The Van Buren press., 1866-11-09
A "Reminiscences.
rERRiEIE EAIrnQUAKE on THE MISSISSIPPI
------ Ill : In lhl2. ---------


if am not mistaken, an account Of it
may be found in New Haven paper pub
lishcd at that time. f..f.
Its center OF action was at New Madrid,
in Missouri, a short distance below the
mouth of the Ohio, and affected the whole
country, more or less, for space of
three hundred miles in extent. Accord
ing to some accounts, :he Mississippi
was caused 10 run up stream for several
hours-or, in other words, the water was
caused to set back many miles by the up
heaving of the bed of the river, flooding
vast tracts of territory, and striking ter
ror to the hearts of the thinly settled
population Flint, in his -'ircn years IN
the Valley of the Mississippi says,
The shock of these earthquakes in the
immediate vicinity ofthe center of their
force, must have cqualcd, in the terrible
heavings of the earth, anything of the
kind which has been recorded. | do not
believe that the public have had any ad-
equate idea OF the violence of these con
cussons. We are accustomed to meas
ure this by the buildings overturned, and
the mortality that results. Here this
country was thinly settled The houses,
fortunately, were frail and Of logs, the
most difficult to overtnrn that could be
constructed. Yet as it was, while tracts
were plunged into the bed Of the river.
The graveyard at New Madrid. with all
its sleeping tenants, was precipitated into
the stream. Most Of the Houses were
thrown down. Large lakes Of twenty
miles in extent were made in an hour
Other lakes were drained The whole
country, to the mouth Of the Ohio in one
direction, and to. the st. Francis in the
other, including a front Of three hundred
miles, was convulsed to such degree rs
to create lakes and Islands-the number
of which is yet unknown, and to cover a
tract of many miles in extent near the
Little Prairie, with water three or four
feet deep; and when it disappeared, a
stratum Of sand Of the same thickness
was left in its place >"
The undulatlon Of the Garth is describ-
ed as resembling waves, increasing. in
elevation as they advanced, and when
they had attained a certain fearful height,
the earth would burst, and vast volumes
of water and sand and pit coal, were dis
charged "a high as the trees. l have
seen hundred Of these chasms, which
stll remain fcarfully deep. The watcrat
first covcrcd.thc whole country, particu-
| Iarly at Littlo Prairio and II mnst have
been indeed scene Of horor in these
deep forests, and in the gloom of the
darkest night, and by wading in the wa
ter to the middle, to fly from the concus.
sions, which were occurring every few
hours, with a noise equeally terrible to
beasts and birds as to men. The birds
lost all power and disposition to fly, and
retrcated to the bosoms ofmen, their fel-
low sufferers in this convulsiOn. ID 81 hiit
The shocks were Of two classes--those
in which the motion was horizontal, and
those in which it was perpendicular. The
latter were attended with explosions and
terrible noises, but were by no means so
destructive as the other; for with them
the houses crumbled, the trees waved to-
gcther, and the ground sunk in many
places. =" '.H aee
'In the midst Of these scenes ofterror,
all--Catholics and Protcstants, praying
and profane---became of one religion,
and partook Of one feeling. Two hun
dred people, speaking English, French
and Spanish, crowded together, and all
in their different languages and forms,
betook themselves to the voice of pray.
er." aaH q sa JBa .ion Yi-a aa. .ss.R
The cattle, as much terrified as the ra-
tional creatures, crowded about the as
semblage of men, and seemed to demand
protection or community Of danger. The
general impulse, when the shocks COM
mcnced, was to run; and yet, when they
were at the severest point of their mo-
ton, the people were Ahrown on the
ground at almost every step. ug g.ua
The people at Little Prairie, who suf-
fercd most, had their little settlement,
consisting of one hundred families, en-
tircly broken up; but two families re-
naming Of the whole settlement The
object seems to have been to escape to
the hills, but the depth Of the water that
covered the surface soon precluded esr
cape. Only iifty-.four years ago this ter
riblc calamity came upon the pioneers of
the Valley of the Mississippi. algg
Who can contemplate, without q shud-
der, the awful desolation that similar
visitation would cause at the present time,
in that now, populous region? D.m. $.
->~>---l-- d' ftl
TIE RADICAL vEEsIoN or THE Story
OF THE PgoDIGAL SoN.---Thor following
comes from Rev. Henry Ward Bcecher;
We all know tho story Of the Prodgal
Soit--how that self. sufficient youth, In
the pride OF his own self. .conceit, sought
from his father his portion of the patri-
mooylthat he could go out and dive by
himself. I'hc father gaveit 70 him, and
he went out and, like too inany other
sons of rich men in our days, he very
soon spent the whole Of his patrimony,
and wasted it in riotous living, drunken,
ness, and dcbauchcry; and when he was
/ IL, NJ