St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-03-26

Animated with the novelty of this idea
and thinking ii might benefit a certain
gTSt mill in Glover, which had short
supply of water, and that it would be
but small sill to cheat LamOille river
as It had il plentiful supply of water
from other sources, about forty men.
mostly from the towns of Glover. Shet-
field, and WheelOck. agreed to meet ON
a certain day and try the experiment.
They met on the day appointed armed
with necessary tools, and aS many Us
could find room to work on the ditch
began, and some six OF eight who re-
manned went out upon the pond on a
raft to try to fish. After digging the
di:"h Il little below the level of the WA
ter III the pond they broke Il notch in
the crust and started the water. but in
stead of running us they had expected.
1t settled into the sand and very soon
t.:r sand began to settle, and while the
men stood watching the Operations. 50
large a caritv was made that they could
se ten or more feetfunder the water in
: sr5ss oobd, which was held hv the crus.
toniy. Suddenly the crtst rral,e, and =
tremendous rush fof/ water swept the
land away by rods the men running for
their lives. Those on the raft found
themselves drawn violently toward Ger
tam destruction. and worked as men
| VIII work for their lives, and bV good
! fortune ihcN reached So near the land
thdt the sprang (" it. just at the
moment their raft was going into the
| terrible vortex. Very soon the whnle
lh'l had given way and the whole pond
was rushing through en- massc. tearing
up wide space of forest 10y the roots.
and tumblimg Il great mass of whole
/ trees endwiSe. sidewisr. and every way
before the mighty pressure. The mcu
| tic'i tn the high ground on one side. and
aud viewed with Shuddcring amazcment
the fearful effect of their morning :
work. In the party WAS u man lamcd
solomon +. Don. who was in the EN-
poN of til" man who owned the griSt
mill III Glover, and had charg" ot the
mill. lie had been notified that Il man
living at i distance WAS coming to mill
"H that day with Il hul>, load of grain.
and wished HIM /" he at home; and
when hr was StaItIh" fuI the pond
that morning he had left directions
!ni tine man To grind hl> own gli>t,
and felt sure that he would hc IN
the mill when the Hood reached it, and
would he lost unless rescued hN him :
a. thc mill >Gn"d below q high tIli in u
uaIloW channel between high banks. Il
person in the mill could not SEE. in the
direction of the danger. and the moist.
ot the mill would prevent hi hearing
IT.. Being thus assured Nr. DuIr start
ed, and ran at his utmost speed thlough h
the woods. got ahead ui the li""d. and
stimulated lay the noble Incentive ot
saving the life. 81 his ncighbur hr taxed
his powers Ia the utmost and did not
nag III The race, ui SOM, tom miles hut
gained the mill. dove dunn the bank
ny the shortest Wa'. and with a motion
and Il whisper. for he could not speak
lcrh. started the man. when they both
scrambled ny ia" hanh Ia place of
'Ii'tN ia, "a tine To see the moving
narteII ui frees and wafer strike the
mill "a the rn"i and put it out "i sight;
~n complete was the destruction. that
II i said that the milIStnncs have never
hrrn seen since. Opposite Baton VII
laCc. where the land w:l> tler from rock
- vid, space ut the forest WAS carried
away with the earth below all the roots.
leaving an extensive field as perfectly
+ smooth H. II brick ward. which | think
was used rs Il parade ground tor one "I
two rcgimcntal muStcrS. At the head
! at the tails little north OF the village.
where the hills on each side of the IiVcI
appl"dch near each other. the passage
( was cloGgcd 10y Il great mass of whole
trees, thiCkcncd with brush and mud,
/ forming quite Il compact dam which
was estimated hN those who saw ii tc
/ have been thirty feet high. When this
iarI broke. the great mass of Trees and
water rushed down the rocky chan
mel with Tremendous power: larg,
| huUdtrS were moved from their resting
/ places and tunhlcd down the channel
many rods. Below the falls. where the
| level land between the hills began to
| grow wider. and the Volunc of the
| flood to expand. its violence hogan to
ahatc: and when it had PASSED the falls
nt Barton Landing il had 50 vide {;
space to SpIrad over that 1t lost tn,
power OF tearing up trees. and rolled
on with Il front of about six feet of real
mud over all the intcrValc land to tn,
/ lake. There were many very narrow
escapes besides the one ut the mil
above mentioned. hut no life WAS lost
| D.! had sister. afterwards Mrs. Proctor
then stopping at DIR. Reltield's in Gov
entry. on il visit to Mrs. Rcdtield. al
cider sister. She had that day rode {,
| Bloomington on horse back alone. The
road she travelled passed distance o
/ half mil, over the low land bordering
! Barton river, which terminated near the
! Doctors house in Il bridge made of log,
fGur feet high and more than thirty rod,
long over a marshy part of the way
| While passing NeI this piece of roau
0u her return i'll the afternoon she hearC
Il loud roaring, which she supposed t,
be wind. indicating II shower near al
hand. and hurrying home made report
/ that the wind blew terribly when she
was in the low land. The Doctor said
there was no wind, and soon going t,
the door, saw the long bridge at1oat ant
torn to pieces, and the half mile of roac
covered with deep mud.
Several men visited the bed of til,
pond on the day after its departure ano
found i'll one part of the bottom Il small
space covered with thin mud. in which
were many large fish yet alive. but il
was difficult to reach them and but few
were savd. Along the course of the
delGge there was y strong stencil fol
several weeks from the dead fish LEFT
by the way.
The unfortunate man at the mill hat
lost his grain and his horse. He haC
escaped from the mill on the opposit,
side of the flood from his home and
was obliged to wait till the next day
when he went home shedding tears o
sorrow all the way for his great loss
not seeming to reckon in offset that hi
life had been saved by Mr.. Dorr, VIII,
had so exhausted himself by his great
effort that he never regaincd any SOUND
! health during his life. For the fore