The Washington herald., 1912-03-24
WHERE THE HILLSIDES
SLIP STEADILY DOWN
Safety of Towns Threatened by Undermining of the
Pennsylvania Valleys.


ural origin.
Not long ago. near the BudweIser min.
at Tuckahoe, a considerable piece OF
landscape fell in. owing to the pumping
out Of water, incidental to mining
operations. Here again was a natural
subterranean cavern. and when the water
was removed the roof fell in. Owing to
similar causes. near the Sand Ridge Mine.
at Aurora, great cracks resembling those
caused by an earthquake developed IN
the summer of 1900.
Such facts as these, already known
served to shed light upon hte causes OF
a very remarkable happening in the city
Of Staunton. Va, where. in the summer
Of 1910, much alarm was felt lest a large
part OF the town was destined TO drop
into the bowels OF the earth. A series
Of cavernous, crater-shaped openings In
the ground appeared. one house fell
through and disappeared, and various
other associated phenomena excited
not unreasonable dismay.
Tree VanIshes from sight.
The trouble began on the I1th day OF
August. when the occupants Of dwell
ing on the south side Of Baldwin street
heard a crash as II directly underneath
them. whereupon the building suddenly
shook and sank four feet. In less than
an hour It had sunk ten feet. a hois
thirty feet in diameter having appeared,
and a tree twenty-five feet high pres
entity dropped into the opening. vanishing
entirely from sight.
A few hours later the hole caved in
at the sides. enIarging considerably. and
the dwelling. which was of two stories
and twenty-five by thirty-five feet in
floor dimensions, finally dropped through
and vanished.
Two hours after the first break a sec
ond one occurred. on the opposite side
of Baldwin street. diagonally across. A
loud report, like that of a gun, was
heard. and a hole appeared four feet
square in front OF an engine house. It
grew in size at irregular intervals until
II reached nearly across the street and
under the engine house. Incidentally. the
latter was so badly damaged that Il had
to be torn down afterward.
Some hours later a family named
Hold. residing not far away heard
rumblings and mysterious noises. where
upon a third hole. bigger than either OF
the other two. began to appear. II was
situated about ssventy-hve feet south
west OF the NJ opening. Enlarging
until II was ninety feet long by sixty
feet wide. II swallowed up three trees
and a portion Of the Todd dwelling
Sounding showed that II was $50 feet
deep. and water poured into Il until IL
was filled to within tventy-thres feet
OF the surface OF the ground
Another Cave-in Follows.
Two weeks afterward, on August -.
there was a fourth cave-in, cisterr
shaped and twelve feet in diameter. on
the opposite side Of Lewis street from
the third hole.
Among the colored people Of staunton
there was a strong impression that the
world was coming to an end. Attempts
were made 70 fill up the holes. particu-
larry that which threatened the engine
house, by dumping wheelbarrow loads
Of rocks into them; but they seemed
about as effective as II one were to try
to choke the crater OF Vesuvius with
pebbles. What was finally done was TO
build a concrete arch along the line OF
the openings, thus reinforcing the earth
crust locally and preventing further
damage.
For quite a while the whole affair was
regarded as unaccountable: but an IN
vesttgation set on foot by the govern
ment Geological Survey has since fur
nished complete explanation. two ex-
perts, Messrs. Kindle and Van Horn.
being dispatched to the scene for the
purpose.
LImestone Ero.Isn.
II seems that the city o1 Staunton IS
located in a limestone region. In fact.
a bed Of limestone I.500 feet thick un-
derlies the town As IN other limestone
districts, there are subterransan streams
one OF which had excavated a large cav
ern directly beneath the place where the
go -
size until the roof became too weak to hold
itself up any longer, and then II fell in.
In the limestone region OF Kentucky
there are hundreds Of underground stream
channels marked by cave mouths and
sink holes. More than five hundred cav
ems OF various sizes are known in three
counties In the vicinity Of the great
Mammoth Cave. Over considerable
areas Of Indiana likewise more than
nine-tenths OF the rainfall is carried on
by such streams, which collect the sur
face waters largely through hopper
shaped depressions, called sinks or sink
holes.
Often the outlet Of "a sinkhoIe. con-
Meeting it with the stream below. Is
choked by plug and the sink becomes
first pond or small lake. then a marsh,
and. later on, when filled in with slit,
dry land. This. in fact. Is what hap
pened at Staunton. But the cavern be-
low remained. with the stream. since To-
Gated by borings for a considerable dis
tance, running through IL.
What finally happened to bring about
the catastrophe according to the report
made by Mr.. Kindle) was rather remark
able. For II appears that the trouble was
due to a man named Smith. who estab-
iished an ice-making plant about $50
feet from the line OF the subsequent
cave-ins. Driving a well to the depth OF
500 feet he installed a powerful ma
chine and began pumping water Just
FIVE days before the cave-ins began.
The cavern had been tiIled with water.
which helped to uphold its roof But
when the water was removed by pumping
for the ice plant the roof could no longer
sustain itself and fell through In spots.
TOO TRUE.