The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-10-29
SMOKE FROM CHIMNEY ROCK.
People who Thtte 1hefSP vFcn-
sss] ! waF |sted in
vss,s5a aa!anaa * aasAs pa! g., J; writes rite.

...,ssx.. no i9>th Blue ~ .1!4
so&& ex tent It wal lated in
westeras Slan the pae *, writes
Balsbsrsssadiarr eondebf bfnAe Phil
adelphta 7Gmes,aby repor.SEar~ since
the earthquake on Aug. 81 volumes OF
smoke have been seen issuing from the
crcvices in Chimney rock, near Nc
chanicstown. Md, on the Blue ridge
range. One paper in Baltimore went
50 far as to state that a. Mary laadssHel,s-
cano had been discovered. which I'm in
creased the alarm. particularly in the
towns that dot sides of the Blue
ridge in, Maryland and the beautiful
Cumberland valley. Newspaper cor
respondents made trip to Chimney
rock aud were aidedin their investiga-
ton by John d. Miller, the hotel-keep-
er of Mechanicstown, aud who has
lived on the mountain within gunshot
of the mysterious Chimney rock all his
life. Mr.. Miller declared that while
there had not been any particular dis
turbance noticed further than the gen:
eral vibrations felt all along the Blue
ridge at the time of tho Charleston
earthquake, still there had been within
the past two years phenomena in the
vicinity of Chimney rock which could
not be understood, and had alarmed
some of the mountaineers to such an
extent that they moved away
The summit of Chimney rock is very
difficult tu reacls. 1t. is one of the
steepest and widest of the Blue fidge
chain. The summit is twelve hundred
feet above Mechanicstow1l, and if CHM
ney rock Should aver turn into Vesu-
vius that would bo the. last of the charms
ing village In which so many Balti-
moreans find theirsun,mer home AT
the height Of eleven hundred feet a
tarrace is reached. After proceeding
about iifty yards along Che plateau the
progress, Of the tourist 4sybloeked by
perpep dinnlat walEdf bare limestone
known as table rock. This wall arises
from the plateau fully $50 feet on each
side tikp the rappartA Sffa lgr4H tori 1
ress y Ills here that are to be seen the
strange freaks of nature which give
rise to the. theory that down. ipq that
mou,ttainhare vast Internal furnaces
straining to give ventHt to their pert-np
fires. BY peri1ous climbing to the top
of Chimney rock is reached. There
are many curions fiss,Tes inthe rock.
These ate of aniunknoW Wn depth. Elpm
these fssures columns lsof smoke have
been seen to- rise from time to time
within the last two years. Landlord
Miller and many others have seen this
smoke, and lit was plainly ddefnable
from the intense, blue smoky haze that
always covers the Blue ridge peaks.
1t was {, Dense, black smoke, forming
a strong contrast to the blue haze. ~
Mr. Miller says thaty%when he first
noticed the smoke coming out of the
mountain, two years ago, it seemed to-
start up like af.jet OF high pressure
steam as thick as he>strunk,4of big
tree and with a crown like the spread
ing foliage of pine tree. The news
paper investigators made efforts to
guage the depth of the tissures, but=
without success Manyof them were
partly filed in with timber !and, huge
stones, which had been cast down by
inquisitive visitors, but wherever the
view was unobstructed it was easy to
see that they extended far below the
visible base of the. .table7rock itself and
probably hundreds of feet into the
depths of the mountain. There had
evidently been considerable disturbance
OF rock within a recent period. In
some places masses weighing hundreds
of tons had split awaySana sunk verti-
ically, as if to fill a mighty chasm exist
ing beneath. The sinking varied from
twelve to forty or fifty feet, and TIE
growth of young brushwood had been
effected w.thin the last three or four
years. Ina few spots light penetrated
the assures in a lateral direction fifty
or eighty feet below. and signs Of burn
ing or blackening on the walls were
distinctly noticeable. Volcano or. no
volcano, it is plain that ACTIVE geologic
al changes have beenat work Oh Chin
ney rock within quite u recent period.
+ The attention of gcologists has been
called to Chimney rockeand its queer
phenomena, and ssince-the recent earth
quake, which soplewhat enlarged the
assures, the residents OF the valley have
not been little agitated over the idea
that the top of Chimney rock may
prove to be Il crater.