain, near the top, evidently,
as he thought, by the actionof internal
fire.
""The hole was about six inches in
diameter. A pine tree which stood
near it was in a great measure covered
by a black mineral substance, forced
violently out of the hole, and consisted
chiefly of melted and calcined iron ore,
strongly resembling the scoria of a
blaeksmith's forge. 1T was forced out
in a state partially liquid, and driven
with such violence against the tree as
not to be separated without difficulty.
The tree stood several years after
wards; but it was cut down and carried
away before we visited the place. The
same calcined and vitrified substances
were, however, still adhering to the
rocks and earth in several places, and
could not be broken off without a vio-
lent effort. From the whole appear
it was evident that it was driven
against the cliffs in the same liquid
state. The cliffs were of the common
gray granite of the country, and ex-
hibited no appearance of having been
heated"