Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-07-13
THE COMET OF 1911.

THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE IN 1HR MISSISSIPPI VAL
LEY-HURRIcANEs AND sHIPwREcK ON THE
ATLANTIC coAsr-A BRILLIANT sKYRocKEr
The comet of 1911, OF which so little has been
said, attracted great attention in the United States
and was OF extraordinary brilliancy 1t was at
tended by some very remarkable convulsons Of
nature, and 1t said the time that it reached
q point within 40, 900 miles OF the sun. IL was
v.sible for the first time ON the 7th OF September
1911, and Its situation was calculated by Professor
Wood, of William and Mary College, Virginia, 10
be in the same me with the polar star. he diam
eter of its body exclusive of the tail, appeared to
be one-iourth Of the moon. FROM this time TO the
2lst OF September Its distance from the sra in-
| creased Us wei as its brightness and tail. The
| comet was supposed to have passed lis perihellon
between the 4th aud 18th Of the month " ith the
| amazing velocity Of 100000 miles per hour. 1t
could be plainly seen in the evening during the
| month OF October. Prior to its appearance there
were unusual commotious in the earth and the
atmosphere III a variety OF ways. A severe shock
| of earthquake was iet in Virginia. Both the
American and European seacoIsts, as well as
many parts or the interior vi those continents,
were unusually harasse by tremendous hurricanes
and storms Of ran and hail, and strange agita-
ton OF the atmosphere was noticed. But the most
| remarkable phenomenon atte nding the comet OF
| 1911 was the earthquake OF New Madrid, in the
Valley of the Mississippi, which destroyed nearly
20U miles oil the aNigation OF that great river. 1t
presented one OF the lew examples oil the ncessant
trembling OF the ground for several successive
| months.
| FAR AWAY FROM ANY VOLCANO.
| Over an extent Of country stretching for three
hundred miles from the mouth Of the Ohio river
the .ound rose and sunk, and lakes were formed
and again Grained. The surface burst open in
assures that were sometimes over half a mile
long; from these fssures mud and water were
throw as high as the tops of the trees During
the continuance of the convu sions che inhabitants
t'stins uished two classes of movements-the vet
| aud iarf Tha tat ora Fi a
| TAR more desolatiug than the former. This dis
turbance continued over what has been since
called the "suuk eor1try' until March, 1872, when
they ceased. Al eyewitness states that subee-
. uuenty TO some of the seyerest shocks the waters
, oil the Mississippi were so strongly impregnsted
with the efiuvn of matter supposed to have
undergone combustion Psl to be unit for Use; (;
that the bed OF the Mississippi was thrown upward
n in q number of places formerly deemed I'M
, tathomable SO high as TO impede the navigation;
. that in a sandbar that had lately made lis
1, appearance there was discovered large quantity
OF coal, aud that the forests adacen. were broken
: down by the abruptness OF the undalatory
movements of the earth. The post road between
| Natchez and Nashville was covered with several
hillvcks OF fine white sand which had been
protruded upward TO the surface of the ground.
, A considerable tract OF country was inundated
, with water waist deep, Through which the terri
lied inhabitants were forced
: TO WADE TO HIGHER LANDS For SAFETY.
lhe wafer was 30 warm ~ 10 eNIutuCe tue
previous action Of subterranean lire, and 50
strongly tinctured with combustible matter as TO
resemble fluids impregnated with pulverized
gunpowder, and a mountain Of considei able
a height had arisen in one night from the level oi
Q what had been before plain. Similar convul'
jsions extended to greater or less degree over
- the Middle, Southern and Western States. A
dreadful tornado passed over the city Of Charles
ton, S. C., which vas marked in its course by
ID destruction aud death. Several hurricanes wer,
81 experienced off the American coast, which dis
d masted and otherwise severely injured many yes
:, sells at sea, and some were totally wrecked.
violent shock OF earthquake, felt at Nashville
ie Tenn, in October, 1911, caused great damage
Is But il was in the West Indies and South Amer
h lea that the heaviest calamities occurred. The
:, city Of Caracas was almost entirely destroysc
3 by an earthquake and over II 600 Of the inhabi
il taats killed A terrible volcano burst out neal
As the island of st. Michaers. From the immens
quantity of lava, ashes aud rocks thrown up frou
~ tins volcano q new island was formed severa
a miles in circumference. The Disturbances in th
ps Mississippi ceased coineident with the earth
De quake at GARAGES.
d.