Eastern Carolina
News, Kenansville, N.C., August 17, 1910
Fear in Staunton…Earth
Swallows Houses and Trees in Virginia Town…Geologist Goes to the
Scene…Limestone Foundation Gradually Giving Away and Rivers Under Town…People
Moving
Staunton, Va., Special—A two-story house and a large tree
have been swallowed up into the earth, many other residences are sinking and
have been abandoned by their occupants, and public buildings are endangered as
the result of the boring of an 800-foot well in the public square here.
Wide cracks in the earth are spreading, threatening the post
office and public school building. The walls of the school house already are
cracked. Residents are much alarmed and heroic efforts are being made to
prevent further caving of the earth.
Washington, Special—In response to an appeal to the
geological survey from Staunton, Va., F.B. Van Hors, assistant chief geologist,
has gone in to investigate the cave-ins, which have caused heavy property
damage in the Virginia town. The theory held by the government geologist is
that the trouble was caused by water percolating through the limestone, which
underlies the entire sections, and thus has weakened the foundations of
buildings and caused them to give way. Mr. Van Horn is familiar with the
geological structure of that portion of Virginia and from press reports he
judges that dissolving limestone is responsible for the trouble.
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