Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-05-20
THE VERMONT PHOENIX, BRATTLEBORO FRIDAY. MAY y

and here and there deeply scratched or
striatel, by powders that we're borne on
ward at the bottom Of the moving ice sheet.
Such rounded surfaces and strip are seen
very distinctly on the slate rock at the top
of West river hill. Their direction, north
west to southeast, shows the direction of
the moving ice. But as the ice sheet
passed over the country the debris, ground
of of the mountain tops was carried on
ward and deposited in the valleys and other
inequalities of the surface. Oncn,imcs
hundreds Of feet Of this material, composed
Of angular powders, gravel, sand, aud
clay, but without the qualification which
we find characteristic Of deposits formed
in the sea, were accumulated. In the
larger valleys Of the Connecticut and its
tributaries much of this debris. known as
drift, was lodged. 1t formed an irregular
coating over the whole country. but thick
est in the deepest valleys. 1t changed, to
large degree, the drainage of the country.
and by blocking the streams formed nu-
merous lakes, many Of which have contin-
ued TO exist to the present time. Chester
field lake and Marlboro pond were produced
by the blocking Of oil stream valleys by
glacial debris, and will ultimately disap-
pear as their barriers are cut away or
the basins themselves filed up. GeolOgically
speaking, the life of every lake is brief.
There IS no topographic feature 50 subject
to change.
Much Of the glacial drift came from rocks
far to the north, as among the powders
now scattered over the surface of the coun-
try we find fragments of rock not known
in this vicinity but found in the central
portions Of the state At times powders
of gigantic size were left lodged i'm critical
positions on the mountain sides Excel
lent illustrations Of this are seen along the
highway from Wilmington to Searsburg
where powders the size of small dwellings
are perched upon the hil-sides.
President Hitchcock, in his Geology of
Vermont mentions several remarkable in
stances Of the Transporting power of ice.
He describes big bowlder. 10 feet i'm cir
conference and estimated to weigh 30
tons, that is lodged on the northern slope
of lloOsac mountain in the town of Florida
| This bowlder j. OF granite. unlike the rock
OF the vicinity, but similar to the granite
of Stamford, Vt, some miles to the north
but separated from Hoosac mountain bv a
valley 1900 feet deep. That that was its
| source there can be no doubt TO this
remarkable bowlder President Hitchcock
cites another, much larger, that he found
! in the western part Of the town of Whit
ingham. From its character. that of a
micaceous gneisS it must have been trans
ported over the Deerfield valley from the
Green Mountain range several miles dis
tant 1t is 40 feet long and b feet high
and is estimated to weigh 34OO tons. He
states that il is the largest bOwldcr in New
England and he names it the Green Noun
tain Giant. In his description he saws:
Ere many years, We predict that the guide
books for summer tourists will describe
the route to the Giant | fear, however.
that President Hitchcock's predictions
have not yet been verified, for | imagine
few if any OF us have visited the locality.
As the ice sheet melted and gradually
withdrew northward over New England,
the valleys were filled to Overlooking By
the flooded streams. The loose debris.
left scattered over the land, was washed
into the streams and blocked the valleys.
| Finally the ice edge Withdrew beyond the
sources of the Connecticut and the river
was then greatly reduced in volume. Ii
could no longer spread over lis broad he !,
but meandered through it at the lowest
points. Since that time il has been cut
ting down through this mass of debris and
| in places has again reached the solid rock
of its ancient bed. In its cutting il has
oscillated from side to side, and, as a result,
We have the beautiful series Of terraces so
well shown in this region. BrattlebOro it.
self is situated on a series of such terraces
cut 10y the Connecticut and its tributaries,
the West river and Milestone brook
Cemetery hill and Western avenue today
mark the high level to which the valley OF
U . 1. 4
while the ancient swollen stream flowed
around Highland park as an island. Later
the stream cut downward until il stood at
| the elevation Of Oak street, then of Main
street, and finally it reached its present
level.
have a series of models on the wall
that illustrate these successive changes in
the history of Connecticut valley. The
| first represents the ancient, pre- glacial val
! ley. The second shows the valley blocked
by drift and with the small stream mean
dering over the old river bed, after the edge
of the ice sheet had withdrawn beyond the
sources of the river. The third represents
the terraces cut by the river in its later
history. Al few points it has cut to the
old rocky bed, forming waterfalls, as at
Bellows Falls and Turner's Falls. The
valuable water power of New England is
to be accounted for on this ground. To
the south of the glaciated region there are
few, if any, waterfalls The future histo-
ry of the Connecticut river will record the
cutting of a still deeper channel and thus
its bed will be lowered more and more. A
generation, a century even, may not be
sufficient to attract our attention, but until
the Connecticut has cut down to the level
of the sea and removed particle by parti-
Gle every acre within its drainage basin, its
work will not be accomplished. As the
land will doubtless be still further elevated
before even this gigantic task can be accom-
plished, the Connecticut and its tributaries
have enough work to do for many geologi-
cal periods in the future.
An old miner named Tim was found
dead the other morning in a Colorado min