Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1883-09-29
THE EARTHQUAKES POWER.

THE EARTHQUAKES POWER.
The awful calamity that has befallen
the island of Ischia, near Naples, Italy,
Is grim commentary upon the prog
ress OF the age, of which mortals of the
present day are much given to boast
ing. Man has during late years made
wonderful advancement in knowledge,
and been enabled by scientific inquiry
and experiment to control and turn to
his own advantage many Of the forces
OF nature. He has acquainted himself
with the secrets that have been hidden
from the view of the wisestof his kind
Tor thousands of years, till the intelli-
gent person OF o-day can read as from
an open book many of the laws that
govern physical action in the universe.
Anu yet In the face of a mighty display
OF Natures power like this dreadful
earthquake, how weak and helpless he
seems, how puerlle his efforts to master
the elements, how trivial and useless all
his scientific lore! 1t is Us though Ma
ture, having tolerated for time human
encroachment on her domain, aroused
Tor a moment in her majestic strength,
and with one touch of her hand swept
away his petty pretens.on at soyer-
eighty.
The world has been terrified often
before this with the frightiul destruc-
ton wrought by earthquakes, but some
3 how such an occurrence as that at
Ischia, dreadful enough in itself, though
slight as compared with other earth-
quake calamities on record, seems to
take on resi- terror, coming as it does
in these latter days. People as a rule
regard an earthquake attended with
great destruction OF life and property as
something inappropriate and abnormal
~ this bustling age, with all its "mod-
ern improvements" Such disasters be-
long to the olden time, and one expects
to find them recorded on the page of
history, not in the telegraphic columns
of his daily paper. But there are the
details, as minute and mat er-of-fact as
the latest railroad casualty, of which
every one reads with transient
shudder, though without wonder. The
one seems to us like relic of antiquity,
the other is a common though deplora-
BILE accompaniment of our everyday life.
Ischia and its vicinity in ancient days
would doubtless have been regarded as
the objects of the special wrath of the
gods, SO often and so terribly have they
suffered from earthquakes. They lie,
in fact, in the very heart of ''the earth
quake belt" and have seldom escaped
a visitation in. periods of disturbance of
this sort. The latest manifestations
were in 1881, when the town of Casam-
icciola, now almost entirely destroyed,
was nearly ruined, while the. loss of life
was la. Three earthquakes visited the
island that year, which was also made
memorable by the destruction wrought
by the same means in Scio, in the
Egean Sea, where 1900 persons lost
heir lives. The Island of Ischia is a
fayor''te resort for Neapolitans, Italians
generally and other foreigners, owing
to the excellence of its baths, the
salubrity of its climate and its beautiful
scenery. The chief town is Casamic-
cola, which contained about 1920 in
habitants and commands magnificent
view of the famous Bay Of Naples.
Legend, history and poetry have COM
bned to make the region celebrated and
attractive, and it is one of the objective
points of most tourists travelling in
Europe. Just at this time it contains a
large transient population, comprising
wealthy and distinguished Italians seek
ing health and recreation, and hundreds
of travellers from abroad. Some of these
have fallen victims to the earthquakes,
and thus the effect of the calamity will
be felt far and wide.
Earthquakes have been so numerous
in the past that il would overtax our
space to give anything approaching q
correct and complete record OF them
Some of the more famous ones may be
enumerated by way of interesting re-
minders of what malefic power lies in
Natures hands. Among the earliest
mentioned Is one in 40 b. c., which
made Euboea. in the Egean Sea, an
island. The history of Southern Italy,
Sicily, Greece, tie Turkish islands in
the Mediterranean, Spain and Portugal
abounds in accounts of earthquakes,
bJth before aud since the Christian era.