St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-11
A FARM DROPS INTO A HOLE.

From Twelve to Fifteen Acres
Suddenly Sink From Three to
Sixty Feet.
Richmond Dispatch. Il:
To see twelve or fifteen acres of dry
land on the hillside high above the
water-level gradually sink until they go
down below the surrounding territory
to depth ranging from three to sixty
feet, is an exceedingly remarkable
thing.
This is just what may now be seen on
Spring Hill, W. B. Gatling's farm of
800 acres, which is located on the west
side of the AppomattOX river, in the
county of Prince George, about five
miles below the city OF Petersburg.
According to Edward B. Calling Jr.,
of this city, a son of the owner of the
estate, who has just returned from a
visit home, there was an eruption" on
this farm about month ago, which had
some semblance of volcano, but after
the upheaval there was neither lava,
smoke nor fire. This was followed by a
assure in the ground, small at first, but
which opened gradually until it was
three feet wide, and then came this de-
preston, which is somewhat alarming
in its character and extent.
On the Sunken area were oaks 100 feet
high, and numerous other trees of
gigantic proportions, which have sunk
as they grew, leaving only the tops of
the branches peering above the walls.
The sinking of the earth carried with
1t about twelve or fifteen acres of land,
leaving an ugly-looking wall as solid as
granite on either side, varying from
three to sixty feet, perfectly perpen-
dicular
The upheaval few weeks ago oc-
Cured at the upper end of this hillside,
and following it appeared crack or
fisSure in the ground which was at first
small, but which widened gradually
until it became three feet or more wide
and apparently without bottom. One
could drop rocks down in there and
hear them strike the sides, but not the
bottom. The .crevice extended some
800 or 900 or perhaps 1000 yards, and
went beyond the farm and entered the
Gillian estate, adjoining.
The sunken place must be about
twelve OF fifteen acres, perhaps not
quite so much. AT the broadcast point
it is about one hundred yards and it
was nine hundred yards long. The
earth that has gone down is not broken
up, though the sinking has been very
uneven. To look down on this area it
presents very picturesque panorama.
The lowered district is almost parallel
with the river and is in the form of an
irregular semicircle, or, properly speak
ing, a bow. A singular feature of the
whole thing is that there is an upheaval
in the river just in front of this basin,
and it seems as though the earth had
passed through an underground current
to the river. This bar made its appear
ance suddenly during one night. 1t
projects a short way up out of the
water, and would doubtless grow higher
but for the earth being washed off by
the current.
There is a bold flow of water from
one OF the wall that is as clear as crystal
and tastes of iron and sulpher. The
water from this has covered about two
acres of the basin about eight feet
deep, and when the balance of the
sinking land shall have gone down to
the level of the lower part the whole of
this territory will become lake. The
earth has not changed its position at all
except to drop down. There have re-
Gently been Iandslides in the county.
but they are entirely different from this.