MOVING MOUNTAIN

Hokitika Guardian, 17 January 1927, Page 4

MOVING MOUNTAIN

LONDON. Nov. 10. All through to-night a sentinel will stand amid swirling floods at the fool

I of Domor Fawr. prepared to warn the town of Cwm, Glamorgan, of its peril should the mountain move again. Late this evening it was reported that after the heavy rain of the afternoon there was signs that another slight movement was in progress. In the last 48 hours 30 families have been rendered homeless by .Domen Fawr’s movement towards the town at its foot. Great boulders have been flung down the mountainside, trees loosened, the ibed of tlie river at the foot of the mountain raised 4 feet oyer a distance of 130 yfirds, and the swollen torrent diverted from its natural channel into the main street. Scores of homes are threatened, and to safeguard the occupants a day and night watch on the mounttiinside is to bo kept. When tho crashing of boulders and uprooting of .trees tel! the sentry that tho mountain is moving he will rouse 20 miners, who have formed themseves into a safety committee. They will run to the. threatened area and help to get the people into safety. These ariiangcmen’ts follow what is probably the most remarkable meeting of a. local authority ever held. By means of express messengers and telephone calls a special emergency meeting of the Ebbw Vale District Council was (idled and met in the open air yesterday at the foot of the moving mountain. Another meeting was held this afternoon to consult on ilie spot with

an expert survevor. SCENE OE DESOLATION. I saw from tho mountainside to-day a sight that has instilled, despair into tho breasts of the local councillors. Cwm. a straggling mining town with a population of 6,000, lies between parallel mountains, Domen Fawr on the west and Abertillery Mountain on the east. It is at the foot of Domen Fawr and se)^(rated from it by.the usually placid River Ebbw. To-day, peeping between sparse trees dotted on the moving mountain I can see great boulders tbat have tumbled to the fool. I can see the river, diverted by the rising river bed. pouring in angry torrent through the main streets, swamping the lower rooms of a dozen vilSis and a score of cottages. It roars over ruins of walls and swirls sft deej) over a school playground.