Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-04-10
ABOUT QUICKSAND.
The General Public Knows Very Little OF
This Substance.

Very little is known by the general pub
lie about quicksand, and that little is usu-
ally obtained from novels. Such infor-
nation is usually wrong, being composed
of a pinch of truth and a hahalul Oh
fiction, says Invention" The sensational
novel goes even so far as to give to quick
sand some attributes that belong only 10
living creatures No ordinary observer
could distinguish quicksand from any
other. If ii were dried; and if he wished
to restore its fatal property artificially,
he would, in all probability, fail. Suppose
he fills a bucket with water; it does not
in consequence become mobile. II he
drains the water off from the bottom, the
sand will be found wedged firmly in
place and if the water be measured it
will be found to equal 30 per cent of the
bulk of the sand or about 20 per cent
of it's weight From this we may infer
that cubic foot Of dry sand weighs
nearly 81 pounds.
This. for sand, is a very light weight.
for there are other qualities of sand
which weigh as much as Ill pounds.
Quicksand when examined under the
microscope will be seen to have rounded
corners like river sand, as distinguished
from angular or sharp sand, which will
pack more solidly than the other. 1t is
qucksand that is used in the hour glass
and the smaller egg-boiler, partly be-
cause of its fneness and partly because
it does not obscure the inner surface of
the glass by scratching. The Hghtness
of quicksand is the quality which will
lead us more surely to the cause of its
reputation. ard to illustrate this the
bucketful of sand must be loaded with
water from below, and made to overflow
very slowly. The upward current will be
found to loosen the sand and to raise the
surface very slightly, separating and
lubrcating the particles so that they are
easily displaced
The bucket row contains quicksand, and
this sand from the support it receives
from the water has its weight or sup
porting power reduced. In the dry state
it weighed nearly q pounds, but if weigh
ed in the water 1t is reduced TO 3gs
pounds, and its mobility prevents any
animal from walking on It, The mixture
of sand ana water weighs quite 112
pounds per cubic foot. or nearly twice
the weight of water and bulk for bulk
nearly twice the weight Of a man. but
is too thick TO swim in, and the person en-
quilted would soon be TOO exhausted
to escape He would probably die of
suffocation if not drowned by an advance
tide, for quicksands are found mostly
within the influence Of tides. He would
not be swallowed by the qucksand, be-
cause it is 50 much heavier than his
body.
Quicksands require in all cases an I'M
ward current which is not quick enough
to form, what is called a spring or foun-
tain. 1t may be formed in two ways: In
tidal rivers and on the shores of tidal
seas the rising tide may saturate porous
stratum of ground below high-water
mark and when the tide fails a return
current is established through the same
porous SANDY ground with sufficient
velocity to loosen the sand as above de-
scribeG This Sand as soon as the rising
tide reverses the current ceases to be
"quick." The other case is that when
slow current of fresh water finds an exit
through a surface of sand above or be-
low water. This is a permanent quick
sand. Any SAND and almost any material