The Shasta courier., 1872-04-06
Review, Contributed to the COURIER by
DIR. Gibbons, of Alameda.

review, Contributed to the COURIER by
| DIR. Gibbons, of Alameda.
1t is the privilege of every man to ad-
vance his own theories, and defend them il
he can. OF latter times scientific knowl-'
edge has laid broad foundation in the
public mind, for those more profound ip
vestigations of nature, which will result in
the perfect solution of questions, which
have heretofore circumscribep the range of
the human intellect But theory is not
science, any more than Gulliver Travels is
history. True, it may sometimes precede
and stimulate investigations, and anticipate
the revelations of truth : but it is more fire.
auently the natural deduction from facts
which have been slowly eliminated and
patiently collated.
We are led TO these remarks by seeing
in the Union, an endorsement of theory
of earthquakes, with which Mr. Stewart of
San Jose, lately enlightened the citizens of
Sacramento. According to this it is an
electrical phenomenon, and as completely
under the control of conducting material,
as current from Leyden jar, or one that
traverses lor g lightnipgrod the " be
| effect of X all Roads is to distribute the
shock over a large area, and thus lessen the
force and danger at the point of discharge
that part of our earthquake forces are al
ready "far and wide into the heart of the
continent, by which distribution the danger
aud Intensity of the shocks are lessened
here ?" n proof of this, the recent shock
was felt all along the line of Rail Road,
from Oak land to WiDnemucca being most
severe at points nearest to that point where
the cloud cond ctors were most Dense and
where the opposing electrical currents may
be assumed to have been first brought to-
| gerher. Off the line of the Railway any
considerable distance there was no percepti,
| ble shock" At San Francisco, there was
not shock enough 10 causeany alarm, whilst
at Oakl,nd it lasted minute and was
startling. "Since the Rail way track has
been laid down, there have been to our
knowledge four other earthquakes, all fol-
lowing 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"
The palpable absurdity of these deductions
is manifest There have been over $50
earthquakes recorded as having occurred
in California since 1915. OF these owe.
Is without doubt have been since our Rail
Road system assumed an extended shape,
and the Union selects four out of the IS
) to prove the truth of the theory Again
he refers to San Francisco as being "off the
llne" and as having felt but slightly the
last shock What became of the San Jose
Rail Road about that time Is not the
rail communication as complete between
these two points as between oakland and
Wnnemucca? And how is it that the focus
of the shock was at Visalia, Inyo) when
F there is no Railway connection with Oak
land or Sacramento How was it in '6S,
when the focus of disturbance was not in
San Leandro, but ten or fifteen miles fur
ther n E. where no Railway existed !?
Aud in this theory why was not Sacramento
injured more than San Francisco? In spite
of iron communication, we happen to know
that shocks occur in SAP Francisco which
are not felt in Alameda county, and vice
Uersa.
As to the rails scattering the shocks so
that the damage and intensity thereof are
l,ssened, the assertion has to be proved =
Has not the Mississippi Valley been known
as an earthquake region for more than
100 years and can you trace the ideI tity
j b, tween shocks of the Atlantic and that of
Pacific? But there is another poin:
alone is latal to the theory. Ihe
erts that the disturbance is great
li"e Of the Railway. 1t is
y laws of electricity, that
~ medium is complete,
longth line; it is all
70 may have bold
CHARGE masses
TX. In fact,
suakes as be-
barge is ven
8ears to u.s.
.s, or confess