Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-11-27
Nr,nci.aIascI. E;s.iDseG,

49, SsSSSs
The following remarkable letter has been
received at the Chicago Daily Ncocs office,
notice Of which appeared in yesterday's s
GAZETTE:
SLEEPY HOLLOW, Tex, Nov. iC.-The
greatest excitement prevails here. Nothing
is talked or thought Of but natures great
convulsion last night. At q poin: seven
miles southeast Of this little country post
office occurred last night one Of the straug-
est freaks Of nature recorded il TIE annals
Of the worlds history. Ab the above men
ton point IS the confluence Of two creeks
Post Oak and Chambers-tbe latter quite
all important stream, and what would be
called river in the New England ;-tGtas
Here ID located the cause for the terror and
excitement that have got hold Of tbs Deo.
pie. An immense upheavai has occurred st
that point, causing 4 rent in the earth that
Is horriiying to look upon. The topograp phy
Of tbs country before this agoniz;ng kick Of
old Mother Earth was almost q dead level.
It is one vast creek bottom, covered with
dense timber, or Eas such before this occur
renee. To-day 3 yawning chasm. fifteen
miles long anG more than fifteen hundred
feet broad, starcs one IN the face who has
tbs courage 10 look at IT, \ dense cloud OF
black, sulphurous smoke rises slowly from
its EllmblinS mouth. Intense heat prevails
al = distance Of q half q mile or either side
of this vast and terrible crater and 10 add
10 its awful grandeur, it intorsects Cham
bers creek just below lis union with Post
OAK, thus forming quite q large body Of
water, that piung@s int. tAis bottonlesg
chaSm with Il jar and thuDde!ing tone
that can be felt aud heard f0r twenty
t.,n rniln= Tim tnI, Al; tot
TO this point 10 Corsicanna thirty. five miles
away. The people III tLi3 neighboylcoc; are
composed OF I thrifty, though ili,erata
ca:s Of planters. They are naturally super.
atitious, and this wonderful phenomenon
has just run them Wild They spend their
entire time praying rnd singing. They have
abandoned their fields to prepare iur TIE
aWiu! doom, as they suppose, in store for
them. They neither egt nor steep, only is
they are exhaused. \ portion OF the ,iC!e
to-day strong east wind has beou blowing,
driving the heat to the west side Cf the
opening, so that your correspondent ;auld
approach sufficiently close 10 examine par
TALLY the inward appearance q the Jaws II
hell. No language, however :aw!ul or e;;-
quent, could approach even . f,iat picture
OF so grand, yet so fearfu! score.
Imagine fiery opening IN the earth, H.
teen miles long and fifteen hundred iccs
wide, belching forth great clouds OF black,
sulphuEous smoke from beneath which cone
the deep mutteriEgs G! sub!erraneona thuu-
ders, whose voices speak out through The
open mouth OF hell, then may you form but
q slight idea of this sceae. IA the wind
moves the huge volume ii smoke aside, it
reveals huge monsters Of every hdeous AID
conceivable shape, WIit5!ug aud tWia ing II
the molten mass beneath Sounds ami rau,-
mers, like human voices III :ae aWGG.gst
agonies, seem to come from right under
your feet gs you stand on the brin;. Ji this
horrible chasm. Various theories have heen
advanced By experts and old women az 10
the meaning Of all this unrest Of Old Mother
Earth. There is no doubt in tbs mind of
your correspondent that it is associated with
the recent earthquake ct Charleston, 5. G.
what the result may he before nature re.
sumes her equilibrium in this section is hard
to tell. It has already resulted in the de-
struction OF twenty-five fine ranches, seven
hundred head Of stock, thirteen dwelling
houses and about three thousand acres Of
fine timber have been swallowed Up. The
loss of human life amid the present excite.
uent is impossible to ascertain, but is sup
posed to be frightful. People are gathering
up their effects and fleeing from the country
in wagons or on horseback, in wheebar-
rows and on foot. Great suffering and des-
ttution must follow in the wake OF such
wholesale destruction Of life and property.
The atmosphere for twenty miles around
has an intense sui lphurous smsll Unless to-
morrow's SUI has q tendency to purify the
atmosphere or lift this sulpharoas cdor,
your correspondent will be compelled 10
take up his retreat with the break of day.
Animals, birds and insects, even to the
vivacious Texas mosquito, are leaving the
neighborhood Of this awful display Of ma
ture's fireworks. Horses, cattle, hogs and
dogs are lying dead through the timber, suf.
focated with the sulphurous gases thai seem
to be oozing from the ground. The ground
is so intensely heated for ten miles around
that every living spear of grass and all the
timber is dying. The picture Of desolation
and woe is frightiul even to contemplate,
but imagine what it is to one in the midst OF
all this loneliness. Aside from tho rum
bling noise beneath your feet, the silence is
painful.
II send this communication by horseback
mail to the nearest railroad point, thirty-ive
miles away, and will write you more fully
when my brain and nerves get steadier ana
get out of this Internal region.