The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1881-09-20
2 WATER nURsrsNss FaOsl A
A H1GLsIDE.

hibR Onvlo NArtef, VINO lives IN the
town Of Marlboro, VI, Was 1T work in
his hin pasture recently. when his at
tsntion wes suddenly ssttIsctsd by q
sound which seemed TO him Ike the rum
BILE OF thunder. Looking across the val
ley. he was asfonished to behold a
furious torrent rushing dowa the
Opposite slope. where no ssrea,n
had, to his knowledge, befsge ex-
listed. 1t dashed onward with
Kissing noise, now obstructed by
stenes aad gravel. and then breaking
over thes, barriers and piunging fu-
riously along till, arrested. aby fresh
obstacles. Mr.. Carter said The torrent,
With its foaming waves and the huge
rocks which IL swept aIong in It's
course. reminded him of a flock of
sbasp :sscamperiDs down hill. The
rusnor Of this strange occurrence spread
slowly through the neighborhood, and
was generally received with ipcred
atty A visit 90 the spot. howeser,
revealed to q party Of ofexplorers the fact
that something really remarkable had
happened. Upon climbing nearly to
the top of the rather steep hill side to
the spot where the torrent burst forth,
the party discovered basin soma
twenty five fest in diameter aud five
feet deep in the middle. Here was
where the earth first slid away. AT
the lower end OF this basin two or three
logs had been intsrlocked and had
damned up the water until there had
evidently been o large accumulation.
The logs were then swept aside
with great violence. and the unfet-
tered Torrent tore through q bank.
making gully six fset in depth and
a many vide, bs-idss smallrr parallel
gully. Through this opening the wa
ters mads their way hesdiong down the
hill. some twenty rods below was
fence made OF sspiingS, quite substan-
TALLY put toRethef. This was swept
away like - mepy stssws, and the mass
Of debris was carried down twenty rods
or more further. The whole track. as
arksd by the heaps Of gravel aud
stones. 10 forty or fifty rods long and
twenty feet or more in width. 1t was
ss,imsted that nearly 200 cart loads Of
grayel wers thus awspt down, although
popular rumos had put IL Ut many
more thousands. Through the middl
Of the debris email stream now trick.
lee, issuiog from two or three spots in
the basin before mentioned, where the
outbufss took place. All the neighbors
agree that no ssfeAm has betore run 10
that chasnsl. The water is,swsst aud
odoflcsA yet i evidently powstfaliy
imprsgnated with iron or other SUBJ
sl>pesss - Il depoeiss in places thick.
ysliowisA sCam. TIE stones aud gravel
borne down by the teerent are full of
Indications of some sort Of mineral. but
u . .scisnti6c knowledge Of the visit.
ing party vas sot equal e asauing is
The cause of the phenomenon Is yst
q mystery In the nsighbJrhood. The
expjosiae party, however. tepk note OF
two fscts. which may help TO solution.
| The firss Was that at the lower part Of
the hill were veil defined marks Of an
ancient wAtercourse. The second was
that 0 short distance from the level
Was an cosy spot. whsrc the cattle love
to tread, iron which trickled minute
stree.A. The probabilities are that a
email brook oncs nan down from the
forest which crowns the bill. fed by
springs in the istsrior. From some
cause. perhaps the cutting down Of
trees. the spsinGs became low and the
stream ceased to dow. the imprisoned
wuesss 6sdisga a Imperfect outlet
through the 6nsgy spot referred to.
! Indesd, thlsmsy haze been tbe original
outlet, and have Become choked up,
Al last the pfsssufsA OF water became
sufficient to break through the strsts
and dislodgs : snperincambent mass
| Of stones and grHvsl.