The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-12-02
Storms and Earthquakes.

The recent destruction of the greater
portion of the city of Manila by hurri-
cane will, for several reasons, awaken
more than merely sympathetic interest
In the first place, Manila is one of the
chief commercial centers of the East
Indies, and its extensive trade has
brought it into close relations with the
principal nations of the world. Among
the shipping injured and destroyed by
the storm were several vessels from for
eign ports, and the business of the town
is said to have been completely suspend
ed since the disaster. So great was the
torce of the hurricane that all the
wooden and matched houses were blown
down, the roofs were torn from the
stronger buildings, and the Government
offices, hospitals and factories were de-
stroyed. The effects of the tempest
were not confined to Manila, and great
destruction was wrought in other parts
of the island of Luzon. According to
cable despatch, 10000 families have
been rendered homeless, yet the loss of
life was comparatively slight.
Aside from the commercial interests
involved, this disastrous storm possesses
great interest from scientific point of
view. The study of the phenomena of
the atmosphere is being pursued now
with greater energy than ever before.
The tropical storms, of which the hurri-
cane that devastated Manila seems TO
have been a type, have always attracted
a large share Of the attention of meteor
olOglsts, and it was from the study of
such storms, pursued largely by means
Of the log books of ships which had en-
countered them, that some of the funda-
mental theories of the science of meteor
ology, as it now exists, were derived.
Only recently special investigation of
the hurricanes of the China Sea was set
on foot, and the Manila hurricane will
furnish valuable data to those who are
engaged in this work.
One of the features of these storms
which specially needs investigation, if
the study of them is to lead to any prac-
teal result, is their tendency to break
out at intervals with unexampled fury,
sweeping everything from their track.
Hurricanes are not uncommon at Manila,
but heretofore they have not wrought
such great destruction there. The storm
which swept the city into ruins recently
appears to have possessed many times
the power of the ordinary hurricanes.
How unusual its force must have been
may be Judged from the fact that, on
account of the frequent storms and earth
quakes experienced there, the houses of
Manila were constructed with view of
resisting such shocks. The same phe-
nOmena have been witnessed in the In
dian Ocean and the West Indies, where
hurricanes prevail, which are classed by
meteorologists with those of the China
Sea. In 1922 hurricane of tremendous
fury burst over the upper end of the Bay
of Bengal and the delta of the Ganges,
causing enormous loss of property, while
$4,000 persons are said to have persisted
in the floods that were produced. So in
1880 hurricane at Barbados wrecked
a great number of ships, and caused
the loss of 1000 lives. There was a sim
liar storm, though much less destructive,
at Toxic in October, 1880, when 400
houses were blown down and siXty-tive
persons were killed. 1t is known that
the motion of these storms is rotary, and
that they commonly occur at certain
seasons of the year; but information is
needed as to the causes which produce
phenomenal tempests like that at Manila,
and as the possibility of obtaining warn
ing of them.
OF late wears much attention has been
given to theories which recognize causes
outside the earth as influencing its me-
teorologi cal conditions. The most con-
spicuous of these theories relates to the
supposed coincidence of the periods of
sun-spot maXima with storm cycles on
the earth. The evidence collected for
and against this theory is contradictory,
and men of science do not undertake at
present to decide upon it. They, how
ever, regard the theory as possessing
sufficient probability to warrant a
thorough investigation. The facts which
are established are that at certain periods
the sun experiences some mighty dis
turbing force which is manifested by
tremendous outbursts of burning gases
and the formation of enormous chasms
in his surface, and that at such periods
and apparently as result of the solar
disturbances-the sun eXertS an I'M
usually powerful electrical influence
upon the earth. This is shown by great
displays OF inc aurora DOredllS Ike tlOSS
of last spring and summer. and by mag
netic disturbances which affect the needle
and sometimes cripple the telegraph,
According to some theorists earth
quakes also occur most frequently in
cycles which depend upon eXtra-terres-
trial influences, and we are now entering
one of those cycles. In the light of re-
cent investigations of the fleXibility of
the earth's crust, which are said to show
that it bends not only under the weight
of tidal waves in the ocean, but under
great atmospheric pressure, the question
may arise whether there is not an init
mate connection between earthquakes
and atmospheric phenomena. At any
rate, there is now good chance to as
certain the truth, for the sun spots have
been growing more numerous and larger
during the last two years, and in that
time we have had tornadoes, hurricanes,
floods and other meteorological com
motions of almost uneXampled fury, be-
sides an extraordinary series of earth
quakes, marked by such disasters as the
destruction of Casamicciola and Chios.
and the more recent disturbances in Cen
trail America and at the Isthmus of
Panama. There is an opportunity to do
the world great service by discovering