The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-04-12

Closely following the account of the |
earthquake In California comes the story |
by cable of far greater calamity of a SIM
liar character at the famous old city OF An
toch, in Syria, by which nearly fifteen |
hundred of her six thousand inhabitants
were instantly killed, while thousands were
injured, and nearly all were deprived OF
their homes. Founded about the year 300
B. c.. the city has been five times pros
trated by earthquakes before the pres
ent visitation, which has laid about
half of it in ruins. In the year 1l5,
it was entirely destroyed by an earthquake,
and in the years ABS, 526 and 5S7
it was again ruined by the same terrible
agency. In the CONFUSION in the last men
toned year, according to Gibbon, 1000
of the population persisted. 1t recovered
in a great measure from these disasters,
but in 1922 another earthquake leveled it
to the ground, and since that date its pop
ulaton has never reached beyond six thou
sand. 1t was here that the followers Of
the Saviour were first given the name of
Christians. Unfortunately, the cable does
not give us the date of this last earthquake
but following so Immediately after the Sc
ries of shocks along the Pacific coast, one
is apt to connect them, particularly
as Antioch is situated between parallels
SO and 81, which is precisely the latitude
of OWENS lake, Visalia and other places in
California where the shock Of the 26th ult.
was severest. The coincidence of two
such phenomena, one the most serious
earthquakes that has occurred in California
since 1872, and the other the most destruc-
tive that has befalen Antioch in centuries,
happening only few days apart and on
2 the same belt of latitude--along the center
of what has been called the earthquake
zone-seems to indicate connection be-
tween the two. Simultaneously with the
accounts of the California earthquakes
came the report that the volcano of Colima,
in Mexico, was in violent state of agita-
ton, and now the cable brings in
telligence that Mount Vesuyius is
also in state of violent eruption. A
column of flame shoots several hundred
feet above the crater, and stones, ashes
and cinders fall in dense showers around
the summit. OF course, the newspapers
cannot let such an opportunity pass Of
trotting out their several pet earthquake
theories again, and most of the prominent
journals in the country devote considerable
space to the subject. The New York
Herald sticks to the old dictum Of "a
rolling sea of fire within the earth,o at.
fected by electric and atmospheric
changes. The earthquake philosopher
of the Tribune, on the other hand
thinks that there are objection:
to the ''melted nucleus hypothesis
which are well nigh insuperable. Al
he don't advance anything more reasonable
however, and makes such grave mistake
as to assert that :" the shell being heavie
than the nucleus, there would be stronl
tendency of surface to tumble in" hi
speculations don't amount to much. As
tronomers have demonstrated beyond
doubt that the specific gravity of the cart
is several times greater than the heavies
rocks upon its surface, which is in stric
accordance with natural laws for, were th
globe again in fluid state, the heavies
matter would settle about the center, as tn
Tribune philosopher or any other man ca
prove by putting little oil and water in
tumbler.- Washington Star.