New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-01
TIE MIMI EARTHQU4KE.


a sporadic earthquake to give an energetic
shake to some part of California, and al
though no cities were swallowed up, and
haidly single life was lost, it was always
observed that the first steamer which sailed
from san Francisco after the shock carried
away many more than tie average number OF
passengers. CalilOrnians of those days TOOK
great delight in telling the story, when
CHANGED to be a true one, Of The TERMED cliHcu
who He'd to the East to escape from dropping
through the eaIth's crust, and Gas struck OJ
lightning the DAY after he lad landed III New
\ DIRK. The story has sharper point WHEN / Is
remembered that California Is never VISITED ny
thundcT-stOms; but after all, no one even lct the
ground rocking uaocr his feet without Il
sn4den desire to emigia;e, even though TIC
elementary forces OF nature should threaten
him with death III some form Wherever ne
might 90. In the brief telegram received
from Manila. winch tells OF $40 persons kiileu
and thousands made homeless Il Is added thdt
hgnt shocks continue to % felt, and 1t may
well be imagined that tnc chllle population Oh
the Philippine Islands are III STATE oi pane.
Thls mora chao, IS an added horror to The
actual destruction OF lie aud properly, ana
appeals most strongly to the sympatbleS oi the
world. When the sOild euth Is IN lrcIIOi ana
the everlasting bills begin 70 bow, when even
flight offers no safety, ANA everything that has
been counted on rs stable seems ready TO us
solve, the general cOni0unolng and 0ycrlurn
ing OF al that has seemed 10 he tstab. lrhcd III
the material universe reac,s with dcmonHng
force upon The mind, and stops every orderly
process OF asonlng and reflection. Is Is httlc
U...tt t.4flt MN al
thugs bleaE from the cOnuol OF theW natural
instincts at sucn times, and We can Icadly
believe the well authenticated Instances Oh
the most tlmld creatures fleeing for plo-
lection to their most pleaded enemies.
Nor Is if any wonder That human beings unuer
the influence OF an OyeTmaatu ring dread lose
their natural affections, and abandon thenl-
selves to cruelty ana frighttul oxces-cs.
Earthquakes VIII always be the most terrliy-
| Ing shape III when the dest4 uctlvc forces OF
nature present themselves 10 the Imagination.
/ Aud that not only because they seem 10 DIlng
an inteITegDum of Ia,uIai law, but because
| they come without any prcmOniCiUn and 90
! their destructive work III the s ace OF few
seconds OF minutes at the flutnest. Unlike
hurricanes floods, and volcanic eruptions, they
fol escape. Besides this, the mysterious
| teIrors with wnicn they are clothed are
equaled by then actual destructive force. No
science can measure the power OF the shock at
Lisbon which destroyed 1000 lives and drove
IA wave across the Atlantic which came wash
| ING into New York harbOr and rocked The
vessels lying here at anchor Not to mention
| older historic shocks, it is but few years since
! 1000 miles of coast from Chill to Ecuador
were shaken, whole cities swallowed up CT
obliterated, 100000 people left homeless, and
lives lost in numbers beyond ali power OF com
putation. 1t is but fifteen years ago that
1900 persons persisted in this same city OF
Manila which has just been desolated, and
! il is the memory Of the long list of similar
catast. ophes III the history of this beautiful
city which adds so much to the horror and
mental distress in the situation there to-day.
Instruments devised by modern science
prove that the CONCEALED crust of the little
mass of condensed gas upon which we live is
in constant tremor. Not week passes
without an earthquake somewhere sufficiently
powerful to be worth recording. Science
measures the vertical force of the shock and
the velocity with which the undulations move,
and registers the height of the waves. We can
theOrize about their causes and connect them
with the moon, and sunspOts, and steam, and
magnetism, and atmospheric influences. We
can congratulate ourselves upon the fact
that after all they are conservative forces.
| We can understand that the folding up and
crushing of the planets crust here and there
under secular contraction as the earth slowly
cools prevents a general catastrophe in com
ing time. But after all we are powerless
before the shocks as they come. Buildings
that are earthQuake-proof have not yet been
devised, and so long as we live on globe
which is all alive and quivering with contend
ing forces, and on when continents and seas
are slowly changing places, we may expect to
have our sympathies aroused By these sweeping
caamitles, even if we escape them ourselves
| -----------
! RUSSIA AND CHINA.
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