River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-04-29
SENSATION IN KINNICKINNIc
Was II an Expiosion1-An Earthquake
Or, Did Something Merely
"Drap?'

Was II an Explosion1-An Earthquake7
Or, Did Som sthing Merely
"Drapf'
On Friday evening, April 18th, be-
tween eight and nine O'Clock, Mr.. S.
J. Bambrough and family, occupying
the farm of Thomas Foster, situated
in sc ctiOn II, town of Kinnickinnic,
st. Croix county, were startled by a
roaring noise similar TO that made by
thunder, accompanied by quaking of
the ground which made their domicile
tremble. The shock was soon over
and a casual investigation failed to
discover any cause to which the I'M
| pleasant phenomenon mightreasonably
be attributed. Further search on the
following morning revealed nothing
that shed any light upon the unusual
occurrence and matters went along as
usual about the place until last Friday,
when Mr.. Bambrough, having occasion
to cross an adjacent field, discovered
about twenty-five rods from the house
a hole in the ground which accounted
| for the incidents of the Friday even
ing previous. The hole in question is
about sixty-five feet in circumference
at the top, nearly round, and reaches
depth of at least twenty-five feet.
The sides OF the cavity show about
eight feet of soil underlaid by soft
sandstone. The first four or five feet
of the sandstone presents the appear
ance of a huge, somewhat oval, bowl.
In the bottom of this bowl is an OBJ
long aperture perhaps six by seven
feet, passing through which one en-
tiers larger chamber beneath. the
sides of which are sandstone. On the
east and west sides of this chamber
crack large enough to receive the
hand appears, the opening OF which is
greater at the bottom of the pit than
just beneath the bottom of the bowl
referred to. The dirt at the bottom
of the pit slopes to the north and
west, and it is probable that further
explorations to the north would reveal
an extension OF the cavern which
received the dirt and sandstone fallen
from above. The JOURNAL man
visited the scene on Monday and was
courteously received by Mr. Bam-
brough who, with rope and ladder,
| kindly assists those whose curiosity
prompts them to descend to the
bottom of the pit. We are not much
of a scientist eurself, and freely con-
fess that any opinion which we might
express relating to the causes which
have combined to produce the effects
to which we have thus briefly referred
would be of little or no value. Some
express the opinion that small earth.
quake shook things up a little there;
others think that an explosion of gas
generated in an opening beneath pro-
duced what we have described, while
others think that the roof of a sub
terranean cavern gave way, precipi-
tating all above it TO the bottom,
because "the time had come for a
collapse of that particular cavern"
Be that as it may, the place is attract
ing many people who are curious to
see it, and we should be pleased to
note the opinion of those who have
made natural science a study.
Since the above was put in type we
have conversed with f. II. King, Pro-
fessor of Natural Science in the River
Falls Normal School, who with his
class in Geology visited the place yes
terday afternoon. Prof. King advanc-
es the theory, which seems to be a
most plausible one, that the strata of
| limestone underlying the sandstone
contained cavity at this particular
point of sufficient size to receive what
has fallen from above; that the recent
rains increased the weight of the SUBJ
stances over this cavity and at the
same time 50 impaired the strength of
the sandstone that it could no longer
withstand the additional pressure
brought to bear upon it, when it gave
way with the result we have wit
messed.