The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-04-09
More About Bald Mountain.

More About Bald Mountain.
A gentleman of scientific attainments, of
Oxford, n. c., suggests the idea that the noise
and vibrations Of Bald Mountain may have
been produced by subterranean currents OF
electricity instead of volcanic fires.
Professor DuPre, of Spartanburg, promises
to give the result Of his study of the phenome-
ma on the spot in the Orphans Friend He
ventures no opinion as yet, but suggests that
they may possibly be owing to the fact that the
crust of the earth has become so thin, that
stream of water has found its way to the burn
ing mass, and the escape of steam. thus gene
rated in the caverns may produce the noises
heard on the surface; or may be the result of
accumulated gases acting in the same way.
General Clingman, who has thoroughly ex-
dence in the neighborhood at Asheville, and
ton and enthusiastic love of nature entitle his
conclusion to great respect, holds the opinion
that these disturbances are volcanic IN origin.
They are not new to him. He gives interesting
"reminiscences of some which have occurred
within his knowledge to Washington cores
pondent of the New York Herald, and which
appeared in that journal of Monday last.
10 the correspondents request for his opin-
ions of the perturbations, General Clingman
replied, "That the volcanic disturbances in
those mountains of Western North Carolina,
which are now making such great sensation,
are no new things-that they can be traced
back to the remotest traditions of the Cherokee
Indians, and thence, by scientific research, to
the volcanic upheavals from which these
mountains were formed. In the Northeastern
corner of Haywood County, near Fines Creek,
forty miles Northwest of Stone Mountain, there
is a mountain which has been subjected to
periodical shakings, after intervals of two or
three years. ever since the war of 1872, and
for how long a period before 1 cannot tell.
The immediate locality of these disturbances
is about mile in width. The shocks under
this mountain have not been, within my recol-
lection, of longer duration than q few min
utes and yet with each recurrence, after an
interval of rest of two or three years, the
shocks have been sufficiently powerful to break
up the mountain, as one may say, into new
issures, hillocks, upheavals and cavities, so far
as to change its general appearance"
"And you have noticed these phenomena,
from time to time, through period of many
years ?"
"Oh, yes. think if you will look over the
files of the old National lntelHgencer of about
twenty-five years ago, you will lind pretty
full description which gave of these volcanic
about twenty-five years ago, in the edge of
Macon County, Southwest from Haywood,
there was shock which opened seam in The
ground for nearly mile in length; and that in
Madison County, in line between Haywood
and Stone Mountain, smoke issued from
fssure opened in the rocks. This was some
two miles from the French Broad River, and
in the neighborhood of the Warm Springs,
Madison County. I have known the solid
granite cliffs of Haywood Mountain to be frac.
tured by volcanic action for nearly mile in
length, and in one instance, have seen
detached granite rock of perhaps 1000 tons
in weight, lying above one of these earthquake
assures, was broken into three fragments But
one of the most remarkable freaks OF these
little earthquakes was that which split large
tree. bringing one-halt of it to the ground, and
leaving the other half standing. I have no
doubt that the newspaper men detailed to look
into these mysteries will gather many interest
ing "reminiscences from the old settlers of those
Western mountain Counties of the old North
State, touching the periodical recurrence of
these remarkable little earthquakes. have
often wondered that the attention OF men OF
science had never been drawn to these inter-
esting volcanic disturbances in our North
Carolina mountains"
"But do you think they mean nothing more
on this return than the usual periodical spasms,
gradually dying out with the continued cooling
and thickening of the earth's crust?"
The General thought this matter of doubt
full speculation After warnings in premoni-
tory tremblings of the ground, there may be
disastrous earthquake, or a volcanic eruption,
as these things occur in Mexico and Central
America or these spasms as heretofore, from
time to time, may pass off as nine days Won
der But those mountains, the eliminating
mass of the Allegheny system, were uplifted
by forces which are still throbbing under their
foundations and shaking them to their sum-
mts. There are thirty peaks on these noun
tains of Western North Carolina from the
Smoky Range to the Blue Ridge, which are
higher than Mount Washington and from the
primitive rocks thrown up in these old ranges,
and from the great variety of minerals brought
out from the bowels of the earth into the sides
and chasms of these mountains, we know that
the subterranean forces from which those
mountains were formed operated here more
powerfully than at any other point on the At
iantic side of our continent; and we may con-
clude, from these frequent disturbances, that
these tremendous forces are not yet under those
mountains reduced below the capacity for
disastrous convulSlon.