The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-07-24
THE COMET OF 1911.
"Reminiscences oil the Earthquake I'm the
Mississippi Valley.

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"Reminiscences OF the Earthquake I'm th
Mississippi Valley.
The comet of 1911, of which so littl
has been said. attracted great attentio
in the United States, and was of extra
ordinary brilliancy. 1t was attends
by some very remarkable convul
sions of nature, and it was SAT-
at the time that it reached a poin
within 10000 miles of the surface O
the sun. 1t was visible for the frs
time on the 7th OF September, 1911
and its situation was calculated b,
Professor Wood, of William and Mar,
college, Virginia, TO be in the same lin
with the polar star. The diameter o
its body, exclusive of tail, appeared (,
be one-fourth of the moon. From thi
time to the 21st of September, its dis
tance from the sun increased, as vel
as its brightness and tail. The come
was supposed to have passed its peri
helion between the 4th and 10Th of the
month with the amazing velocity oi
400, 900 miles per hour. 1t could be
plainly seen in the evening during the
month of October. Prior TO its APP
Pearance there were unusual commo-
tions in the earth and the atmosphere
in variety of ways. A severe shock
of earthquake was felt in Virginia.
Both the American and European sea
coasts, as we'll as many parts of the in
terror of those continents, were unusu-
al. harrassed by tremendous hurricanes
and storms of rain and hail, and q
strange agitation of the atmosphere
was noticed. But the most remarkable
phenomenon attending the comet Of
1911 was the earthquake of New Mad
rid, in the valley of the Mississippi,
which destroyed nearly 200 miles OF
the navigation of that river. It pre-
sented 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 lose and sunk, and lakes
were formed and again drained. The
surface burst open in assures that we're
sometimes over half mile long, and
from these assures mud and water were
thrown as high as the tops of trees.
During the continuance of these convul-
sions the inhabitants distinguished two
classes of movements-the vertical and
horizontal. The latter were regarded
as far more desolating than the former.
The disturbance continued over what
has been since called the "sunk coHn-
try" until March, 1912, when they
ceased. An eye witness states that sub
to some of the severest shocks
the waters of the Mississippi we're 80
impregnated with the effluvia
of matter, supposed to have undergone
combustion as to be unfit for use; that
the bed of the Mississippi was thrown
upward in number of places formerly
deemed unfathomable so high as TO i'm
pede the navigation: that in a sandbar
that had lately made its appearance
there was discovered large quantity of
coal, and that the forests adjacent were
broken down by the abruptness of the
movements of the earth.
The post road between Natchez and |
Nashville was covered with several little |
nillocks of fine white sand which had |
b en- protruded upward to the surface |
1f the ground. A considerable tract of |
country was inundated with water waist |
1eep, through which the terrified inhab- |
tants were forced to walk to higher
ands for safety.
The water was SO warm as to evidence
ire, an so stI ongly tinctured vii h com
Oustible matter as to resemble fluids i'm |
oregnated with pulverized gun powder, |
md mountain of considerable height |
lad arisen in one night from the level |
# what had been before plain. SINH |
ar commissions extended to a greater or
ess degree over the middle and western I
tates. A dreadful tornado passed over
he city of Charleston, South Carolina,
which was marked in its course by de-
truction and death. Several hurri-
anes were experienced off the Ameri-
an coast, which dismasted and other
rise severely injured many vessels at
ca, and some were totally wrecked. A
iolent shock of earthquake, felt mt
Nashville, Tenn, in October, 1911,
aused great damage But it was in
he West Indies and South America
hat the heaviest calamities occurred.
'he city of Caracas was almost entirely
estroyed by an earthquake and over
2. 900 of the inhabitants killed. A ter
ible volcano burst out near the Island
{ st. Michael's. From the immense
uantities of lava, ashes and rocks
brown up from this volcano new
,fand was formed several miles in cir
The disturbances in the
Mississippi ceased coincident with the
at Caracas.
The opinion as to the causes of these
iolent outbreaks that prevailed among
merican scientific men over sixty
ears since was that they we're produced
v terrestrial and celestial electricity
hat from the powerful affinity of the
vo fluids the violent efforts of cleo
-icity to escape from the earth pro-
uced earthquakes. The ravages of
ccurred during the appearance OF the
omet must have had some causes, and
nat il was evident that they we're phys
ALLY produced, either Immediately or
emotely, by an extra mundane agency,
)r there was no matter, or physical
Ombination of matter, on the earth
sufficient power to combine
, much phenomena in 80 short a time.
o the conclusion was that the comet
as the cause of all the trouble in 1871. I
mt the gaseous nature of the meteor
as we'll understood. Possessing this
character, it might be as
ell to attempt to ascertain how far 3
loud, driven against mountain, will
end to break off its top as speculate
pom any danger to the earth from col
sion with comet. The effect Of such
meeting would be the mixture Of its
aseous matter with the atmosphere
nd probable rise in the barometer,
lough there is no evidence to make it
robable that all the comets in ex-
,tence, if put together, would have
lass sufficient to produce a sensible
feet # any kind. If, however, the
aseous matter should condense suffi-
iently to descend to the lower regions
{ our atmosphere, some effect might
@ produced on animal and vegetable
fe, as likely good as bad.
Love of the Beautiful.