Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-07-17
THE JEFFERSON SLIDE.
The Full Particulars of the Break ing
Away of n Portion of Cherry
Mountain.

H., sends the following account of
the great slide last Friday morning.:
The southerly face of Cherry Noun
tain in Jefferson presents Scared
appearance this morning. About
half-past 5 a. M, during violent
thunder storm, some boulders near
the top of Owls Head, which is a
buttress of the main peak, became
loosened, probably by the swelling
of the little stream that springs out
near the summit from the recent
heavy rains, and started a tremen-
dous slide of the surface of the
mountain toward It's base. As the
soil, rocks and uprooted trees pushed
down with accelerating speed, they
cleared broad track, in some places
many hundred feet in width, and
quilted in the narrow parts to the
depth of forty or fifty feet. Reach
ing the base of the mountain, the
mass spread out over the pastures
and arabic land, covering them
deeply for great space, till, after
crossing the Cherry Mountain road
leading to the Twin Mountain
House, and pushing halfway be-
tween that and the railroad track,
its momentum exhausted itself. 1t
is said that the slide is greater than
any that has occurred in the White
Mountains within the memory of
man, far exceeding in the distance
of the descent and the quantity of
material brought down the one
which burst through the Flume a
short time ago and the well known
Crawford Notch slide, which de-
stroyed the Wiley family many
years ago. And this, too, nearly
proved fatal to life, for passing
within few feet of a small house
higher up, past which it tore a
chasm thirty feet deep and two
hundred feet wide, the edge of the
tremendous mass struck the house
of Oscar Stanley, and, throwing its
fragments aside, crossed the road,
and knocked his barn into shape.
less mass of broken timbers. Mr.
Stanley was burned out in the spring
and was finishing a new house. The
carpenters had just gone into the
building to begin the days work
when one asked if noise he heard
was thunder or freight train com
ing up the track. Mr.. Stanley
stepped to the door. "It's not
thunder nor cars" he shouted, "get
out of here ! the whole mountain.
coming down on us " They die
get out, and running to the rear Of
the house, escaped. Mr.. Stanley
hired man, who was milking in thu
barn, was not so fortunate, for run
ming to the door upon hearing thu
noise, he was carried under tn,
, broken barn and was subsequently
: cut out with broken leg and som,
| internal injuries which, it is hoped
will not prove fatal. The mass O
} the slide spread heavily over Mr.
: Stanley's farm, utterly running it
, Where it spent itself between tn
: highway and the railroad track
| beautiful field, from which he Gu
: 40 tons of hay last year, and an
l other with a fine crop Of potatoes
: lie buried under the debris of tn
/ mountain side. His cattle wer
! killed in the pasture and barn, an,
: only a horse was dug out unhurt.
He himself described the scene a
he reached the door of the house a
something terrible. Looking Vi
toward the mountain he saw an i'm
t mense wave twenty-five or thirt,
feet high, composed of earth bould
: ers and broken trees, and advancin,
with immense speed over the slopin,
fields directly upon him. The vas
} mass boiled and seethed, great tree
rolling and tumbllng like so man,
jackstraws, while rocks of man,
tons in weight were pitched abou
, like pebbles. AS one now stand
by the remains of the Stanley hous
! the tortuous course of the slide
| seen to the mountains summit, de
fiected from straight line by tn
: conformation Of the declivity.
looks like the trail of a huge sci
IPent, deeply cut in places and agai