Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1906-09-12
A MOVING MOUNTAIN.
A Queer Problem With Which Rail-
road Has to Deal.

road Has TO Deal.
While in Denver recently the writer
heard a great deal Of the runaway
mountain" with which the Colorado
Southern railway has to deal. Those
people who have visited Colorado. and
who have gone over the Georgetown
loop, or up to Golden, Idaho Springs
or any Of the other towns on this
route, will remember a fiat table-like
mountain near Golden. 1t is a spur
Of the Rockies, and is known as North
Table Mountain.
Recently a portion of it has taken
to sliding, and the railroad people
have found it necessary to keep a
force of a hundred men busy shovel
ing the mountain dirt off the tracks.
So far they have been able to keep
ahead Of the slide, but even with the
aid of a steam shovel the task is a
difficult one
A quarter of the way up the noun
tain runs a hume through which are
conducted the waters of Clear Creek
over into the farmers irrigated lands
TO the west. On one slope lower down
is the Golden smelter. Below the
ditch and above the smelter runs the
highway, and bordering this are
farms.
Engineers say that the cause is an
unusual one. Far down in the ground
is a stratum of hard, dry potters' clay,
smooth as glass, and the great weight
of the earth resting upon it is simply
causing the mass to move slowly
down the level
It is scarcely an avalanche, as in
the mountains this term is understood
to represent a sudden slide of great
masses of earth. The only difference
is that this mountain is moving with
almost imperceptible speed, about ten
feet a day.
The county officers have already ex-
pended thousands in trying to keep
the road in passable condition. In the
last week the road has dropped four
or five feet in some places, while
other portions are twisted and heaped |
up. 1t has become necessary to put |
up fence rail barricades at night, mas
much as no one knows what will hap |
pen within an hour
The slide started below the level |
Of the ditch, which has not yet been
affected. Up above on the mountain
side are a number of springs, and
these are supposed to furnish the sol
vent which causes the earth to slip.
The side of the mountain is torn and
scanned with great assures.
At points these are eight orr ten
feet wide, giving the appearance of In
eartBxz&e. Every few mih Itesn
some spot, there is a loosening Of w n
earth, a dull thud and
new assures appear on the mountain
side, with a fence gone here and
part of the road there.
The smelter was thought to be in
Danger of joining in the slide, but the Z
work done by the railroad men has (
so far protected it. These men say {
hat they cannot think Of any way of /
solving the problem, but to keep right {
IN moving away the dirt as fast as t
t comes. and carrying the mountain r
iway piecemeal on the trains. =
On the south slope James Taylor q
lad a fine orchard. Trees, earth c
md all have been corralled in the t
hide. and the orchard is several hun Il
Ired feet further down the mountain h
han it originally was. Taylor whim- a
ically asserts that if it keeps on +
moving he will have a hard time b
greeing with his next neighbor in h
whom title to the orchard rests. d
The earth has slipped down upon a
he dwelling of William Carpenter. h
mother farmer, and has torn away a a
orner Of the house. The residence is /.
uilt at the bottom of n sharp slope, ..
With a two-foot foundation under the
PIPER part and a six-foot on the =,
over. Carpenter has braced the
ouse with a dozen upright beams, .
mt it is unlikely that he will be able
D save it. p
Another house that was situated 40
aet from the foot Of the mountain
ow has the mass Of earth at its
acll door The barn Of Ole Peter
ons farm was formerly about so
set from the house. The moving
arth has not affected the house. but il
he barn is $50 feet away now, and nj
mere is big chasm between it and "
he honsp. which Peterson has been h
Dmpelled to bridge f
Deeds Recorded. @,