The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-02

THAT great part OF this prOdig1ouS
mass was absorbed in some gulf below
is plain also from the inclinfng 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 a hundred yards from the foot of
this hanging coppice stood a cottage by
the side of a lane; and two hundred
yards lower, on the other side of the
lane, was a farmhouse, in which lived a
laborer and his family; and just by, a
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 tempestuous,
observed that the brick floors of their
kitchens began to heave and part, and
that the walls 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 90 tt 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 a deep
rift, or chasm, had opened under their
houses, and torn them as itwere in two,
and that one end of the barn had suf-
fered in a similar manner; that a pond
near the cottage had undergone a
strange reverse, becoming deep at the
shallow end, and 80 gice versa; 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 a gate vas
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 a mile, and is interspersed with
some hillocks, which were lifted in every
direction, as well towards the great
woody hanger as from it. In the first
pasture the deep clefts began, and rum
| ming across the lane and under the
buildings, made such vast shelves that
the road was impossible for some time;
and SO over to an arabic field on the
other side, which was strangely torn
and disordered. The second pasture
Uolu, U6iuG lulu SOlt IL oPll1HJS 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 inclosure, 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 a number of catastrophes
| of this nature occurring at earlier dates,
we propose to give some interesting
particulars concerning one which took
place in the carly part of this century
in Switzerland, where they are very
frequent.
In one corner of the canton of
| Schweitz are the lakes Wallenstadt,
Zug and Lowertz. Near the last is a
mountain called the Righi, and a
smaller one, the Rossberg. The latter
is composed of strata of f~reestone,
pudding-stone-a conglomeration of
coarse sandstone, with silicious pebbles,
flints, etc.; and clay, with frequent
blocks of granite, in the lower part.
On the I'd of September, 1906, a large
portion of this mountain-a a about
a thousand feet in width. a hundred
feet in depth and nearly three miles in
l~ength-slipped into the valley below.
1t was not merely the summit or q pro-
jecting 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 sloped downwards; and
so the mass was set free, and slipped
into the valley, a chaos of stones, earth,
clay and clayey mud. For hours before
the catastrophe there had been signs of
some CONFUSION 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, a superstitious
farmer, who dwelt high up the noun
ia n, hearing a strange kind of cracking
noise, and thinking it 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 a few in
stances. In the hamleto 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 a 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 o 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 mountain
was falling. He thought there was
plenty of time, and went indoors to fill
his pipe again; but his neighbor ran
down the valley, falling repeatedly
by reason of the agitationof the ground,
and escaped with difficulty. When he
looked back to the village, the old
mans house had disappeared. In the
space of about three minutes, the vast
mass, separated into two portions, had
descended three miles, sweeping every
thing before it. The smaller portion
took a course towards the foot of the
Right, destroying the hamlets of Spitz-
buhl, ODER and Inter Rothen. Its We
locity was such as to carry enormous
fragments to a great height up the OPP
posite mountain. A peasant who sur
vived the calamity, was engaged in
cutting down a tree near his house,
when a noise like thunder ar
rested his attention; he felt
the ground tremble under his feet, and
he was Immediately thrown down by a
current of air. Retaining his presence
of mind, a dreadful scene presented
itself; the tree he had been cutting
down, his house, and every familiar OBJ.
ject, had disappeared, and an immense
cloud of dust enveloped him.
The ruin effected by the descent Of
the larnar nOrfion WINS more torrihla Il