Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1906-08-23
TRAIN HELD BY SANDSTONE
Hard Winds Along Columbia River
Cause Conditions Unusual
to Railroads.

At a recent meeting CT the Geolog-
ical society in Washington there were
a number of papers on scientific topics
read, and DR.. David I. Day, of the
geological survey, contributed hui
man-interest story, describing the way
the black sand got back at him and
held up the train on which he was
travelling over the Oregon Short Line
last season for IL hours.
DR.. Lay has been at work on the
black sand analysis of the Pacific
coast for many months, and has OBJ
tanned some remarkable results, show
ing the value of the sand from the
amount of gold, silver, platinum, mag
netic iron and other minerals that it
carried.
On the strip In question, he said,
the sand had chance to turn the
tables and did it in good shape. 1t
was at the time of the nearest ap-
proach to q blizzard In the east, and at
the same time there was one Of the
most violent sandstorms on record In
the section of the west through which
DE. Day was travelling.
The June food of the Columbia
river, he said, deposits upon the lava
aoor of the present river valley large
quantities of silt, and after the water
had subsidized the prevailing summer
wind blowing through the gorge of the
Columbia blows the dried sands into
the enormous sand dunes, which are
the characteristic feature Of the seen
cry along the Oregon Short Line where
it follows the Columbia river from
Umatilla to the Dalles. The railroad
company has found great difficulty in
keeping this sand from the track,
where even an accumulation Of two
inches on the rails is frequently suf-
ficient to overturn a train, with dis
astrous results.
Among the efforts to prevent the
sands FROM drifting from one dune to
another are, particularly, the planting
of quiok-growing shrubbery. The
most successful device has been plac-
ing low board fences two feet high
and Is feet long at an angle Of 45 de-
grees with the track so as to use the
force Of the wind to direct the sand
away from the track ON both sides.
This has proved fairly efficient for
heSprevaihng easterly wind. But on
March II of this year a blizzard of
unusual velocity blew down the Co.
lumbia in the reverse of the usual d.
rection and piled large amounts OF
sand on the track, stopping the trains
for the greater part of a day.
The position Of the sand fences In
this case was such as to produce
funnel effect and blew the sand direct
ly on the track instead of away from
it. and the effective work Of the sand
boards was very evident. The amount
Of work done by this windstorn was
very great. Unfortunately, little data
could be obtained from the weather
bureau as to the exact velocity Of the
wind at this point,
At Walla Walla, up the river, 1t
blew 40 miles an hour, and at Port
land 30 miles an hour. but whatever
the velocity its effect was to fill the
air with SAND 80 that the sun was
entirely o6scured from morning till
night, with the exception Of an hour,
when 1t could be dimly seen, although
the weather man reported clear wealth
er at this point on that day.
The amount of sand blown can be
indicated by the fact that two cattle
cars with their doors open to the
windward side were filled four feet
deep during the night.