The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-09-24
IL the Earth In Repo~c s-Ifeccst t;eslesic
Dtsplaremcnss.

Scarcely any occurrence is more apt TO
rouse public attention than the now frequently
reported and strange dispaccmcuts of the
carths crust Whether or not the facts to
which we allude seem more startling, solely
because of increased facilities OF having them
accurately recorded, we are in danger OF
rejecting the popular notion OF terra .frmo
The New Orleans Picoyune recently con-
tanned an account OF most remarkable subsi-
dence in one OF the chief thoroughfares Of the
Crescent City, aud nearer home we have some
singular phenomena Of similar kind yet un-
explained by the scientific :-"For some
thirty or forty years past, says the Picoyuns,
''the batture in front of the Bazaar Market and
Red Stores has been gradually sinking until
to-day, just below the Red Stores, it Is seven
feet below Sie ordinary level, and the SETTLE
ment varies from three to seven feet" The
length Of this batture is seven hundred and
fifty feet and its width one hundred and
twenty feet; and il is stated that the City
Surveyor, after deep borings, made with
view to investigate the strata for the construc-
ton Of work TO prevent further sinkage, has
been able TO find nothing sufficiently Grm to
sustain such q work. Another depression
on the space over which the Ponchartrain and
Chattanooga Railroads are laid has caused
great trouble. In Southern New York last
fall three acres Of land. heavily timbered with
bemlock, it was stated, suddenly sank below
the surface of the surrounding country.
At the time il was asserted that the highest
trees in this track were not 10 be
seen above the banks and around the rim OF
the depressed area. A few months ago we
had the intelligence OF the sinking OF the bed
of the Monticello and Port Jervis Railway.
near the former place, 10 a depth OF ten feet.
and only week or two since we had the still
more startling announc emcnt OF similar
phenomenon on the line Of the New Jersey Mid
land Railroad, the workmen discovering in
the morning that several rods Of grading they
had left Che night before had, In the short
space Of twelve hours, entirely disappeared,
and water and loose mud OF undetermined
depth was all that could be seen. So remark
able and impressive was the fact that IL has
given rise to q popular belief in subterranean
lake. In the immediate vicinity of this sunken
spot are numerous boiling springs. Even
later, only day or two ago, we had the
statement that the orange region 10 Florida
had suddenly sunk, leaving a sea OF rushing,
seething waters, where before were trees
and verdure in most glorious bloom. II IL
usual to refer such agitations TO the agency of
volcanic force and hrc-an explanation by no
means agreeable, and yet, there is reason to
believe, not more scientific than agreeable.
The great volcanic lines on the globe cling
with remarkable tenacity to the chaied and
wave-worn edges Of the great oceanic basins
and Mediterraneans. There Is no authenticated
information Of the existence OF any decided
volcano within the central area Of anv OF the
earth's great land masses. Humboldt, in his
narrative Of travels in Central Asia, gives re-
ports and rumors Of the cxcep tional existence
there of some feeble fires bursting through
the earth's crust, but his information has, to
this day, lacked the confirmation of Asiatic
explorers. 1t is not probable that the seething
Of the vast Plutonic furnaces has any vent in
the regions of our recent disturbances. In
deed. 1t V almost capable Of dem9nstration