“Extract of a letter from Capt. William S. Hamilton...”
Creator
William S. Hamilton
Date
3-25-1812
Newspaper
The Georgia Journal
Newspaper Location
Milledgeville, Georgia
Serial Number
603
Abstract
Brief letter from Captain William S. Hamilton who has samples of material from sand blows. he experimented with it and reports that it burns brightly when put in a fire. Location is Bayou Manchac, Orleans Territory.
Transcript
Extract of a letter from Capt. Wm. S. Hamilton of the United States Army, to one of the editors of the Star, dated Houmauna, near Bayou Manchac, Orleans Territory, 28th January; 1812. "You have learned from the papers how terrible the Earthquake was on the Mississippi, some hundred miles below the mouth of the Ohio. I have been furnished with some of the substances thrown up from the bowels of the Earth in these convulsions, and scattered along the Mississippi, resembling petrified bark or slate coal. I have placed some in a fire and find that it burns remarkable well, and gives as bright a blaze as the coal of Kilkenny. It is said that a Burning Mountain up the Washita, which has been continually burning for 12 years, emitting smoke and fire; in the beginning of December sunk, and hid its head in the bosom of the earth."
Recommended Citation
"“Extract of a letter from Capt. William S. Hamilton...”" (1812). New Madrid Compendium Far-Field Database. 591.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cas-ceri-new-madrid-compendium/591
