The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-05-31
EARTHQUAKES.
A New Theory Regarding their origin.


w. f. Stewart, of San Jose, Oh
, Monday evening, in the Assembly
t Chamber. delivered a scientific lee
: ture involving theories of earth
quakes and electricity. For many
: years Stewart has closely observed
and studiously reflected upon earth
quakes and their cause. The result
J of his reading, study and obserya
tionss,is an opinion that they arr
caused by the meeting of electrical
currents which move, one upon The
earth's surface, and the other in the
region of the clouds, and that they
are brought together by those nat,
ural conductors, vapor and rain
clouds-the meeting of the two cur.
rents upon the SUI face of the earth
causing all earthquake. Stewart
also maintains that these terrible
phenomena are comfortable by the
means that we control the lightning
and prevent it, through iron condnc-
tors from destroying our houses.
He says the iron rails of rail-
roads are as logically conductors
of the electricity that causes earth
quakes as lightning rods are of that
electricity which comes from the
clouds during thunder storm. He
maintained in his lecture that by
means of these and other conduc-
| tors, it is in the power Of man to SO
distribute the force of electric cur
Irents which cause earthquakes that
they will be as harmless as the light
ming conducted down a lightning
rod into the earth. He says the
the trans continental iron track and
wires are already doing this valua-
BILE service for California, in send
ing part of our earthquakes far and
| wide into the heart of the continent,
by which distribution the danger
and intensity of the shocks are les
sened here.
The earthquake that happened
here about two O'Clock and twenty
minutes yesterday morning, furnish
ed the most opportune and assuring
proof of the soundness of Stewards
theory. Exactly the atmospheric
condition which his theory requires
to bring the two electric currents
together then existed: and what
transpired upon their meeting was
precisely that which his theory call
ed for. The shock was felt all along
the lines of the railways from Oak
land to Winnemucca, being Most Sc
we're at points nearest to that point
where the cloud conductors were
more dense, and where the oppos-
ing electrical currents may be as
sumed to have been first brought
together. or the line of railway
any considerable distance there was
no Berceptible shock. AT San
Francisco, hitherto supposed to be
standing on the most quaky ground,
there was not shock enough 10 cause
alarm, though at Oakland it lasted
over q minute and was startling.
In this city it lasted not less than Il
minute and half, part of the time |
severe enough to shake the plaster |
from the wallis everywhere to drive |
people in alarm from their beds, |
and number out of their houses. |
At Gait, directly on the line of rail- |
way, % miles west of here, the |
shock was strong enough to throw |
one person cut of bed, and it was |
also heavy on the line of the road |
eastward from here as far as heard |
from. In addition to the proof |
furnished by this last trembler, we |
may add that since the railway track |
has been laid down, there have been
to our knowledge four other earth
quakes, all following the same
course this one followed, none of
them reaching San Francisco at all,
and all of them being most severe
in the towns directly upon the line
of the railway and when It was
reflected that prior to the laying
down of these iron conductors Sac
never felt an earthquake
that was not moro severely felt at
San Francisco, it must be admitted
that stewards theory receives such
confirmation in experience as emit
ties it to the most respectful atten
ton from men of science and others.
i Sacramento Union.