News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-08-23

Those exhibitions of the wild power
OF the forces of nature which are most
terrible and fatal to human life are made
without warning. 1t is true that vol
came eruptiOns are generally preceded
by signs which are understood by those
VINO are IN danger, and which enable
them to escape, but no one can tell
where the tornado will cut its deadly
swarth, although the coming of a storm
may be fOreseen, and the shock of an
earthquake finds no one prepared for it.
The blow, whether it comes from the
angry air or from the grooming depth of
the earth, falls with pitiless force upon
those of the human race who are within
Its reach, and their lives are blotted
out. There Is no more safety around
the affairs of religious worship than in q
mouse OF entertainment. The danger is
as great IN a cathedral as in a theatre,
Tor either may become the grave of
thousands who are in it.
Some OF the most charming regions
IN the world are continually exposed to
horrible disasters like that which has
fallen on the vineclad Island of Ischia.
This island, where the dead bodies of
thousands who were living and happy
on Saturday evening are now living
crushed under the ruins of houses,
hotels, and public buildings. lies only
~ miles from the beautiful Bay of
Naples. It's people cultivate the grape,
or are engaged in fishing, but the fame
OF It's springs Of cold aid warm mineral
waters draws thousands of tourists and
1nVallds to 1ts-shOres every wear. The
.EyiSSSG9lLcLI-,@,a baths were near the town of
CasamIccIOla. where scarcely a house
hos '"-. .... --.-----nS, and upon the
sloplng hiIIsides were hundreds of villas
occupied by wealthy families, whose
homes are IN Naples or elsewhere on the
mainland. The villas of the rich and
the houses OF the poor are now in ruins,
and the bodies Of their occupants are
either awaiting Identification or still
buried under fallen stones and timbers.
An earthquake is not rare visitor in
Ischia, for nearly 800 houses, in the
town that has now ceased to exist, were
destroyed, with 100 lives, two years ago
by two shocks, the second following the
first after an interval of eleven DAYS.
After years of investigation very little
Is known about the causes of these
movements of the earth's surface. The
forced to contine his inquiry almost en-.
tIrely to the results, although he may in
dulge in speculation more or less inter-
estlng concerning the origin of the fatal
disturbance. If We assume that slight
shocks, felt over small area, are caused
by the fall of roofs of great cavities far
below the surface, we cannot account
IN the same way for the mighty earth
waves that shook down the house walls
OF Lisbon in 1755 and brought death to
$4,000 persons, for those waves, spread
ing from Lisbon as a centre. were felt
over the Continent of Europe and by
ships far out at sea. The shock con-
tmued for many days. 1t may be that
modern seismOlOgists are right in de-
scrIblng an earthquake as a vibratorv
motion propagated through the solid
material of the earth, and proceeding
from conclusion or sudden blow de-
hvered underground at some centre of
impulse; but what is the blow or the act
that starts the vibrations? Is it the
force OF steam escaping from rocky
prison, after it has been formed by the
admission of surface water through fis-
sures to the heated and molten matter
supposed by some to be under the
earth's crust? The arguments of some
OF the scientific men tend to overthrow
the doctrine that the earth has a LIQUID
core, but the steam theory seems to be
one of the most reasonable of those by
which attempts have been made to &C
count Tor volcanic actions. Whatever
may be said, however. about the proba-
bic origin and cause of the shock. it is
very PLAIN that the most careful investi-
CATION Will yield no facts that can serve
70 TE5'1-r1 .,r protect rho people
when the vibrations proceed from a
centre OfImpulse that is under the sea.
water wave as well as an earth wave is
sometimes generated. This water wave
rolls III upon the shore after the earth
shock has been felt, and may enoulf
those who have escaped from falling
buildings. The water wave was 60 feet
high at Lisbon, and the great wave
that swept away so many lives. a few
years ago, on the western coast of South
America was another example of this |
movement of the sea. 1t does not ap- |
pear that such a wave ACCOMPANIED the |
earthquake at Ischia, and this may sup
port the theory advanced that Prof. |
Palmleri, who is of the opinion that the |
shock was caused by a subsistence of the |
surface, due perhaps to the breaking of
some mighty arched roof in the bowels
of the earth.