The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1849-10-18
THE EARTIIQU AXES IN MISSOURI

THE EARTHQU AXES IN MISSOURI
IN the sou'hcrly part Of Missouri, between
the rivers Mississippi and ST Francis. there IL a
tract of country of 800 miles in length, and
100 in width that has been heretofore the scene
Of the most terrible and devastating earth
quakes that have been recorded The country
has been repeatedly settled and improved By
French. Staniard- and Americans. The glow
ing descriptions fifty years ago set il forth as an
Arcaaan paradise. and tempted many wcalthy,.
intelligent, and refined families from other states
aud other countries TO take up their abode IN II.
! Too late they found offsets sufficiently cnof-
maus To look back on the in!lpg difficulties IN
the places from whence they came ~ too unlfn-
porlaut to be- thought Of Al best, hefc among
the raycuous Wild beasts and lndlan., IN ell
mate where malaria was imbhcd at every brcnih
in houndless, lracklcss forest, surrounded
by swamp, dotted with hundred, Of dead
lakes, and of four or five hundred miles extent,
they found the difference between Arcudlan
scenes IN the description Of romance and actual
existence IN the wili woods The prlyations.
the frghts the suffering. Of the pioneers 10 the
country of New Madrid would found the ground
work 81 the most thrilling romance that could
hc written. But rs the settlements have lan-
gui,hrd, and viii eventually expire, the narra-
tive Of the past will be left TO be told by the
few fortunate ones who lived to get away
In the company on board the Griffin was an
aged Ftcnchman, whose whole appearance
plainly told Of better days IN "auld lang sync
\ gloom had settled upon hi, fine, old inielli'
gent face, evidently not to be removed IN this
world. By chance, ON u spring night with the
moon shining down from the zenith with ra-
dance unknown to our northern cline, the
aud al
upper deck The Griffin was drawing up To
the village Of New Madrid, when. with writing
features aud cenched fist, he atrldcd back and
forth in phrcnzy Of torture.
"What i, it friend Can wc do any thing
for YOU,
Wat Is II, ch -
But seeing nothing bu, sympathy in our anx.
lou- inquiry, in q turrcn, of French, he poured
ont his past troubles IN an hours talk, all of
which one must translate and condensc into
FIVE minutes
VI Glradcau cf, Toulon, in France, in 1913
He sailed with his beautiful wlle and two daugh-
ter, to New Orleans, and WAS soon after entlccd
away to this terrestrial paradise N Missouri.
For Il few pleasant mouths Of the health
part of the year the novelty Of this new life
was exceedingly pleasant. The woods afforded
abundance of deer and and Mid turkeys. The
rivers were literally filled with FISH the most
beautiful flowers sprang up from the prarlc
soil, fruits. vegetables, and grams grew spou-
tneou,ly without The aud of man indeed, tins
wa- somewhat Arcadan. But May and June
would not remain always. The july and Au-
gust sun scorchcd up the veriurc and the damp
ior- Of the night brought on disease. lis
Youngest daughter Clara suddenly sekened and
died Then came the earthquakes, which were
4. la ~
which wonld produce an effect little short If
Z the experience For hundreds of miles the
earth rolled in waves increasing in elevation as
they advanced until they had attained a certain
fearful height, when they would burst and pour
out vast volumes of water. sand, coal, and
stones, ~ high as the tops of the trees, The
graveyard at the village Of New Madrid. with
It's sleeping tenants, including the lost Clara.
was pfrcipItaicd into the bend of the Mi>sls-
sippi The houses. fortunately were Of logs,
but they WE'RE mostly thrown down. Large
trees were split in the midst, and their limbs
inicrlash.d Large lakes e twenty miles in
extent were made in an hour Old lakes d.
+ appcurcd The birds lost all power aud dlspo-
-lii,n to fly, and rcircacd to the besnru- of
man. The cattle hy their planilye beiowings,
demanded protection.
In the dead Of the night the poor at'righ'cd
inhabitants were for rushing amid tie terrible
mmuli of the elements Ia the hills twenty-five
miles distant hat were thrown down at every
r step. and many werc swallowed up by the
opening cha-m. or drowned ~ the waters
The thundcr- rolled beneath the earth. and tine
ghinings flashed upwards to the clouds. IN
the midst of these scenes Of terror, English,
French, and Spanish, Catholic and Protestant
. PRAYING and profane pure and pro1igate, with
/. 4 4 al. k..s e., ftaft
Bat no protection came. A few were saved by
clinglng TO the trees many were borne away
hy the floods others buried alive down IN the
depths of the troubled earth 4 few, among
which was the beautiful and loving VIE, died
Of fright The remaining daughter lost her
reason. and has since fingered IN life maniac,
After these terrible phenomena, our poor
frvnchman rushed quickly from the de'oa'r
hand But, although more than thirty years
have since passed. yet he cannot for a long
time remain ava, from the scene Of bret
term Of happiness, and the scene Of all his woes
Whilst listening to this thrilling description
of horrors unsurpassed, we remarked the deep
chasm Vet left In the earth the old decay Ing
trees ~nared, torn assundcr and lying where
the catastrophe lcfi them The whole region
, wa. covered with sand coal, and rcd pyrItcs oi
iron. There was the very land " here the grave
ward and iis dead were east Yet the brhn
{ moved malcs,icay over the PLACID waters that
covered the dead The earth from abe shore
was icemlng with bright ,crdurc and flowers
Truly Arcadian nov, and had 1t not been io'
the last hours tale. thus should We have be-
hcycd It to have been since It was created.
D. RELICS or mr Wucu DELusloS. In tho
course Of the day We visited the courthouse nj
= d a. 81 IL. la