Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1909-12-04
oUlCKSAND.
How II Is Formed and Its crewsons
Chara eteristios.

ROW II IS FORMED and lts SreWsofne
Characteristics,
To most persons the word quick
sand" gives Il sensation of horror sim
liar to that produced by tile thought
Of snake. and many sensational ac-
counts have given to quicksand al
most human attributes. No ordinary
observer would he able TO distinguish
dry quicksand from any other sand.
and the average person would be UNI
able to restore it to its "quick" prop
critics even If he tried. IL water is
mixed with the quicksand the mass
does not become mobile. and if the
water is drained off the sand will be
found firmly packed
Quicksand is comparatively very
light, weighing about ninety-fouT
pounds to the cubic foot, while other
forms of sand run as high as Ill
pounds. Quicksand when examined
under the microscope Will be found to
have rounded corners. like river sand,
as distinguished from sharp" sand.
1t is duicksand that is used in hour
glasses and egg glasses, partly because
of its fneness and partly because 1t
does not eventually cloud the glass by
scratching. as would the sharp sand.
1t is to its lightness that quicksand
owes its deadly qualities. and DEM
onstration of how it becomes quick
may be given by placing a quantity
in a bucket and adding water by pres
I,,Iss tn, fbr no nj
lowing the water to overflow very
slowly when it has worked up through
the sand. The upward current will be
found to loosen the sand and to raise
the surface very slightly, separating
and lubricating the particles so that
they are easily displaced.
The bucket now contains genuine
ouicksand. The sand, owing to the
support it receives from the water.
has its weight. or supporting power,
reduced proportionately weighing in
the water but thirty-two and a half
pounds as against ninety-four pounds
when dry. Bulk for bulk. the mixture
is nearly twice the weight of man.
but is too mobile to give support and
too thick to swim in. In its natural
state. presenting an apparently firm
surface. resembling simply damp sand,
it is the most deadly man trap con-
ceivable.
Quicksand requires in ali cases an
upward current which is not quick or
strong enough to break through in
the form of a spring. Ordinarily wa
ter flowing over quicksand will not
make it dangerous. 1t may be formed
in tidal rivers and on the shores OF
tidal seas by the rising tide saturating
a porous stratum of ground below high
water mark, and when the tide falls a
return current is established through
the porous SANDY ground with a suffi-
cient velocity to loosen the sand and
make it quick"
A permanent quicksand is found
where a slow current of fresh water
finds its way to the surface of the
sand bed either in the bottom of
stream or elsewhere. Quicksands that
are encountered during the sinking of
walls and foundations are due TO the
influx of water when the work gets
below spring lever or the level OF
the water in the ground at that par
ticular spot. The sand. being deprived
of the lateral support of the water in
the excavation. is pushed in from be-
hind by the water currents flowing
from all sides.
One of the most peculiar and grew
some characteristics of quicksand is
that it will soon engulf any object
cast upon it's surface, no matter how
light that object may be, even a per-
fectly dry stick.-Harper's Weekly.