Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-09-10
LINCOLN'S LANDSLIDE
AN OBSERVANT VISITOR GIVES A CON-
ClSE ACCOUNT THEREOF.

Properly Advertised-One of the Greatest
Phenomena of the Country-Thousands
Have Visited the Scene.
This great natural phenomenon. locat-
ed so near US, has been visited by thou
sands within the last four weeks. and vet
no account or description of it has been
published which does justice to the sub
ject. With this thought in mind and be-
/ leving it might be of interest to your
readers to learn few facts cOncernn-
this geological wonder from a recent Wis
itor. | send you this brief account of it.
| Descriptions of the slide, some eXag-
gerated, and others again perhaps not
highly cOlored enough, have been print
ed in the local papers, but outside of the
state it has attracted little attention.
/ When we take into consideration the
many visitors who have already seen
the slide, in spite of this lack of notorie-
ty, we can get some idea as to what a
Mecca for summer tourists it might have
| become, if it had been properly advertis-
ed and some pains had been taken TO
minister to the bodily comfort of visit
Ors and to the refreshment of the inner
man.
The slide, which took place at eight
O'Clock a. M, July y, the day of the
general flood throughout New England,
Is really sight worth going a long dis
tance to see. and, unlike most points of
| interest in mountainous regions, is very
easy of access.
a drive of five or six hours with
good team will take one from Middle
bury to the foot of the slide. From this
/ point up to the top there is a well-beaten
path which, though rough and steep at
times, can be climbed by any healthy
man or woman.
The slide starts on that slope of Lin
coin mountain which fronts on the set
/ Elements of South Fayston. Three start
ing points can be made cut at the sum
nit of the mountain, but one of these
was short lived and soon ceased. OF
the other paths of the slide, the northern
is the wider, while the south branch cuts
deeper into the soil. They run almost
parallel for half a mile, then converge to
form one main channel. This continues
down the almost perpendicular descent
half mile farther as broad cut, over
two hundred feet wide in places, and
reaching depth of forty feet or more.
At the foot of the steep descent, the
debris, instead of accumulating as might
be expected, ran up against solid ledge
OF rock, and turning almost at right
angle to its path down the mountain took
its way along the course of trout-brook
for nearly three miles on comparatively
! level ground.
The trees were overwhelmed root and
branch along the entire track, one group
Of five or six spruces, standing in an iso-
lated position far up the mountain side
alone surviving. The trOut-brook was of
course wiped out of existence. aud in its
place broad path is left strewn with
large rocks and bOulders, while piles of
logs, branches, and stumps, all stripped
of their bark, and in many cases ground
into kindlng wood. are scattered along
its entire course. The mud and stones
were often thrown into the tops of the
trees, where the marks they made may
still be seen. The water which now
trickles through the rocks is highly col
Ored with pigments, unearthed by the
slide, and strongly impregnated with sui
phur and iron, as is plainly indicated
both to taste and smell.
The cause of the slide is generally as
cribed TO the fall of an immense rock. in
securely located near the brow of the
mountain. The soil beneath it, mixed
with large proportion of loose cobble-
stones and sand. was sOdden with the
great rainfall of the night, and in the
morning the massive stone slipped and
fell three or four hundred feet. carrying
with it down the steep mountain hum
dreds of tons of rocks and soil The Jar
Of its fall probably started the other two
slides, only one of which however con-
tinued far on its course. The other two
gained more and more impetus as they
descended and finally attained the tre-
mendOus force which could uproOt and
twist to pieces giant trees, and hurl rocks
weighing many tons into the valley miles
below.
There are three facts of peculiar inter-
est to be noted concerning this great
downfall Of mother earth. In the first
place. though it can be seen readily at a
distance from favorable vantage ground.
yet as one approaches, it gradually dis
appears, and finally, when close at hand,
becomes entirely invisible.
The second peculiarity is that 10 loose
soil Is found piled up at the foot of the
slide. the whole great mass of earth
which was thus torn from the side of the
mountain having entirely disappeared.
This state of things is easily accounted
for. when we consider the great Hood.
which had swollen every brook into a
large ream, and which must have min
gled its waters with the Sliding soil. and
washed ir from the other debris into the
streams below.
The presence of this large ampunt of
water also accounts In great measure
for the third peculauty of this slide,
namely, that the sliding material did not
stop and pile up when it reached the foot
OF the mountain, but instead. turned at
an abrupt angle and rolled its destruc-
tive tide three miles along a very gradual
descent.
The semi.liquid state Of the sliding
f. material and the vast impetus of the