808 J. F. NEWSOM 



attracted by a roaring or whizzing sound like the escape of steam 

 from a boiler, but much louder. Upon looking toward the river, 

 a sheet of flame was seen extending about 250 yards along the 

 east side of the river bend. Regarding the height of the flame, 

 estimates of those in sight at the time varied between 150 and 

 300 feet or more. 



The height and intensity of the flame were sufficient to sear 

 the leaves on the trees standing on the gravel bluff east of the 

 river, and to completely burn off the leaves and small twigs from 

 the trees standing near the fissures through which the gas 

 escaped. 



The vegetation around the openings (8, 9, 10, Fig. 1 ) at the 

 west side of the area showed that the gas that escaped from 

 those openings did not burn. 



The roaring and flame continued at their height for about fif- 

 teen minutes, and then gradually subsided, and the gas burned 

 from only a few of the crevices that had been formed. 



The explosion had opened up a great number of crevices in 

 the soil near the river bank (3-4, Fig. 1. See Fig. 2 also). 

 When the ground was visited by the writer, these fissures varied 

 in width from a few inches to four or five feet, with a like 

 variation in depth, the shallowness being caused by the caving 

 in of the soft soil at the sides and from the top. 



Some of the fissures had evidently been formed by the 

 upheaval, or depression, of the surface which had been elevated 

 in some places, and in others had sunk down as much as four or 

 five feet. The larger fissures, however, showed that they had 

 been formed by the soil being blown out from below, the blown- 

 out material being piled up at the sides of the fissures. 



The character of the fissures is shown by Fig. 2, which shows 

 also the "heaved up" condition of the surface. The center of 

 the public road is shown in the foreground at the right side of 

 Fig. 2. At this place (corresponding to the point 2 in Fig. 1) 

 the road was so twisted and fissured as to be impassable. 



The river bed from 5 to 6, Fig. 1, had been raised several 

 feet, leaving the bottom exposed where water had stood before, 

 while the west bank of the stream, from 3 to 4, Fig. I, had sunk 



