The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-01-18
Perpetual Problem Before the City
Engineer.
SCHEME TO USE CRUDE OIL.
Theory That OIL Soaked Earth sheds
Water Successful Exper fments
on Eastern Roads-Why Ii Would
Not Avail Here-Formatfon and
the Dfseoyerer of q Preventive.

Possibly no question before the city en-
glEceEing department. pGhs s4ir 10 maintain
i.se!f as a perpetual bgIgbsar mere than
what can DC a0ne - step Sides.
II CITY Engineer TAomSaE's Gesk are
many piseon-noIed communications and a
store o. pamphlet Eerature which par
p0rTs TO solve las problem. but Eae sides
eonEInG~ just the same, aid i fortune 81
millions awaits the man MAO shall devise
Means 10 successfully stop them In many
districts OF France ana Gersaany these
slides nave caused the less 81 hundreds %
thousands Of dollars. Ia British Columbia
the Canadian Pacific ral.road Is a. this
time involved IL ii vast s&Est growing ous
u slides along the Thomson river. In many
parts % This country = remedy Tor this
disastrous trek o. nature would 1e h-a2--
ed with delight BY property aoa1efs-
The latest suggestion made tQ the city
IS that the siding hAS4des be soaked WITH
crude oil and be thus made water proof-
This experiment IS said to have been tried
OF Sad rGads IL tas East with great S1sc-
cess. The theory IS thai oil and water VIII
not mix and the earth being porous enough
70 retain the Oh, viii shed water. When
sae oil takes hold moisture must depart
and the earth becomes compact.
IL seems that a leaky OIL pipe near q
small Pennsylvania Town was responsible
for the discovery. This pipe WAS near q
place in the road that was invariably I'M
passable during the season OF spring and
fall rains When the leak occurred IN the
pipe the ground became saturated 10 s0are
extent with Oil. and very soon IL was no
t!ced that the mud dried up, and the sar-
face CT the earth became aard, and re-
manned SO. 1t appears that 80 notorious
MAS this piece Of bad road that the effect OF
the oil on ii became a matter OF so much
comment that presently the experiment
was repeated in other localities and with
the same effect
In regard 70 the use of the OIL on the
Rainier and Yesier way slides. City En-
gineer Thomson Is OF the opinion that II
would be a5s9lutely Useless, since the for
nation Of the hills Is ssach that Oh might
be poured on al Iibilam and without af
fecting the ground 20 any extent. since
The surface layer Is gravel 1t nigh, do
very well on adobe land" said Mr.. Thom-
& thick, heavy pAsty soil, hard Ia summer
and seems 30 actually rlelt In winter If
oil were put on while the ground Was dry
and hard, A waterproof crust woulr pro-
baby be formed"
The formation Of the soil here and the
cause and manner Of the slides, waLe
the aid Of ocular demonstration, was de-
scribed as simply as possible by City
Engineer Thomson as follows:
'sfae clay was left as a deposit In the
glacial period. oyerlying il a stratum OF
gravel which is part OF the wash o. the
fnor4ine brought uy the succeeding glacial
period. III sides In Seattle and the tnme-
date vicinity, the action is OF tao char
acters Some portion is caused by the
absolute diss0ying OF the clay in water AMI
the clay runs
me other ana more frequent class Is
occasioned by the fact that the clay. con-
tanning large percentage OF fssdspar has
tended 10 mass itself into large TregulAFIy
shaped crystals. the lines az capitalization
nearest perpendicular varying Some fifteen
degrees from the perpendicular. while the
other lines are almost precisely horizontal.
Between these large masses there are dis
tinCt dividing lines, occasioned in part hy
the process % Capitalization and III part
by the fact that rs the clay has dried from
time 70 tirne the different masses have
shrInk In size and thus given opportunity
to fla the seams NTH foreign matter, Of
teniines sand aud gravel.
owing 20 this fact. the water which
falls upon the everything soil often, after
descending 10 the surface of the clay.
passes down through these small creyices
and sometimes makes quite large channels
of them Sometimes in an extremely
heavy flood OF water, these channels be-
come checked and in the vertical seams
holding the water a bydroStatic pressure
is caused sufficient to drive a series OF
these great pieces OF clay forwas6. the
amount OF movement depending upon the
supply Of water and the saturation OF the
horizontal line Of cleavage.
'Ou hj.lsides the original crystalline
masses have usually been worn so that
bY reason OF their upper and outer corners
having been carried away they present "a
wedge shape. Hence when the movement.
takes place Il generally results In setting
forward series OF clay wedges standing
on their bases. IL is not at ali uncommon,
IN see the sharp points of these wedges
projecting through the broken surface OF
the slide. The forward movement OF the
wedges Of necessity leaves a space Tn be
flied This usually occasions the caviny
of the everything drift from point per-
pendicJaiariy above that point from which
thu wedge started, and nearly always re-
suits in making a small basin the hih-
side between the wedge and the more
stable earth. This movement can be cas-
| lily traced on almost any hillside in the
vicinity Of Seattle and has been the oc-
castop Of calling from hundreds OF ena,In-
GERS the question as TO why 80 many little
| possts and basins are 10 Do found on the
hiIlsi9es."
La Grippe Successfully Treated.