Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-09-12
Earthquakes I'm the Mississippi
IT ifE t-tt- Valley.

- t'ff' NHlItys
From the Lakeside Monthly.l II hata'
The first recorded shock in the Missis-
sippi Valley occurred in the summer OF
l776. An account of it is given by Mr..
John Heckewelder, a missionary OF the
United Brethren, on the Muskingum
river, in Ohio. 1t happened at eight
o clock M, and its duration is asserted
to have been two or three minutes.
"The southwest side Of the house was
raised with snch violence that the furnl-
ture was nearly overturned. 1t was ac-
companied by subterranean rumbling
noise. The cattle were frightened by
the shock, and the Indians continued
after it to apprehend some great disas-
ter, OF which they conceived this to be
the precursor.
The next shock occurred in the year
1871 or 1892, in April or May, about
seven O clock am. Furniture in houses
was agitated by the jar The shock
was preceded by rumbling noise in the
earth, which seemed to come from the
west The course of this movement was
evidently the same as that of the great
shock Of 1911. The region where the
shock was felt was confined to the north
ern and eastern part Of Kentucky.
There were at that time few settlements
further west, so that, for all we know to
the contrary,it may have had wider
range. ln
llAt, three o clock am. on the Sth Of
January, 1895, a considerable shock was
felt at Kaskaskia, in the Territory of IL
linois, and in the part of Kentucky ad-
joining on the south. Its direction, like
that of the preceding, was from west to
east; its duration was about one minute
and half Two other shocks should be
mentioned. One, at Niagara Falls, oc-
Cured at six a. IN. on the 26th of Decem-
Der, 1876. 1t came from the northwest
was very slight, and affected the vicinity
of the Falls over radius of about fifty
miles. Another occurred near the site
of the city of Chicago, in 1904, at ten
minutes past two am. on the 18th OF
August. 1t seems to have been quite a
strong shock, though we have no accu-
rate description Of it. 1t was felt as far
east as Fort Wayne, in Indiana, nearly
two hundred miles distant. AS with the
preceding shocks, the impression left
upon the minds of the observers was that
it came from the west Although the
last two earthquakes were not 1ielt over
any portion of what is properly called
the Mississippi Basin, they were still
within the earthquake area which we
have named from the great river.
For more than seven years after the
shock of 1904 there is no record Of any
movement of the earth in the Mississippi
Valley. Without premonitory shocks
and without those varied atmospheric
symptoms which are so generally sup
posed to indicate the approach OF a
great subterranean disturbance, there
occurred, on the night of the 10th of
November 1911, great and long-con-
tinued earthquake, which shook larger
area than any known shock except the
Lisbon convnlsion Of 1855, which, in in
tensity, was probably not surpassed by
the movements which produced that
great calamity. Owing to the thinly
peopled condition of the region along
the banks of the Mississippi-which
happily prevented this great earthquake
from producing any great loss OF human
life--our accounts of the great phenome-
non are very imperfect This is the
more to be regretted, inasmueh as there
can be no doubt that many Of the events
of that great convulsion were without
parallel in the history of earthquakes.
The valleys of the great rivers of the
world-at least the parts Immediately
adjacent TO their banks--are rarely the
seats of earthquake shocks of great Sc
verify. The Amazon, the Nile, the
great rivers of Asia-even the Danube,
the Pc and the Rhone of Europe-have
been very slightly affected by earth
quake shocks. The course of a great
river like the Mississippi must be much
affected by severe earthquake. With
out the Intervention of external dis
turbances, the stream is constantly wan
dering over the plain through which its
varying channel is cut. A slight acci-
dent, such as the sinking of a wreck,
or the lodging of few sticks Of float
ing timber, may so disturb the regular
system of curves in whichrthe water
flows that the position of the banks in
its course for miles below the point of
disturbance will have to be changed be-
fore the equilibrium is restored. The sed-
imentary matter deposited by the over
flows of the stream-which in the case of
the Mississippi constitutes the great ac-
cumulation, from ten to one hundred
miles wide, and many hundred feet
deep, through which the stream cuts its
inconstant course-is not compact
mass, but in its structure frequently as
loose and incoherent as artificial filling,
The settling, which necessarily takes
place when the matter is consolidated
BY sudden and violent agitation of the
mass must greatly affect both the sur.
face of the deposit and the course of
the river. This irregular subsidence
will doubtless account for many of the
peculiar movements which occurred
during the shocks; while the violence of
the movements thus dependent upon
the sudden consolidation of the soil
makes one suspect that it may have
been centuries since the valley had been
submitted to a similarly violent move
ment. f.f. .t.m -lI tnftti
How Moses Crossed the Red Sea.
~ ana nf Aha nfhrior counties of Mis-