The Magnolia gazette., 1884-09-18
BENEFIT or EARTHQUAKES.

what would Hnppen to the World II
They Did Not Oecur--The Constant and
Persistent AttnclSs af Ocean-Some Facts
Concerning Seismic Phenomena.
At the present time the community
Is cons derahly interested in the cause
Il earthquakes, and scientific men are
Appended to for opinions as to the rea-
sons of their occurrence, which opil-
ions are generally given with erudl-
ton and IN terms of greater Of less ~
cdity. II is very interesting 70 learn
TINT Prof Simon Newcomb attributes
the occurrence Of earthquakes to the
cooling Of the liquid mass hundreds Of
miles below the surface Of the Garth,
the consequent contra ton Of the mass
caus ~ 4 vacuum into WIN j the arch
above must fall 80 for 'natufe nh
hors vacuum as much in the
bowels of tie earth as II on its sur
face. However unpleasant this theory
may BIZ 70 the parties living directly
over tile vacuum, tHefe Seem 10 retl-
son ID doubt ii ii fact there is no
tang BID way q retute IL.
Other authorities, Ok theorists, have
alleged some underlined and nneXplan
able connection between earth uakes
and the spots on the sun, but they
DO not meet with favor generally,
because, as i rule, people want to
know something Of the 'why and
wherefore
Without ii any degree losing om, in
terest ii the cause might We not find
il profitable and satisfactory To give
some consideration 70 the results Of
earthquakes II may sound strangely
b refer 70 the earthquake as Il brnefac-
tor 70 the face of the earth bu accord
inc to the ideas Of some eminent seis-
mGlogistS il Ills that amiable role
rather more fully than people give it
credit for Ii is the restoring agent,
the COM fensating back action So 10
speak, Of some very powerful encroach-
ments on earth S domain. Individuals,
towns countries may suffer- cities may
be swept ouL Of existence and seap0rts
4, stloyed BY II, but the world at large
is the gainer, geographically ut least,
Dt every earthquake And 4 geograph-
ipal gain Is the gain Of the worlds in
habitants rs whole, Nature seeks
the greatest good Of the greatest num-
bcr Had there never Eeen an earth
quake in the past, mankind would not
now be in existence on the face of the
earth; should there be no earthquakes
nthc future, che rapewouId beloomed
70 extinction in much less time than
now, in the ordinary course of events,
seems probable.
Whyp
II the earth was created, or begun it's
gyrascopical existence as perfect
sphere aas those geoliogsts who under
take to dclye back into anti-geologic
II "a 4. a
palapably evident tnat its surface was
entirely cove I'd with water, present
ing the appearance--had ANYBODY been
there TO see it of liquid ball. AIT
that period il was not ''the waters un-
der the earth, but the earth under the
waters. Whal other agency than 4
snbterranean force could have elevated
portions Of the earthly bed Of this
great globular sea above its sur.
face aud made it dry lands
And for every such elevation there must
obviously have been, III accordance with
the compensating laws of nature, cor
responding depression somewhere
That the depression occurred first we
are bound to believe, ii we accept Prof
New omb $ theory of the cooling of Tho
subtcrranean liquid mass. The earth
llANilhl bNli& HIaNLlG1AltN HIltu I'll
ready with this mass, rise correspond
ing in amount to the value of the de
preston must necessarily occur at som,
point.
Water is lands greatest enemy, AM
when continents and islands became
formed by this process (which ma,
have been, and probably was, gradual(
there began contest for supremac,
between the two elements, contes
which has continued ever since and vii
continue to the end Of time.
Howe
The sea is constantly struggling +
destroy the land by beating upon an,
washing away its shores The process
is y slow one, 1t is true, and man
might be reasonably inclined to douh
it, in view OF the fact that the change
in coast lines are practically mpercept
bic in long intervals, There are CON
paratively few localities whose prcsen
Typographical lines do not antedate his
tory. But the elements are relentless
and 10 them centuries are less tha
minutes are to menin fact, they knoN
no time, And we are prevented fror
verifying the destructive action of tn
sea, on account of the restorative agen
cies to which allusion has been made
and which are constantly at work t
check the enoroachments of the ocean
Were it not SO, water's power would b
cumulative, for the faster the land sue
cumbed the higher the sea would rise
and with itseyer increasing rising max
more devastating nroads on the con
stantly-decreasing land
There a g localities, however, wher
absence If che restorative force allow
study OF che truth of this theory, a
for instance the shetland Isles, who's
rock ribbed coasts seem, Of all Others
best calculated to resist the encroach
ments Of the sea. But, subjected a
they are to the constant and ceaseles
pound ngundsof the Atlantic pillows
they are distinguishing slowly in Ia
mind man, rapidly in the econom
OF the universe. Notable changes hay
occurred hfre even within inc scone :