The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-12-01
storms and EARTHQUAKES.

5 Storms and Earthquakes.
The recent destruction of the greater
portion of the city of'Manila by a hurri
; cane will, for several reasons. awaker
more than merely sympathetic interest
, In the first place, Manila is one of tn,
chief commercial centers of the East
] Indies, and its extensive trade ha.
brought 1t into close relations with tn,
I principal nations of the world. Among
/ the shipping injured and DESTROYED by
the storm were several vessels from for
Ieign ports, and the business of the town
I tis said to have been completely suspend
led since the disaster. So great was the
| force of the hurricane that all the
! Foocen and thatched houses were blown
Gown, the roofs were torn from the
) Stronger buildings. aud the Government
: dflces. hospitals and factories were de-
sroyed. The effects of the tempest
|. FVere not confined to Manila, and great
obstruction was wrought in other parts
= island Of LHzQn,. Acepgai2e 70 2
Rfendered homeless. vet the loss of
'Pine 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
ne atmosphere is being pursued now
With greater energy than ever before.
ihe tropical storms, of which the hurri-
ane that devastated Manila seems to
hye been a type, have always attracted
/ alarge share of the attention of meteor
oogists, and it was from the study of
@ch storms, pursued largely by means
o. the log books of ships which had en-
ountered them, that some of the funda-
mental theories of the science of meteor
oogy, as it now exists, were derived
only recently a special investigation of
ne 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-
tical 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 tine frequent storms and earth |
qnskes experienced there, the houses of |
Manila were constructed with a view of |
resisting such shocks. The same phe- |
nomena have been witnessed in the In |
dian Ocean and the West Indies, where |
humcanes prevail. which are classed by |
with those of the China |
Sea In 1922 a 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
5000 persons are said to have perished
IN the floods that were produced. So in
11ot hurricane at Bar BADGES wrecked
a great number of ships, and caused
tbs loss of 4, 600 lives. There was a sim
r<kStorm, though much less destructive,
sSio in October. 1880. when l 400
= >Eere blown down and sixty-fiye
80; 49, si11ese storms IS rotary, and
fbst 49, commonly occur at certain
seas,1is of the year; but information is
-eeded as to the causes which produce
tempests ike that at Manila,
nd as the possibility of obtaining warm
lg of them.
Of late years much attention has been
-iven to theories which recognize causes
utside the earth as influencing its me-
eorologi cal conditions. The most con-
picuous of these theories relates to the
opposed coincidence of the periods of
un-spot maXima with storm cycles on
he earth. The evidence collected for
nd against this theory is contradictory.
nd men of science do not undertake at
resent to decide upon it. They, how I
yer. regard the theory as possessing
uifcient probability TO warrant {
investigation The facts which I
re established are that at certain periods I
ne sun experiences some mighty dis
lrbing force which is manifested by '
outbursts of burning gases 1
nd the formation of enormous chasms /
! his surface, and that at such periods r
and apparently as result of the solar S
isturbances-the sun exerts an un- a
sually powerful electrical influence q
pom the earth. This is shown by great :
lsplays of the aurora borealis like those |,
last spring and summer. and by mag p
etc disturbances which affect the needle a
nd sometimes cripple the telegraph. "
According to some theorists earth Z
lakes also occur most frequently in
'cles which depend upon extra-terres-
Iai influences, and we are now entering
le of those cycles. In the light of re-
mt Investigations of the flexibility of u
e earth crust, which are said to show o
at it bends not only under the weight /
tidal waves in the ocean, but under ST
eat atmospheric pressure, the question Il
ay arise whether there is not an init Il
ate connection between earthquakes al
ID atmospheric phenomena. At any n
te, there is now a good chance to as in
rtain the truth, for the sun spots have pi
en- growing more numerous and larger a'
Irng the last two years, and in that OF
ne we have had tornadoes, hurricanes, Il
ods and other meteorological COM eli
)tions of almost unexampled fury, be-
les an extraordinary series of earth of
axes, marked by such disasters as the Gu
struction of Casamicciola and Chios, ito
d the more recent disturbances in Cen II
/ America and at the Isthmus of en-
mama. There is an opportunity to do he
world a great service by discovering in
laws that govern the stormy side OF th
ure.-N. T. San. in
is
The Tuneful Mule. Fr
se'
Who has not heard the merry matin of
h<af f.,l