The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1874-07-24
New Madrid Earthquake.

like a ihrice-lold tale Of an old crone,
mutiered Sy winier's freside, 10 tho
elders OF 81. Louis, bu, beyond these,
comparatively few are IN any way ia
miiiar with the facts. To the rising
generation aud those who have hrought
To Tie their industry from foreign la,Ids,
absolutely nothing Is known of that
event TO ninety persons out OF every
hundred. The destruction was so tho.
rough and widespread. aud ihe effects
OF the genera! devastation upon the set.
tiers of New Madrid OF that early day
were 80 fatally aud ruinously felt, that
The visitation became as IL were intefs
woven inseparably with the history of
81 Louis. Believing that brief nc.
count Of these occurrences will provc
oi interest TO our readers. we have COM
Piled the following statement from an
acconn. of the events as they occurred,
witness OF aud a tarItlpm'or ra aas@
terrible scenes of more than sixty years
ago:
During the night Of December 10th,
1911, the FIRST shock OF the earthquake
was experienced. IT came upon the SEN
ses of terrified people in mul,erings
aud tremblings OF the earth at two
o'clock ia The morning, aud was repeated
at intervals of half an hoLr, the shocks
Geiug comparatively Slight and doing
no iuthcr damage than The shaking down
of some Lighthouses aud cabins At Ia
NJ. The mulierlngs grew Into thunder In
the west, aud were Immediately follow
ed by rocking and vibration OF the
earth, so that in places where The shock
was most violent, few were able 10
walk or even stand erect, This horror
did not last long. Pe.haps minute.
But while it continued, an aye OF terror
must have been DIVIDED into the brief
ness. The earth rolled like waves oi
the sea, with crests aud troughs bo-
tween the waves burst suddenly opoi.
aud from their mouths great volumes
OF water leaped high into the air, mixed
with blocks of charcoal, all coated with
II substance smelling like sulphur.
When the wave OF earth had subsided
aud the volcanic eruption bad ceased,
The destruction lay before the people in
all It's awtulness. Cults or ilssures
from four to ten feet deep, aud running
uorth aud south, were opened parallel
ipl tullhN, III obWit liHAhHiVN ib' NV
Of thom. The terror TINT spraug up IN
tnc minds OF those peaceful people can
scarcely bc conceived but they hoped
lOr the best, and set about repairing the
injury which had been done TO their selI
tlements aud The ruin which had fallen
upont heir primitive homesleads.
On The night OF January 7, following,
the ruin wns more widely spread aud
more devastating IN its results. Again
The earth rolled in huge waves aud the
wavos bursts into foods Of water. aud
he sulphuretled charcoal falling IN
showers seemed to fuse into an inextri-
cable chnos. From this Until the lItli OF
Febiu uary, slight shocks were felt rom
time 10 lime, anl then u convusion Of
lature again occurred which exceeded
IN its fury those OF previous occasions.
Gulfs aud assures broader aud deeper,
were opened, until high land was sunk
into ho.lows, holows made high lauds,
lakes emplied them selves into the miles
OF iissuies, aud whore ground previously
had been untouched by water there
were 10 be seen broad shveied lakes.
The face OF nature was changed.
The extent OF country covered by this
fearful conflict OF hidden forces of ma
ture did not embrace n larger circuni.
lrence than hundred and fifty miles;
taking the Indian ,owu ot Little Prairie,
near Charlottesville, as the center. To
quote Mr. Lesieur: "a very large OK.
leut of country on either side OF the
White Water, called Liltlo river, also on
both sides OF the ST. Francis, IN this state
aud Arkansas, was sunk below its for
mer elevation about ten feet"
Remarkable TO note. there were few
losses Of lie, during this convulsion. a
Mrs. Lafont died irom fear, aud Mrs.
Jarvis was crushed from the falling ofa
cabin log. The loss of life on the river
must have been greater than on land.
II was the age OF ilatboats which sup
piled tho river villages with provisions.
These were found for miles, wrecked In
company with barrels OF pork, flour
whisky, aud such other articles as
would float. fho crews OF these were
in al probability many OF them lost, aud
IL is known tlat Tenncssccan's wife
aud seven children were all drowned,
himself barely escaping by plank, after
the boat capsized, while another family
named GlassCOeh six In all--perished
niiserably in the storm nj Island No. III.
In correspondence between Plo. A. ID.
Ilagcr of ST. Louis, aud Mr.. Lesieur, In
1871, on this subject, the latter gentle
man states there were indications Oh the
surface OF the ground that thcro had
been no earthquakes previous TO 1871, or
AT least not for centuries. Old chiefs OF
Shawnees, ChorOkcas, aud Dclewares
had been questioned on lbis.poini, aud
all agreed that they had no iradl'ionary
account ofnny such visiiaiions
Within the pas, six months, the liver
front has fallen IN more rapidly than In
any preceding six months 10 the past ten
years, as M evidence OF which the river
M Que point has cnorOachcd one hun.
dred nuG twenty feet in three weeks.
The result is that the residents who
have been moving back for years. con.
linue to do SO, to location which is call
cd the park Onc.lourth OF n milo from
the river bank. But tEcv are used 10 u,
those good children OF New Madrid and
it's vicinity and are justly proud Of
their earthquakes