The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-06
THE MOUNTAIN
GROANS ALOUD
As IN ANGUISH
Tamalpais Rumbles
Mysteriously.
STRANGE NOISES ARE HEARD
THE RESIDENTS OF ROSS VAL
LEY MILDLY WONDER.
Theories Of the Phenomenon - A
Patriotic Greek at the
Summit and His
Views.
STRANGE NOISES ARE HEARD
THE RESIDENTS OF ROSS VAL
LEY MILDLY WONDER.

in this famous novel how the moor used
to culver and shake. and give forth omin-
Gus noises. fearful grindings and ratings,
during the middle of the night. And now
the favored inhabitants of the beautiful
Ross Valley are asking themselves wheth-
er some subterranean monster is not at
work in the bowels of the earth beneath
Tamalpais. Certain 1t is that this vast
bulk Of metamorphic sandstone has been
shaking and quivering in the most un-
seenlly way. 1t is not at all easy TO get
at the facts in this case. Vague rumors
of tremors and rumbling noises have been
floating about for weeks, but it is almost
impossible to crystalline them into tangi-
Bile shape. One obvious reason for this
is that the property owners in the neigh
borhood absolutely refuse to talk. In
fact they have done their utmost to hush
the thing up, fearing naturally that any
doubt cast upon the stability of Tamalpais
will lessen the value of their holdings.
And land is very valuable in this pic
turesaue garden region, which is blessed
with the finest climate and the most fer
tile soil, to say nothing Of its scenic at
fractions.
They need not be so fearful. Good old
Tamalpais is long past the period or vol
canie activity. 1t has stood for who
knows how many thousand years. until
the metamorphic sandstone OF winch II
is composed has largely changed It's form
and character through chemical agencies.
Here and there, it is true, eruptive rock
is to be found, as at the Sugar Loaf bill,
near San Rafael, columnar baSaIt crops
ont now and again throughout the as
trict. But all these indications Deiong 10
a past geological age. Tamaipals mas
settled down to its bearings long ago, ana
an earthquake big enough TO sniIL II
would certainly wipe. the state OF CAN
fornia off the map of the Union.
All this matter about tremors and
noises and so on centers around San An
Selma, and curiously enough the children
seem to know more about the matter
than their grown-up parents. Perhaps
their little senses are more keen, or, per-
haps, in their innocence they are not
afraid to talk. When | visited the school
house the sedate young lady who indi-
Gates to the youthful mind the path III
which it should walk held her little flock
in awe by a mere wave of her ruler. The
boys wriggled uneasily on their seats and
looked as If they would like to giggie but
dared not. The white-frocked girls,
perched nigh on their stools, simply open
ed wide their eyes and stared at the in
trusive stranger. It was new KIND or
examination. but at the same time it was
an agreeable change from the monotony
of an arithmetic lesson.
Now, then, children" said the teacher,
impressively, have any OF you heard
about noises in the mountain. shakings
of the earth or anything of the kind?
The children generally admitted some
knowledge of the thing, but they inyarl-
ably passed the responsibility for a def
mite statement on to some other child
Finally it ali narrowed itself down to. a
mythical Tommy, who happened at the
moment to be absent from school.
Later ON in the playground, where the
little people were more at their ease, |
came across the aforesaid Tommy and
found that he really existed. After proysl-
ising faithfully not to reveal his surname
he told me that he lived with his mother
on the Petaluma road and that for some
time lately the ground had been con-
stantly shaking They could feel it in
the house, and his mother was getting
quite afraid.
ceased their game of football and added
that on the day before they had felt the
ground shake as they were playing In the
of an earthquake, but didn't know for
A bright little lass of 10 evidently con-
of the talk. We've heard about it, too
she volunteered, but we don't take any
notice of these stories. It's just the
But, dear me, don't think
much of what they say; it's just talk.
Still they do talk of volcano breaking
out up there or something awful like
that It's enough to scare you, if it's
So much for the schoolchildren's end
tangible in it. and l soon found out that
must go farther afieid If l wished to
get at the real source of the. rumor. A
the hotel where / had lunch gave me the
desired clew. 1t was at the summit
that the. noise had, been heard in its
the day before, and had heard all about
t. Thlther l must journey.
Certainly, the trip was well worth the
ON the Bolinas road, where the track
takes a sharp dip into the valley beneath,
and discloses TO view, with startling sud
,ific Ocean; the FaraIlones shining white
IN the distance, and Bolinas Bay, almost
under our feet, mirroring IN Its PLACID
ranges. There, in the little inn, with It's
rickety wooden yeranda, perched on the
very top of the range, found Constant
tine.
Constantine is g character well-known
the whole countryside. For
years the regular travellers on the Sau-
salito ferry boats swore by his cooking;
MS management OF the steamers restau-
rant was voted sublime Even now, de-
spite his age, his hand has lost none of
is cunning and If you approach him in
4 proper spirit he Will dish you up O
salInf de cailles or an omelette au
with all the skill of Partisan
Constantine is Greek and is proud of
he fact The first thing l noticed on en-
1ortrait of the late W z. Gladstone
narveled to find such picture IN such
1 place, until Constantine explained.
That man. he said, did more for my
country than any other statesman. We
creeks honor his memory
In q simple spirit OF patriotic reverence
he old man talks about Greece and her
emancipation from Turkish rule, regret
ing ali the more bitterly her recent de-
eats Though ne is rs years of age and
las seen nearly fifty years OF rough and
tumble life in California, Constantine
)ustles about his little place with the ac-
lvity of a youth. He even finds time to
make occasional hunting excursions
among the ranges. For years he was
samekeeper for the Tamalpais Sporting
Club. which preserves most of the coun- |
ry hereabouts. Hence he knows every
leak and gtIich throughout the whole of
his rocky neighborhood, and can guide |
rou with unerring certainty to the fast |
lesses where the mountain deer hide or |
he quail run underfoot among the scrub |
IT was like this" said Constantine, when /
finally induced him to tell ali he knew. !
'Ub bub a boo. dull throbbing noise, /
he ground shaking all the time. 1t went /
N for two days, Wednesday and Thurs |
lay of last week. Mr.. Warehouse of /
who was here, says to me Con- /
tantine what's that?
!" I don't know / says. Perhaps it's /
he stampers working at the copper mill, |
But where did the noise come from ?" /
asked.
Il can't exactly say; but it was all |
'ound the hills, and mostly from that I
,ulch.f
We looked down into precipitous fir |
lad ravine, which ran clean away down /