We have frequently heard of singular and unaccountable reports, as of
explosion, in Deerfield, but nothing so definite as the following
statement by a correspondent of the Portsmouth Journal.
"Mr Editor,--During the last twelve years, certain curious, not to say
alarming phenomena in the town of Deerfield, N. H., have excited the
fears of the inhabitants, and we think should, ere this, have
attracted the attention of the scientific. These are reports of
explosions in the ground, apparently of a volcanic or gaseous nature.
When first heard they were attributed to the blasting of rocks in
Manchester, a new town some ten miles distant; but from the frequency
of the reports at all hours in the night as well as the day, from the
consideration that they were so loud, and were heard in all seasons,
winter as well as summer, it was soon concluded that they had some
other origin. The explosions, if they may be so called, commenced on a
ridge of land running S. E. and N, W, some five miles in length, and
principally on that portion called the South Road. They have, however,
extended, and arc now heard in a northerly direction. The sounds have
become louder, and during the last fall and the present spring or
summer, as many as twenty have been heard in one night. Many of them
jar the houses and ground perceptibly, so much so, that a child whose
balance is not steady, will roll from one side to the other. They are
as loud as a heavy cannon fired near the house, with no reverberation,
and little roll. Last fall some of the inhabitants were riding in a
wagon when an explosion was heard, and they saw the stone wall, which
was apparently quite compact, fall over on one side of the way, and a
second after upon the other. The stone wall of an unfinished cellar
also fell in. This can be attested by many witnesses. There is no
regularity in these reports, as they are heard at intervals of a day,
a week, and sometimes of months: but for the last year they have
become very common, and are heard almost every week more or less."
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