The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1878-07-20
WATER AND FIRE.

formed by a convulsion in the bow,
els Of the mountain. Not a particle
of rock could be seen with moss
clinging to it; the walls all seemed to
have been rivep apart, every piece of
rock examined showing a newly
broken surface. The inside of the
mountain is undoubtedly sinking,
else whore could the fallen rock have
gone ? Having sunk lower. a vacu-
I'm must have been created for their
reception. What created this vacu-
um ! The rock formation of the
mountain is solid gneiss, therefore,
water alone could not wear it out.
1t might be caused by conyulsion
deep down in the mountain, forcing
an opening even through solid rock.
But granting this, what is the
motive power of said convulsion
Steam, generated by the contact of
water with fire, is the most natural
conclusion. We know that water
penetrates through parts of the
mountain, springs flowing from it's
top, pools sinking near it's base, and
single drops percolating through
tho solid rcck, slowly but steadily,
collecting gradually sufficient water
which, if encountering heated
surface, generate sufficient steam
to make fssure somewhere in it's
e1folts to escape. That there has
been, and docs yet exist (perhaps in
q smaller quantity fire in Bald
Mountains is Il very plausible theory.
Dozens of surrounding Mountains
have the same water action, yet no
rumblings, jars, splitting or inward
sinking have occurred. There is
positive evidence that Bald Noun
tain has experienced all of these,
not only once, but time and again.
Must not heat then exist in it's
bowels, in connection with water, to
cause these convulsions, when no
other mountain without the uid Of
heat of similar formation, is or has
been subject to them7 aHa i.yls
THE SENSATIONAL F1ssURE.
causing SO much excitement q
month ago, was explored after
leaving tae cave. Climbing to the
cave was bad enough, but like
walking down hill compared with
the latter ascent. The iseure is
about q thousand feet up the
mountain. nearly on the top, and
has not increased much in size since
first discovered. It's width varies
from one to eight feet. It descends
into the mountain, in some places.
seventy feet, with nowhere a great
or width than ten feet, between
walls of solid granite. Unlike the
cave, it Was not caused by. caving
IN, but in separation caused By
convulsions. For two hundred
feet it follows an easterly course.
almost parallel with that of the
mountain, then branches off diaxo-
nally to tho south east for some
hundred and twenty feet. Just
above the old, new fiissure of
seemingly trifiing dimensions runs
u? towards the top at right angles
with the other about twenty feet. !
Fifty feet lower down, cracks can
be seen in the solid side of,Tthe
mountain, indicating an impending
splitting or caving off of this end.
Whenever this does occur, the
noise and concussion will be great
enough to convince the neighboring
people that Bald Mountain has de-
veloped into first, class volcano at
last The neigbbors. do not seem
in the least frightened by the late
develope'nents, htvne grown ac-
customed to "BalGy," az they famil.
iarly term him. -Four years ago,
when volcanic evidences first ap-
peared all land adjacent. to the !
mountain could have been purchas-a
ed for twenty five cents an acre, but.
now nothing less than full .valua-
tion con induce sale. The widow
Brackett and seven daughters live
at the mountain Immediately url.H
der tho cave. (the grand children
were too numerous to county in q
log cabin with cracks six inches be-
tween the logs. The old lady was
OF course, interviewed, t,s she had
been resident of that locality fory
four years, all the efforts, of her
neighbors to induce her, to leave
proving frnitless. She testified
that when the split occurred 4 month
ago, rumbling could be slieard
plainly, accompanied by jars. Two
weeks since she had heard loud
rumblings but no shock was expert.
enced, SO the noise was attributed
Us f,1l -. L = Z ii, sAs.A