Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-08-09
The Late Earthquake in Italy.

fortunes of the survivors, leaving thclr
houses mere ruined scpulchrcs and
their gardens yawning graves, is ne
cessarilv ono of the saddcst events OF
life. The whole story of the dcstruc-
ton of Casamicclola will not be known
for days, possibly never, for if the
damage done is as great rs the carly
reports represent it to be 1t will be
impossible ever to learn the full tale
of victims. With many death and
permanent scpulture will have been
Simultaneous, and if the city's site be
again utilized it will bcovcr the graves
of hundreds of its citizens. 1t Is inn
possible at this time to Judge with any
accuracy of the number of persons
killed and injured by such an occur
renee Society becomes completely
disorganizod by fright, MS well rs by
the destruction ot all landmarks and
standards by which to discover the
extent OF the damgee. !. IS difficult
for person, in thi, country 90 camprr.
hend the horror of so sweeping mis-
fortune Probably the nearest ap-
proach to such an experience was that
of the people of Chicago in their great
fire nearly twelve years ago, But
even the wiping out OF all the build
ings OF a great city could not produce
the overpowcring sense of hclple-snos-
that accompanies an cartng rake.
Even those who have lived all their
lives in places where earthquakes are
frequent gain little or no courage from
their experience. The writer has seen
crowded ballroom cleared in the
few seconds intervening between the
beginning Of a trembling and the solid
shock which usually announces the
end of the motion and vet nine
teuths of those who displayed such
agility in getting out We're accustomed
10 at least three or more shocks yearly.
The mind instantly become possessed
Of one idea, TO the exclusion Of all
others, namely, that, short Of flying
there is no means of reaching n place
of absolute safety.
From the accounts received thus far
it Is probable that the movement ri
the earth was neither au uVhoayal nor
an undulation. It seemed tp be- %
general sinking, unmarked by uo-, ot
the usual phenomena of an ordinary
earthquake. IL is well known that
earthquakes maintain close relation
to volcanic action, but there are GER
tain peculiarites about nearly every
large movement Of the oarth- lriaeg
which make IL impossible 10 frame
theory that will account for all the
characteristics of earthquakes Doubt
less this one may have introduced q
new variety of incidents 10 puzzle
scientific men, butat present tha known
facts point 20 a sudden ub-idouca u
the oarth's crust, uuaccDmpani0i by
any violent volcanic action In the
ucighb0rh0ol where the parth.m1yr-
mcnt occurred. This is rendered more
certain By the absence OF all action of
the water in the adjoining bay. Where
ever genuine volcanic earthquake"
takes place on the sea coast there IS
sure to be a violent disturbance of the
sea, sometimes causing an cmutying Of
the BAYS seaward, followed by trc-
mendou, incoming wave, SO swift,
strong and high as to sweep all before
it, In the harbor of st. Thomas I'm
1867 the tidal wave following an earth
quake carried two American memo
war up into the town, and after float
ing them over the roofs of the first
line Of warehouses left one Of them
high and dry upon the shore, three
hundred yards from the water Simi.
larly, in Peru in 1863, the Wateroc
was swept ashore two miles inland,
where she was dismautled and left.
No such tidal wave was noticed at
Ischia on Saturday, nor were there
any shocks or undulatious on shore.
The place Is said to be ftly described
in homely phrase as a town Of which
the bottom has "slumped OUT 1t Is
possible, Of course, that volcanic activ-
ity will be found to have been devel-
oped at some point Of tho earth's sur
face very distant from Ischia, for such
distant sympathy is not uncommon:
but at present it would seem As though
the gradual cooling Of internal fires
might have left the surface unsup-
ported at Ischia, compelling the sud-
den falling in Of the earth to fiji the
cavity caused by the shrinking.
1t is to be hoped that the loss Of life
is exaggerated in these first reports,
but this hope cannot be relied on. The
early accounts of the earthquake at
Chios more than a year ago greatly
undorestimated the number Of casual
ties, and there may be no inaccuracy
in the large figures given for the loss
at Casamicciola. There is one GER
tainty about this disaster-there will
be no heated discussions to determine
who was to blame or how it might
have been prevented.-Phiia. Record.