Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-11-24

EaFsh4uakes.
Among the remarkable things fbr
which 1881 will be long remembered
are it, earthquakes. Not sincs the
memorable yea1 1911 and 1872 has
there been such Q vide circle Of ter
restrial distubance a. now exists. Sew.
enty ysars ago nearly the whole west-
ern hsmisphere trembled under the
strain Of internal commotion. But the
area In which the earthquakes, were
oceans, and neither Europe nor Asia
suffered TO any extent. The present
area Of commotion seems to have no
limits. Reports Of violent earthquakes
have for many months come from every
quarter Of the globe. The shocks that
desolated Chbos In April rank - agents
Of destruction with the earthquakes
which destroyed Lisbon In l755, Rio
bamA In 1S05, and Caracas In 1872.
The recurrence Of earthquakes within
. few days at Chios which have again
caused the Inhabitants TO fee for their
lives, the shocKs experienced at Agram
two or three weeks ago, and the recent
shakings OF the ground felt In New
Hampshire and other places In this
country, indicate that the disturbing
~ ~ oON1o8 III 8loCly OCR1E8t~
ed portions Of the globe. In fact, the
history Of earthquakes shows that when
once . vide circle Of comnotion Has
been established. sevsraf years must
pass before the internal forces exhaust
Themselves. The earthquakes that BE-
gan in 1911 lasted until 1913. They
were very frequent in the Mississippi
and Ohio valleys, and north a. Cinciis-
natl the shocks occurred for moDtha at
the rate Of twenty Or more day. The
farmers became % accustomed TO them
that they hardly stopped 70 lean on
their hoes while an earthquake was
shaking the corn fields. This recalls
HumbOldt's accout Of his experience In
South America at the beginning Of the
present century. He Hetraversed regions
In which earthquakes were - common
that the inhabitants no more thought
Europeans think Of counting the show
ers Of rain.
One Of the most interestinGs things
about sarthq uakss 10 their tendency to
group themselves into periods. The
present earthquake period began three
or four yeArs ago, and some supposed
that it had reached its culmisstion last
fall when Agram was overthrown.
But the shocks increased In force until
the terrible disastsr at CassAmiccola
occurred In March last. Th2D, In turn,
was supposed 10 b. the climax Of Q series
Of violent terrestrial cummotion that,
beginning In Peru In 1879, within . few
months circlsd the earth. About .
month later, however, came the Chios
earthquake, oneof the most asstructive
on record, and this % far remains the
crowning disastsr Of the prsssnt earth
shocks at Agram, and tho Indications Of
the earth, show that another calamity Of
the same kind may happoo any day.
Ordinarily, earthquakes IRE oonfssd
to countries In the nsighbofhood Of VOL
canoes. But In periods Of unusual &C.
tivity like the present, they sometimes
occur In places where they are least ex-
pectsd. In the valley8 Of the Hudson.
the st. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the
Mississippi, shocks have been felt this
year. Exactly what relation exists be-
tween volcanoes and earthquakes, men
Of science are trying 70 dnd out. IL
seems to bs settled that they both re-
suit from the same general cause.
Whether the whole Interior Of the
earth ID . molten mass % theory that
has fallen out Of n vor Of lats), whether
1t contains reservoirs Or pockets Of mol
ten rock under volcanic dirtricts, or
whether the phenoDena Of volcanoes
and earthquakes are the result Of some
force not yet understoed, makes little
differences, except % fAr - knowledge
Of the facts may enable seieocs 70 mas
ter the laws that govern te9restrial dis
turbancss. The signi0cant fact, how
ever &c may b explained by theory or
observation, 10 that the ball upon which
We live, instead Of -beiDg dead, inert
mass, type Of stab0ty, = hsaving nm
der the strain Of interior forces, which,
though too insigni0cant % far 40 hu-
man observation goes, 70 produce out
bursts comparable 10 those ID the sun
or some Of the larger planets, Jet suf-
fee 1t times to overthrow great cities,
:troy at one stroke many thousauds Of
Scientific men have attacked this
problem with admiGable courage. OBJ
servatories have been ereoeed on the
danks Of Vesuvious and Atno, whore
the breathings Of thooo monsters are
carefully recorded, and skillod ohssrv-
ers have besn stationed Ia several Of the
earthquake centres Of sEuroDD and Asia,
armed with ingenious iustruDeuts. H.
- some have prpphesiod, the present
cycle Of earthquakes b . last for several
years, ,it IL notimpooiblo that we may 10
on the eve OF discoveries that viii enable
us % fereeee aad prepare for theshakings
that Mother Earth oonsio1ally give
us.-M Y. Sss..
A Bees Sting y enly one -Gburth Of m
inch long. A very small and insigsin-
can't thing, yet 10 leave9a warm inn
pression Of about Two ~, any THREE
nothing stingy shout ths esnsatson ei-
thsr. A.csrtain DescAant'e VIII dane
cd 70 . late h0or S0e night-oecame
ovsrhssted. and rstnsned hooe IN .
ssvers hsodscho and gsnGal pain spd
aches in her beoes e.d ye!no. she