The San Francisco call., 1897-02-16

on Saturday last and gave the inhabitants
of that district a fright that will not soon
be forgotten.
The scene of the ebullition is rocky
'.eminauce about seven miles south of this
City, where the San Bruno road comes
down out of the hills and skirts the shore
: , the bay.
The hill is not more than quarter of a
mile from the beach and rises sharply to
= a. heiSht of 400 feet or more.
lis top is crowned with sharply defined
'*ridges OF rock that show gray and barren
:-at different places on the surface.
On Saturday afternoon a low rum bling
noise, followed by a dull explosion not
unlike that produced by heavy dis
:charge OF giant powder, caused the
:ranchers and dairymen for long dis
tance around to look in that direction, and
. trey .beheld sight that rendered them
'spellbound.
Shooting into the air for distance that
1is.yariously estimated at from twenty to
forty feet was a column of water many
. ieet in circumie ference and coming out of
the very brow of the hill.
Z. AS they looked it fell with a roar and
those near could see a torrent rushing
down the hillside, filing a small canyon
that opens into the road along the bay.
The c. tile OF the New Boss Dairy, which
is located at one side of the canyon. were
feeding along The lower part OF the hill,
and 81 the water came rushing down fieu
franctieally for shelter, whiIe the employees
few into the open air to ascertain the
cause of the disturbance.
a The torrent, carrying hundreds of tons
g pf earth and boulders, boiled down the
Asnyon, leveling fences as though they
We're made OF .oothpicks, and either
burying or uprootIng every vestige of
vegetation IN its course. Drainage bitches
were filed with rocks and rubbish and
the vast volume of water tore on Its de-
.structive way until it reached little creek
running in front OF the dairy, which it
filed to overfowing before it reached the
waters of the bay.
The water swept over field of alfalfa
that lay in its course, and where the green
iced destined for the cows had fourlshed
a bed Of mud stTewn with boulders and
fence pickets and posts remained. Fear
ing landslide iron the tons of earth that
We're seen 10 have been loosened on the
top OF the steep hill, the ranchers hur-
riedly drove their cattle out of harm's
way and then cautiously ascended the
emlnence to learn the cause of the explo-
sion.
They found a vast hole in the ground
where previously it had been smooth.
except IOF the leGgeS OF rock, and after
being convinced that no further danger
threatened began to repair the damage
done by the deluge of water. The freshet
was followed by lesser stream OF water
that still continues to trickle down the
canyon.
=. When the scene was visited yesterday it
was seen that the force OF the explosion
must have been tremendous. A section
OF the sod 100x40 feet in extent that
cover the hillside had been blown
bodily into the air and landed many feet
away on an area of rocks, points OF which
protruded through the grass.
: The hole made by the explosion is about
Aeventy-five yards long by fifty yards
Eide, and was at first very deep. but is
rapidly filling up from the earth that
caves in from the sides at short intervals.
Huge rocks are found on every side,
where they were thrown by the blast, and
the entire scene is one of desolation
amidst the green verdure of the surround
ings.
Probably the only thing that prevented
"a big landslide aud the destruction of
much property was the fact that the res