Avirah, here are quotes from the story as it appears online:
“He estimated that there had to be a tall hill about twelve to fifteen miles to the south, with tall trees growing on the hilltop.”
“The governor was highly impressed, and ordered a special agent to be sent to inspect all areas between twelve and fifteen miles south of his estate”
And Avirah, you wrote “maybe the trees were closer and visible, and it was the baal hatanya ‘s attention to detail which made him notice something everyone else overlooked”.
Surely if the sundial didn’t function correctly between 2 and 5 pm because of something blocking the sun, any idiot would have noticed that the day was darker during that period.
Also, I just realized that there’s another problem with the story. For two years the sundial did not show the correct time between 2 and 5. Summer and winter? Even in Russia/Poland the sun is much higher in the summer than it is during that winter. They must have been VERY high trees.
And the number of trees required to block the sun for three straight hours must have been large. But in a few days the trees were all cut down, and all before chainsaws were invented!