The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-12-10

hanger Ga local term for an overhang
ing woody cliff at Hawkley was tori
from its place and fell down. leaving ,
high freestone cliff naked and bare. an,
resembling the steep side of chalk-pit
1t appears that this huge fragment, be
ing perhaps Slapped and undermined b,
waters, foundered and was engulfed
going down in a perpendicular direc
ton: for gate which stood in the field
on the top of the hill. after sinking will
its posts for thirty or forty feet, re
manned in so true and upright posi-
ton as to open and shut with great ex.
actness. just as in its first situation,
Several oaks also are still standing
(wrtten in 1875 or 1776) and in state
of vegetation. after taking the same
desperate leap.
THAT great part of this prodigiou:
mass was absorbed in some gulf below
is plain also from the inclining ground
at the bottom of the hill, which is free
and unincumbered, but would have
been buried in heaps of rubbish had the
fragment parted and fallen forward.
About hundred yards from the foot OF
this hanging coppice stood a cottage by
the side of lane; and two hundred
yards lower, on the other side of the
lane, was a farmhouse, in which lived 4
laborer and his family; and just by, 4
stout new barn. The cottage was in
habited by an old woman, her son, and
his wife. These people. in the evening,
which was very dark and tempestuO,,s,
observed that the brick floors of their
kitchens began to heaye and part, and
that the wall, seemed to open and the
roofs to crack: but they all agree
that no tremor of the ground indicating
an earthquake was ever felt, only that
the wind continued to make a tremen-
dous roaring in the woods and hangers.
The miserable inhabitants, not daring
to 30 to bed, remained in the utmost
solIcitude and confusion, expecting
every moment to be buried under the
ruins of their shattered edifices. When
daylight came, they Were at leisure to
contemplate the devastations of the
night. They then found that deep
rift, or chasm. had opened under their
houses. and torn them as it We're in two,
and that one end of the barn had suf-
fered in similar manner: that pond
near the cottage had undergone a
strange reverse, becoming deep at the
shallow end, and SO rice rerSd: that
many large oaks were removed out of
their perpendicular. some thrown down,
and some fallen into the heads of neigh
boring trees; and that gate was
thrust forward with its hedge full six
feet, so as to require a new track to be
made to it. From the foot of the cliff,
the general course of the ground. which
is paSture, inclines in a moderate descent
for half mile. and is interspersed with
some hiliockS. which We're lifted in every
direction, as well towards the great
woody hanger as from it. In the first
pasture the deep clefts began. and run
ming across the lane and under the
buiid ngs, made such vast shelves that
the road was impossible for some time;
and 50 over to an arabic field on the
other side, which was strangely torn
and disordered. The second pasture
field, being more soft and springy, was
protuded forward without many assures
IN the turf. which was raised in long
ridges resembling graves. lying at right
angles to the motion. At the bottom of
this Enclosure, the soil and turf rose
many feet against the bodies of
some oaks that obstructed their
further course. and terminated this aw-
full commotion."
Passing by number of catastrophes
of this nature occurring at earlier dates,
we propose to give some interesting
particulars concerning one which took
place in the early part of this century
in Switzerland, where they are very
frequent.
In one corner of the canton of
Schwcitz are the lakes Walenstadt,
lug and Lowertz Near the last is a
mountain called the Right. and a
smaller one, the Il ssbarg. The latter
is composed OF strata of freeStone,
pudding -Stone-a conglomeration of
coarse sandstone. with silicious pebbles.
tlintS, ETC.; and clay, with frequent
blocks of granite, in the lower part.
On the ri of September, 1S06, a large
portion of this mounta IA mass about
a thousand feet in width. hundred
feet in depth and nearly three miles in
length-slipped into the valley below.
1t was not merely the summit or a pro-
;ec:ing crag which fell, but an entire
bed of strata extending from the top to
nearly the bottom. A long continuance
of heavy rains had softened the strata
of clay, which slopcd downwards: and
so the mass was set free. and slipped
into the valley. chaos of stones, earth,
clay and clayey mud. For hours before
the catastrophe there had been signs of
some convulsion approaching. Early
in the morning and at intervals during
the day there were noises as if the
mountain were in the throes of some
great pang, so that it seemed
to tremble with fear; so much so
that the furniture shook in the houses
of the villages of Arth and St. Ann.
About two o'clock, superstitious
farmer. who dwell. high up the noun
tan, hearing strange kind of cracking
noise, and thinking 1t was the work of
some demon, ran down to Arth to fetch
the priest to exercise the evil spirit.
There were now openings in the turf,
and stones were elected in few in
stances. In the hamlet of Inter Rothen,
at the foot of the mountain, a man was
digging in his garden, when he found
his spade thrust back out of the soil,
and the earth spurted up like water
from fountain. As the day advanced,
the cracks in the ground became larger.
portions of rock fell; springs began to
flow, and frightened birds took wing in
confusion. uttering discorded screams.
About five o'clock the vast mass of
material set loose began to move. At
first the movement was slow, and there
were repeated pauses. An old man sit
ting at his door smoking his pipe, was
told by a neighbor that the mounta n
was falling. He thought there was
plenty of time, and went indoors to fill
his pipe again; but his neighbor ran
Il r