Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1867-12-11
Signs and@VVOnders In the Heavens
Above and in the Earth Beneath.

West indies and on the Gulf coast. First, we
had torecord the tornado at Gal7eston' Browns:
vile and Matamoras on October 3 !; next came
the destructive gales at Martinique and st.
Vincent islands on October 7, followed by the
still more disastrous hurricane that tor3 III
before it in St. Thomas on October %, and la4
Porto Rico, ST. Domingo and at Cage Hnytlen
on the following day All the steamers plying
10 the Gulf Of Mexico reported !temp!estuous
weather in the beginning OF the first and SECOND 1
weeks of October and November Succeeding
each of these hurricanes were shocks OF earth
quake, following the same course traversed BY.
the tornudoes, and corresponding in violence
10 the preceding gale. The most violent or
these commissions 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 ulght OF
November Is and 49, The observations made
ct Mayaguez establish the fact that the course
of this tremendous earthquake was from east
TO west At that place water spoutcd out;oi
the earth, while the earthquake caused such
an upheaving in the Virgin islands that some
of the smaller ones are reported now as nearly
destroyed
Mr.. DeIliser, a French savant it seems, had
actully predicted the earthquake and hurricane
at ST. Thomas and other parts of the West
Indies He even gave the date, the 18th OF
November, and it was on the night OF the / tn
that the commissions of nature commenced or
were preceded by terrible display OF electrl-
cal light." From that time to the 18TH Jamaica,
st. Thomas and lage portion OF the west
Indies were in fearlulIy convulscd state. Mr..
| Dellisier, it is said made his calculations from
Il II, and trorJ
ence of planets on the surface of the EARTH
1t is reported he is preparing work on the
subject to be read to the Academy of Sciences
at Paris. This work will be looked for with
great interest, and when we 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 joslle
against each other and bring the world to an
end r.
| In profane history, among the earliest &C
counts of remarkable commissions Of the globe
is that which destroyed Herculaneum and
| Pompeii in the year A. d. 65. Sixteen years
after these cities were buried in the ashes from
Vesuvius. Some countries are frequently visit
ed bv earthquakes Calabria, the southern
extremity of Italy, and the nelghboring island
Of Sicily are examples From February, 1888,
to the end of l7SG, less than four years, this
country was in continual disturbed state
| when nearly thousand shocks were iclt, and
most of them Of great violence. Ancient An
| tioch, in Syria, was visited several times by
earthquakes, aud in A. ID. 52G the most dlsas
| trous one occurred Of which there Is any re
cord. Gibbon states that two hundred and
| fifty thousand people persisted at that time
In more modern tunes that Of Lisbon in 1855
of Java in l772, and in Chile in 1922, are the
| Ia Ivfy 4 hpn NM,
persons persisted at Lisbon. Humboldt est
mated that the extent of the earth's surface
shaken by that earthquake was equal to four
times the area of Europe. At the Java Garth
quake one of the Hottest volcanoes, with an area
fifteen miles long and six broad sunk down
and carried forty villages with it. We might
enumerate many other such remarkable distur-
Dances of the earth's surface, but these are
sufficient TO show hat its crust is constantly
subject to unknown forces, both within and
without 1t is now generally believed by gco-
ogists that the solid part Of the earth is only
about as thick to the whole mass az the rnd
| of an orange is to the pulp, aud that the lnte-
rior is liquid fire We need not be surprised,
then, at the terrible convulsions and eruptlonS
which have occurred lately, and which we have
! referred to as occurring in former times.
We do not know what effect the outside
pressure Of planets or masses OF meteors lilly
| have in producing earthquakes, hurricanes and
volcanic ernptions, but doubtless they have an
influence We know, however, that the gases
with which petroleum and other substances
are intimately associated are connected with
these phenomena The Caribbean coast of
| Venezuela is known to be highly volcanic, and
is frequently subject to earthquakes Near
this, in Trinidad, is the famous lake of btu
men or petroleum At one spot, along the
Gulf OF Cariaco Mr.. Humboldt found petro
eum spring bubbling through the water Of the
sea- The atmosphere was filled with the pecu
| liar smell for great distance around, and after
| finding the place from which it came he waded
| in the salt water to examine the phenomenon.
| Perhaps it may be some comfort to our people
that great deal of this material and it's gases
| have been set free lately by the vast number OF
We recommend all with surplus cash to employ
it in letting out the petroleum and other gases
in the bowels of the earth, and thus save usiper-
haps from earthquakes and such like terrible
catactrophes Above all, we call upon the
people and politicians to cease from wickedness
and sectional strife, for when the times are
out of joint We may expect the forces OF; ma
ture to war against us!-W. T. Herald.
Va. DEMONSTRATIONS Convention.
Yesterday the ordinance fixing the per diem at
So was adopted and sent to Gen. Schofeld for
approval. The ordinance paying the SECRETARY
So per day and the chaplain $50 per week,
passed to second reading The report of the
committee on the plan of business for the Con-
vention was adopted An unsuccessful effort
was made by the Conservatives to get the Com
mittees on finance and judiciary enlarged.
State officers we're invited to the privilege of