The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-07-16
THE COMET OF 1911.
"Reminiscences or the Earthquake in thu
MIaAIssippI NnIlry.

NiIsblhhippi N"''J
The comet of 1911, Of which so little
! has been said. attracted great attention
i. in the United States, and was OF extra
ordinary brilliancy. 1t was attended
by some very remarkable cOnvul.
sions of nature, and it WAS said
at the time that it reached a point
within 40, 600 miles of the surface "a
the sun. It was visible for Igil
time on the It'll of SentSl cnIatpd by;
ana its sItnot!o86f William and Mary
L9ieSsoI IfHginia, to be in the same line
he polar star. The diameter OF
It's body, exclusive Of tail, appeared to
be one fourth of the moon. From this
time to the Dist of September, its DIS,
lance from tire sun increased, as well
as its Brightness and tail. The comet
was supposed to have passed its peri
hclion between the ith and 18th OF the
month with the amazing velocity OF
400, 900 miles per hour. II could be
plainly seen in the evening during the
month Of October. Prior 10 ltS APP
]searancc there were unusual commo'
tons in the earth and the atmosphere
in n variety Of ways. \ severe shock
of earthquake was felt IN Virginia,
Both the American and European sea.
coasts, rs we'll rs many parts Of the IN
terror of those continents, were unuFu-
all harrassed by tremendous hurricanes
and storms of rain and hail, and a
strange agitation Of the atmosphere
was noticed. But the most remarkable
phenomenon attending the comet OF
1871 was the earthquake Of New Mad
rid, in the valley of the Mississippi,
which destroyed nearly 800 miles OF
the navigation Of that river. 1t pre-
scented one Of the few examples Of the
incessant trembling Of the ground for
several successive months.
Far away from any volcano, over an
extent Of country stretching for 800
miles from the mouth Of the Ohio river
the ground rose and sunk, and lakes
we're formed and again drained. The
surface burst open in assures that were
sometimes over half II mile long, and
from these assures mud and water were
thrown as high as the tops Of trees.
Duing the continuance Of these cDnvul-
si0us the inhabitants distinguished two
classes Of mOyCmCntS-thc vertical and
horizontal. The latter were regarded
IA gpr moro dcsoIatIpr than fine former.
The disturbances continued over what
has been since called the "sunk coHn-
try until March, 1872, when they
ceased. An eyewitness states that sub
scuucntly to aomeOf the scycrcst shocks
tba waters nr tbe Nississinpi were 40
a~tronnIv imnrngrot.d win 'tbo cgIrvio
NJ mnttIrr eInnosrd IN have undergone
oo,nLrgiin, ne :, Ina unfit for nga. that
pn LoJ nF tLo Niggieeirni WOO thrown
,nwnrJ IN rnLo of nIocoe formerly
Jnnnmnj n~nfothnnohIo On Lioh nc tn i'm
,oJn tho naviaatinn. tLot In - sondLor
M,,It' I'nl iataI" mala -, amnoaranna
tharo ,ras d;scnyornI a Iorao nrnonfitv nf
,, o,'I T'at ,Lo rn.nots iaonnt wo,o
IrnHnn Jnmn, Ly tLo 1nntIross ~ tho
,nImInt'n .Jran,.nIs ~ tho nartL
WA r"st rn,l hatwnnu NotcLo1 and
v,s, I;Iro ~a,s n,,oroI with snycroI littIn
h;ItooLs or Gno yL;+n SAND vhicL rod
L'nn nr,I,m1.d ,u,,yorJ to tho eurf,cn
~ tho nr,n"J nn~nmS;JoroLin tront ~
,"'a ,,n,latnI Mn ,,,otor ,,,i.t
I,n,, ~t,r,nah ,sLich l. tor,ifol inLah,
;t,,,', mo,'' f,,,,i -, ,r,iL tn L|ri,a.
lor,I, rnn a,Rat,
TG,, .,1a, %, ,u,. ,,iI,,
a., .,,n .,r,n - ,,,L.ana,a
tra ann sn homaiy tirntrrcI wv h'nnr,
L, ,,ttiLfa,, ,,,ta, % rlsnn,LIo GniIs irn.
nroGna,cI ,yitL nryrri1rJ ann no,g5nr
aanI7 mountain IF congidar,hIn LoioLi
haT or;snn in nre nicLt from, Tao InyoI
- uLat lad Lnor Lornro nInir Cin,i
lar c,myrIoions ayinnInl td grootnr Nv
,oss Inarcn nrnr ,Lo' mijlInn rI wostorn
+,t,. q" JroolrrI tnrn,i, ,,oa,nl a,an
H,o' ,i,, ~ CIarlostnr C,,,n Cnr,Ii,o
r,Li,n ,,rog ,,orLn.l IN =, cn,reo Ln H.,
a,rmoGan nni 5noth C,,.araI l,.,i
n,nng ,roro ovrnr;oncol or rL,n tn,ar;
,,r ,,,at ,,LinL di.r,n,toj ,n1 ntLa,
wioo envcroIy ininroJ mony ynssoIo at
snn and soma wcrr totally Wrecked a
]vioinnt shock or aortEGrokn frlt of
VoshyiIlo Tern in GstnLor ts1i
c,,,eoJ r,,,t I,,,oao prt u,o, i,
fine Wnst Tndi,s and Snuth America
that thc heaviest colomitias orrrr,od
Tbe CITY nj C,roc,a vac olmoet cntiroIy
de,trovcd bv an corthunoke mud ovrr
10 OOO oG fine inhabitants killed A tor
rihle volcnno hurst ont nnor thc Island
If 81 NichoeI,s From fine immnnsn
nuontifins Of lava osbna and rocks
thrown nm from This voIcano q nry
island roa formed several miIcs in cir-
cumr, rcnrn Tho disturbances in fhn
Nississinni ceoscJ r,incilert with tLn
eorthnuaj,c AT Caracas.
The o]niniou os to thr couses of theqc
violent nntbrroks that nrrvoiIod omong
American scientific men oycr g;vty
wears since was TINT thew were prodrcrd
by terrestrial and celestial electricity
that from the powerful affinity Of the
two fluids the violent efforts Of clrc.
tricity to escape IRON the earth rro.
duccd carthoiakcs. The rayaqes Of
torpoIorq burriconos and storms tbot