St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-07-16
The Landslide at jefferson.
The Wiley Slide Repeated.

Great excitement was caused i'll the
White mountain region last Friday by
IA landslide at jefferson, exceeding any
on record. A correspondent of the
Boston Journal thus describes the
phenomenon
"'The sOutherly face of Cherry Noun
tain in Jefferson presents "a SCARED APP
pearance this morning. About half
past five a. M, during Il violent thun-
der storm, some boulders near the top
of Owls Head, which is buttress of
the main peak, became loosened, prob
ably by the swelling of the little stream
that springs out near the summit from
the recent heavy rains. and started a
tremendous slide of the surface of the
mountain toward its base. AS the soil,
rocks and uproOted trees pushed down
with accelerating speed, they cleared a
broad track, in some places many hun
dred feet III width, and quilted IN the
narrow parts to the depth of forty or
fifty feet. Reaching 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 between that
and the railroad track, its momentum
exhausted itself. 1t is said that the
slide is greater than any that has Oc
CURED in the White Mountains within
the memory of man, far exceeding in
the distance of the descent aud the
quantity of material brought down the
one which burst through the Flume a
short time ago and the we'll known
Crawford Notch slide, which destroy
ed the Wiley family many years ago.
And this, too, nearly proved fatal to
life, for passing within a few feet of IA.
small house higher up, past which it
tore cliasm thirty feet deep and two
hundred feet wide, the edge of the
tremendous mass struck the house of
Oscar Stanley, and, throwing its frag-
ments aside, crossed the road and
knocked his barn into a shapeless mass
of broken timbers. Mr.. Stanley was
burned out in the spring and was fin
ishing new house. The carpenters
had Just gone into the building to be- |
gin the days work, when one asked i'll
a noise he heard was thunder or a |
freight train coming up the track. |
Mr.. Stanley stepped to the door. dts
not thunder nor cars" he shouted. |
''Get ont of here the whole mountains I
coming down on us !" Fhey did get
out. and running to the rear of the !
house, escaped. Mr.. SANKEY'S hired /
man, who was milking in the barn,
was not so fortunate, for running to
the door upon hearing the noise, he
was carried under the broken barn and |
was subsequently, cut out with a brok-
en leg and internal injuries which, it |
is hoped, will not prove fatal The
mass of the slide spread heavily over
Mr.. SANKEY'S farm, utterly running it.
Where it spent itself between the high
way aud the railroad track beautiful
tield, from which he cut 40 tons of hay /
asst year, and another with fine crop
IF potatoes, lie buried many feet under
The debris of the IN ountain side. His (
;attle We're killed in the pasture and
barn, and only horse dug ont unhurt.
He himself described the scene as he
reached the door of the house as some
hing terrible. Looking mp the noun
ain he saw an immense wave twenty
i've or thirty feet high, composed of
,arth, boulders and broken trees, and Z
advancing with immense speed over
he sloping fields directly upon him.
The vast mass boiled and seethed,