The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-09

signs ana ,WsndcFs In the Heevens Abeve
a.d Il shs KaSti 6SkSsiE.
Since the beginning Of October we have bad
to chronicle . succeS1lon Of hurricanes ana
earthquakes that did immense damage in the
West Indies and on the Gulf coast. First We
had to record the tornado ct Galveston,
Brownsville and Matamoros on October 5;
next came the destructive gales ct Martinique
and St Vincent islands on October 7, followed
BY the still more DISASTROUS hurricane that
tore al before it in St Thomas on October 70,
and in Porto Rico, St Domingo and st Cape
Hsytien on the following day. All the steam
ers plying in the Gulf Of Mexico reported tenn
pestuous weather in the beginning Of the hrst
and second weeks Of October and November,
and the United States steamer Wilderness, with
ex-Minister Romero on board, had rough
experience OF the gale at the beginning OF
November. Succeeding each Of these hurri-
canes were shocks Of earthquake, following
the same course traversed by the lorna
does, and corresponding in violence to the
preceding gale. The most violent Of these
convulsions was felt at ST. Bartholomew,
ST Martin, ST. Croix, St Thomas and Saba
islands, at Mayaguez, in Porto Rico, and St.
Domingo city on the afternoon and night OF
November 18 and 10. The observations made
at Mayaguez establish the fact that the course
to west At that place water spouted out OF
the earth, while the earthquake caused such an
upheaving in the Virgin islands that some of
the smaller ones are reported now as totally
destroyed.
The island Of st. Croix, where it was most
violent is sixty-dve miles east southeast from
Porto Rico, and is the largest and southernmost
of the Virgin group. With St Thomas and ST.
John 1t forms the Danish possessions in the
West Indies. 1t is twenty miles long by five
miles wide, and has population Of 25,6O0
inhabitants IH surface is level, and earth
quakes are frequent ST Bartholomew is about
one hundred and twenty-five miles to the east
ward Of ST. Croix. Its area is thirty-ive square
miles and its population $4,000. Its conform
alton is similar to St Croix, but the inhabitants
have to rely upon rain for their supply Of fresh
water 1t has a fine harbor-the Carenage-
on the west side, and is the only Swedish pos
session in America. ST. Martin is about one
hundred miles northeast of St Croix, and has
an area Of about thirty square miles, with a
population Of 5000 inhabitants. The surface
of the island is hilly and not fertile. About
two-thirds-the northern-of this island be-
longs to the French, the balance to the Dutch.
We do not pretend to have the gift Of
prophecy, nor have we any desire to alarm
people Of weak nerves but. in view OF
the facts above stated, it is our duty to
call attention to the shaky condition of our
globe at the present time. Almost every day
for some time past we have published startling
accounts Of terrible earthquakes; Of volcanic
eruptions from old craters and from new clefts
in the crust Of the globe; of the sinking down
of islands beneath the ocean Of the rising of
the sea fifty feet above its ordinary level; OF
tornadoes such as have hardly been known
since the Flood; Of showers Of meteors, and
of . general disturbance IA the heavens above
and in the earth beneath. What all these
things pertend we do not pretend to say, but
they are omin0us. The first question that
arises is, has the world become so wicked that
the Walls of wrath spoken Of in the Apoca-
lypse are now being poured down upon It'll
Aud here we think the writer's on prophecy,
the expounders Of Daniel and 81. John the
Evangelist, are at fault and behrnd the
times. Where, too, are the Millerites
and those wonderful modern Spir,tualists
who can 500 through milestone easier than
ordinary mortals can through glass! People
who have clear view Of what Is passing in
the seventh heaven and all other heavens by
merely closing their eyes and calling the dis
embodied spirits to their aid ought 10 be able
to throw light on tho subject.
The prophets and revcalcrs Of prophecy and
the penetrating mediums being unable to
satisfy us, we must ask what are men OF
science doing to explain the startling phe-
nomenon! They, too, seem to be ignorant
But our scientific men, rs far as we
have heard, appear not 10 have any
knowledge OF the matter. Mr.. Dellisior,
a French savant IL seems, actually pre-
dicted the earthquake and hurricane at St.
Thomas and other parts Of the West Indies.
lie even gave the date, the 18th Of November,
and il was on the night Of the 1lth that the
| commissions Of nature commenced or were pre-
coded by "lerrfble display of electrical
light From that time 70 the 10th Jamaica,
st. Thomas and a large portion Of the West
Indies were in fearflly ccnvulsed state.
Mr.. Dellisier, 1t is said, made his calculations
from astronomical observations and from the
influence OF planets on the surface Of the earth.
It is reported he is preparing work on the
subjec, to be read to the Academy of Sciences
at Paris. This work will be looked for with
great interest, and when VIC get it the religious
and spiritual prophets may be helped out Of
their dilemma. We may then know whether
the spheres OF the universe are going to jostle
against each other and bring the world to an