The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-10-31

two words bywhich they designate, the
phenomenon-tSmbloreS and Eerren0loS
The former are only partial agitations
Of the surface, confined to very limited
districts, and rarely or never producing
serious damage, the latter consists OF VIC
lent upliItingS or horizontal oscillations
extending many hundred miles, when the
destruction or liIe and buildings Is pro.
portionate to the. distance Of the lOcali.
ties from the origin Of the disrupting
forces. ana. I.l tmss1
"Ubseryation has shown that beside the
waving or undulat0ry there arc also verEi.
cal, horizontal and circular motions. The
wave felt in this city was undoubtedly
horizontal, while the sinking Of the rail
road track at the east was probably the
result OF q vertical motion. .E.J
"During o residence Of several years in
the republic Of Chile It was my fortune to
experience. many, perhaps hundreds Of
earthquakes stroln the faintest tembIOr 10
IL fierce terregpOlO that sent the boldeSt for.
eigner frightened into tho street. The first
shocks ieltiwere not felt, IT, such q para
dox is allowable; the frightened natives
would rnsh out. crying tembl0r, leaving
your. correspo ast0unded at what It
all'meant, tho only apparentcause Of their
fright being the swinging Of picture on
the wall, the Gathering OF the windows or
the cracking Of the plastering, which else
where would not have been noticed or
supposed to be produced by anything but
an earthquake. However, the universal
custom Of sleeping with; bed room doors
open, lest. the sleeper should be caught
like a rat in trap by the iammingof the
door, wires stretched In front Of all glass
ware in shops and saloons to prevent its
shaking of, and certain wide cracks in
the walls Of old buildings, combined with
the style OF building heavily wall
I'd houses for instance, the bonded ware
houses ofitlie government had walls seven
feet In thicknGss-led me TO believe that
that indeed was a land Of sudden uphca-
vals aud convulsions.
Occasionally, in the dead Of night,
away from all noise.producing causes in
town or lonely hacienda, the heavy
rumble and shock would send me flying
to the door. Cracks directly overhead,
shown me rs the result Of tembt0r, l
have, frequently found wideDcd several
inches in the morning.
%Curiously enough Ithet dumb creation
tesl the shock. 5eVen, more than man.
Dogs howl, horses neigh, fowls Cackle.
They invite the company Of man md seek
his protection. Horses and cUttle have
been seen brACing themselves, with out
stretched feet against, the shock. Dogs cs.
ptciallY instinctively scent the approach
Of nm Carthqu0Ee, and, Us at Conception
III 1885, leave the town in advance.
a SCENE IN CHILE.
'L"iThe.evehing o. September 49, 1856,
We experienced the seyercst shock Of an
earthquake thNt occurred during our resi-
dence in Chile. Your correspondent WIS
standing near house twenty feet In the
rear Of lis home, when he heard rum
bic coming rapidly down the hills from
the south. Thehous behind INC shook
tcrifcally. l was almost thrown off my
feet; then the shock reached the house in
front and passed onward, perceptible
time elapsing between the first Iadmoni.
tion and when It reached me. II rushed
around the corner 10 the front OF the house,
the ground coming up to meet my feet
like ships dock in o heavy seaway.
The noise from the city below was like
tho hum Of vast swarm ol bees, rs
seveney.fve thousand people rushed out
in the twilight and fell pn their knees Dogs
howled dolefully, mqnT cried out, women
shricked, houses shook, roofs cracked,
every door and window sash shaking
fcariully. as II they would break their
fnstenings. The vibration seemed perpen'
dtcular, like great heavingS from beneath,
ships IN the bay went apparently agrotind
md heavy swell ran through the hNrbor.
No buildings were thrown down by this
shock, but the walls Of nlanyiwere crack;
cd and immense damage was done in the
fracture of window glass and CrOCkery.
Yet this shock only lasted thirty seconds
During the next twelve days we had nine
more. The difficulty in observing tho
phenomena incidentto earthquakes, owing
10 their sudden and unexpected arrival,
tho absence Of mind, as well as the ab.
sence of body at the point OF observation,
has immensely interfcrred with reliable
data on the subject Different theories
prevail on the South Amcrican coast rs to
their origin. Some allegc that 1t Is cleo
tricity, In support or which proposition Is
the lIct that on the western coAst where
thunder and Lightning arc unknown
earthquakes arc frequent; while on the
eastern aSconst there are nd Garth
quakes, and thunder storms arc sc.
we're. It Is asserted that the, baro-
meter falls unusdIlylow, and that a heavy
sultrincss, a certain stagnationi pervndes
the air, Yet earthquakes have occurred
in all seasons and states of theatmospherc.
The occurrence OF luminous meteors and
flashes Of light in the sky about the time
OF the shock seems TO be pretty well'au-
tRenticated In Chileas we'll as elsewhere.
We arc therefore authorized To infer that
tho usual electrical disturbance Is at least
a consequence Of phenomenon; that 1t Ia
the cause TINT, has been argued by more
tlian one philosopher. What Is known
arc the terrible suits that follow, and
the direction Of the wave that can be
measured automatically rs well Us judged
by the fallen walls. Not to speak Of the
terrible destruction on the coast Of Peru
two years ago, Of which there are no do!
tailed accounts at hand will reler to the
great disaster on the .20tl oi February,
1885, when the city Of Conception was
utterly destroyed for tho fourth time, and
It's port, Talcahuano, ten miles distant,
swept out Of existence BY a tidal wave that
came in thirty lcct high over its already
dCsolate site. ........a.
Il visited both Of these cities in 1857
and some marks OF destruction were still
visible. This terrible earthquake began
without premonitory noise, the motion
gradually increasing toone terrific shock,
That in d twInklEng laid tho two cities In
ruins. The rumble was heard about the
middle OF the shock, the total duration Of
which was two and half minutes, and
| ti,n r,nAinns mnflMlafnrv Ycrticnl horizon.